Being Charged for data plan I don't need

Question

It's that time of the two year contract with two out of three phones up for a renewal on our contract. Two phones need to be replaced. I stop in at the local Verizon store to get our options, costs, etc. While discussing the two year contract and reviewing the phones my kids picked out, Joe (Verizon employee) informs me that the phones the kids picked out have a required a data plan that costs $9.99 a month. Now the phones the kids picked out are middle of the range text messaging phones. Not a Blackberry or a Droid.
I explain to Joe that I'm not interested in the data plan as the kids don't need internet service on their cell phones. This apparently does not matter to Verizon as this is a required charge now. Joe explains that I can block this service while still having to play $9.99 per phone each month. So that I get this straight, I asked Joe if my math was correct. I will be paying an additional $240 a year for a data plan service that I do not want or need? "Yes ma'am" was his reply. He then points me in the direction of the three flip phones that do not require a data plan. Now even this was laughable as he explains that these phones are more for the "elderly".  Oh yeah, I'm going to bring my 2 teenagers into the store and point them over to the "elderly" phones. Ha!
Interestingly enough, I bought the EnV3 recently and did not have to purchase the data plan. To purchase the exact same EnV3 now, I would incur this data plan charge. This makes absolutely no sense to me other than Verizon being greedy.
So then I leave the store and walk directly over to another wireless store and ask one simple question. Do I have to pay for a service that 1) I don't want and 2) don't need? The answer was "no".  He quoted the same phone plan to what I'm have now, but will not be charged for coverages I do not want. Off the bat, I'm saving $20 a month over Verizon. And he's comped two new phones for free. Nothing out of pocket for new phones. The man at this store then advised me to determine what my cancellation fees would be with Verizon in order to better make a decision on whether or not to switch.
I walk back to the Verizon store, put my name back into the system. While waiting, Julie (Verizon employee) asks me why I'm looking into cancelling my service. I explain the situation while she grins nicely and slightly nods her head. She has a teenage daughter and she understands. We discuss the need of limiting teenagers and internet service. She explained that even as an employee she had to pay for this service and did not want it. Well, Julie I have a choice.
I don't remember the name of the next VE but we review the cancellations fees etc. $225 due if I should cancel before my contract expires. (I can cancel during my contract and still not have to pay as much as incurring the new data plan charges.) He is doing everything he can at this point to keep my service. I ask him if he can waive a data plan service fees that I do not want. No, he cannot. 
So thinking this whole through, I'm not willing to spend the extra money for a service that I do not want. I am not willing to provide my teens with a data plan on their cell phones that I have no control over. They have plenty of opportunities to access the internet without having it in their palm 24/7. Plus knowing teenagers, I wouldn't want to incur the add-on expenses for the data plan overrages. You know as well as I do, once they know they have it, it will be used and they will not have a clue on how to limit internet access. Yes, I am one of those moms that refuse to pay for everything their little hearts desire and like hell will I waste $240 a year because Verizon demands this data plan.
It's clear that Verizon does not have a clue on this. I would rather spend the $ to get out of a plan with a greedy company- than feed more money into their operation when they clearly don't have their finger on the pulse of what families need. So, after having been with Verizon Wireless for 14 years and quite happy with them and the service, I will be switching at the end of the month.

Answer 1

Dawn,  I'm right there with you....
I've been a "Verizon" customer for over 15 years (records carried over from when I was Cellular One and they got bought out by VZW)... and I currently have 1 primary and 3 supplemental lines for family.  In the past it was never a problem to get a multi-media phone for my teen because he likes to have his music with him.. obviously... he's a teen.  And in the past there has NEVER been a charge for any time of "data plan" for the MM phones.. which  is good.  So now his phone is eligible for an upgrade, and he'd like to have the EnV3 which has the MM features.  However  good ol' VZW being the monopoly that they are now wants a long time customer to pay for a data plan....a $9.99/month data plan for 25MB downloads.  More over, in order to ensure my teen doesn't surpass the 25MB/month, I'd have to subscirbe (at an additional price of $4.99/month) for Usage Control features for the line.  So now VZW wants this line to go from being a simple $9.99/month to $25.00 just because a MM phone??!!  What's worse, is that my teen already has an LG Voyager (a MM phone), yet I have services for mobile web, data downloads and such BLOCKED on his line.  So answer me this... why should I have to mandatorily pay a mandatory $15/month fee for a service I'm not using in the first place?!! 
VZW has slowly but surely penny-anny'd their customers over the years and I'm finally fed up with it.  Time to switch.  Even if the other carriers do require a data plan with their phones, at least I'll know what I'm getting up front and no suprises along the way.  VZW's "New every two" means NEW AND MORE CHARGES EVERY 2 YEARS... that's for sure!