Annual upgrade, NE2, and more early upgrade confusion

Question

I see a lot of confusion here regarding upgrade eligibility and credits. I've tried to research to get a clearer understanding but there are still some things that are hazy to me.
Regarding NE2 - I found this: "Annual Upgrade was a marketing program available to customers who signed up for a two-year plan of at least $49.99 or higher. Enrolled customers were eligible to upgrade after one-year."
Great, but when exactly did this "marketing program" end? Is it only available to the primary line if there are multiple lines on an account? Does the $49.99 refer to JUST the calling plan, or total (including data/messaging/etc)?
I've seen plenty of articles like this talking about Verizon giving early upgrades to those who would normally not be eligible. Trying to figure out what the criteria is, it seem like this early upgrade offer was extended to customers who purchased phones last year, up to late 2010. Aside from that though, I can't really tell what makes a one customer "eligible" and the next ineligible. I was wondering if anyone had information on this that could clarify the issue. 
Also, I've noticed many smartphone owners, even those that purchased recent phones like the Thunderbolt on contract, say that they've been able to get early upgrades. I'm just curous as to what qualifies someone for an early upgrade and what Verizon looks at when deciding eligiblity, since with everyone's different experiences, it seems like there aren't many hard and fast rules. Thanks for any help

Answer 1

andrewtorres87 wrote:
Thanks for the replies guys, that gives me a much better idea of what's going on as far as early upgrades go. Like everyone else, I'd love to be able to upgrade a little early, but when I check upgrade date, it seems to be on the typical 20 month schedule. I was just wondering if I might have some sort of eligibilty though since I renewed my contract in 11/2010, well before the NE2 and annual upgrades were discontinued. I'm pretty sure I would meet the calling plan requirement since my plan includes voice/unlimited messaging/data, but I'm on a family plan and don't know that I'm the "primary" line. Although I'm 99% sure nobody else on our plan has been eligible for NE2/annual upgrade either...You can sign into MyVerizon to see which line on your account is the primary line. Or you can look at your bill. Normally, the primary line is listed 1st. If you signed a contract for your line in November of 2010 yet are not eligible for an upgrade, then you can be certain that your line is not the primary on your Family Plan.
It'd be nice if I could find someone to look at the acoount and offer some sort of explanation as to why/why not I'd be eligible for annual upgrade, but the only "help" I've gotten is reps telling me when my upgrade date is, which is already well known. Or telling me to open a new line if I really want to upgrade now, which just seems like a wasteful option, not really saving any money over the long term compared to just buying a device at full retail. Reps will NEVER give the annual upgrade date PRIOR to the line actually becoming eligible for the upgrade. This is because it is not a definite upgrade eligibility, but a conditional one. If your plan changes prior to your line reaching the annual upgrade eligibility, you could lose the ability to become eligible. Then you would just complain to Verizon that you were told you could upgrade at a certain date and are not able to do so.
For example, you have a Family Plan with 1 Primary(contract signed in 11/2010) and 3 secondary lines(contracts signed in 11/2010). The Primary line decides in July of this year to leave the plan to join up as a secondary on a different Family Plan. In this case, although the Primary WOULD have been eligible for an annual upgrade in 11/2011 had they stayed on the original Family Plan, it would no longer become eligible for the annual upgrade because it is now a secondary phone on a different plan and the $9.99 line access fee would not qualify for the annual upgrade. If this person was originally told that they would be eligible for an upgrade in November of 2011, they would then complain that they weren't able to upgrade now! Furthermore, the secondary line which was switched to the Primary line on the original Family Plan WOULD NOT be eligible for an annual upgrade in 11/2010 because it became the Primary line AFTER annual upgrades were discontinued in January of 2011.
I am (mostly) satisfied with the actual data/voice service I get from Verizon, but their customer service seems to be on the decline, I'm my experience at least. They seem to be more concerned with getting new contracts (customers) than providing services to long-time customers and doing what they can to keep them happy. Just an observation as a VZW customer of 12+ years. Not to say this isn't expected, as they're a huge company and didn't get where they are by NOT putting $ first, but as the carrier with the reputation of having the best customer service, I've found myself being less  and less impressed over the years.  Sorry to vent here, but hopefully honest feedback is something that could be at least a bit useful to Verizon.