Family plan nightmare

Hello, In september of 2012 I called Verizon Customer service to compare the new plans verses staying on the old plan and just buying a new phone outright. To give a complete picture I have 9 smartphones and one tablet on my account. I was told the account data usage was averaging around 5 1/2 gb and that I would be fine with the 6 gb plan. The total quoted before taxes (cant figure that was around $430 a month. From the get go I realized how it was a mistake to give up 6 unlimited plans and go on a plan where I now pay $530 a month and have to monitor ever data use. Come on $530's every month and I can no longer use my phone how I like. I don't call and its proven texts messages cost nothing so the truth is I was duped into an new plan. I have 10 contracts holding me 2 it and it doesn't meet my needs and for the last 3 months I have needed a data increase to cover our limited use. My complaint is the calculations used to inform customers how much they use and convincing them about a plan that cost more and more each month. 5 of the phones are not even 4g and don't use any internet. When I first called I was told Verizon about the problem I was told there is nothing that can be done, the new plans are the only option for the situation I set up by assigning the phones together. I am a Verizon customer over 15 years and nothing can be done to reward my commitment .... Not even a hey I see where you are disappointed lets work on keeping you. If I don't like the current plan, I will have to end my contract and pay the fees. Now for the last 4 months I have called every month because we never have enough data and the plan goes up. I am paying 1/5 more then quoted and still today nothing can be done to fix, limit, or make a customer more comfortable then whats going on. So many people I know are rewarded now by living with subpar phones and companies but pay so much less. From a person that bragged for years about how happy I was with Verizon I cant tell you enough how disappointed I am with the new pricing/plans and there are really no other options with this company. Im not the only person that now realized redbox pushed everyone out, raised their prices and now I cant go to a video store and find "Goonies" to watch for the 100th time. Same with cell service, there is no competition and we pay the price.

With the amount quoted, I assume that includes some sort of discount on your data.
Did you NOT check your old bills to confirm your data usage BEFORE the switch? If not, WHY NOT? Go back and check your old data usage now. Was the 5 1/2 GB/month correct? If it isn't, I guess maybe you should have checked, huh??? If it is, what are you doing differently with the phones now???? If your employees are taking advantage of you by now doing "other" more data intensive activities unrelated to work, maybe they should be paying for their own phones. You could install Onavo Count on the phones to determine where the data usage has increased and then plan accordingly.
Out of curiosity, what was your monthly bill BEFORE making the switch. Was that 1 account or 2? I was under the impression there was a max of 5 lines/account before Share Everything. I suppose business accounts may have been different.

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Have family plan with 250 data which I almost use each month. Going on vacation and will be on the road for two weeks. Should I up my data for a month then change back. Is it worth it or should I just run over and pay the extra 15 per gig?

have family plan with 250 data which I almost use each month. Going on vacation and will be on the road for two weeks. Should I up my data for a month then change back. Is it worth it or should I just run over and pay the extra 15 per gig?

Hello mlazaretti. Vacation time is awesome. (Especially a road trip!) Since you will be going out for two weeks, you never know if having extra data may come in handy. I highly recommend switching to the next tier up so this way you have more data. This way it is only $10.00 more versus $15.00, and you dont have to worry about overages. Then change back at the start of the next billing cycle.
If you need help making this change let us know! Have a safe trip!
NicandroN_VZW
Follow us on twitter @VZWSupport

When I want to update my app a different account comes up now. Wierd. It's the family plan owners id...why is this happening and how do I fix it?

Upon wanting to update some of my apps, I now get prompted to login with the owner of the family plans login.
I have my own account attached to this phone. Why is this now happening and how do I return it to update my apps with my login ID?

Did you by chance accidentally purchase these app with the different account?
Because all apps are tied to the apple id that was used to purchase it.
You can also check settings - appstore - apple id - if it isn't your id, log out and log in with your id.

Switching over to Verizon family plan with iPhone 4S?

I'm switiching from T-mobile to Verizon for the iPhone. Now the rest of my family would like to switch over as well but only one of them wants the iPhone 4S with me. When I went through a mock purchase with the regular iPhone 4. apple.com told me I had to visit a store to set up my family plan and would not let me pre order anything unless I was starting anew verizon contract by myself without a family plan. Is ther a way around this and if not, what's next? Will the iPhone be available at a Verizon store so my family and I can set up all our phones at once? Or do My brother and I need to go to an apple store to get our iPhones and set up the plan, but from there where and when would the rest of my family get their phones? Can anyone shed any light on this or offer any insight? I'm new to the chaos of trying to get an iPhone, especially when switching carriers. Thanks.

I'm new to the chaos of trying to get an iPhone, especially when switching carriers.
IMO, your best bet is to go to a VZW store and work it all out there. They can switch you over and get you the phones you want right there in the store.

Questions on porting family plan lines and a prorated final bill?

Hey there! I've done some searches on the board before posting and encountered tidbits of information I found useful, but I couldn't get all of my lingering questions answered from older posts so here's my situation:
My number is the primary number on a family plan (3 lines, mine included) with Verizon, and I'm considering porting it along with the two other lines elsewhere. All three lines are no longer in a contract and are month-to-month (the 2-year agreements ended many months ago and none of the lines have been upgraded or anything since then). I'm planning to move them all to separate prepaid services through another carrier.
I'm doing my best to gather enough information about how to go about moving all three of these family plan lines with the least amount of hassle , so I've got some questions I hope I can get answered. Thanks for any assistance!
This is my understanding:
-I'll need to contact my new carrier to have a given number ported, correct? And that line will be subsequently cancelled on Verizon's end, with no ETFs since none of the lines are tied to a contract?
-Should I port the second and third lines first and not port the primary number (mine) first, so asto not cancel all the lines of service before they're ported? I'm okay porting one number at a time AKA separately instead of all at once if that simplifies the transfer process.
-When the porting process takes place and my Verizon service is cancelled, does Verizon prorate the remaining days on my billing period from the date it's cancelled, or do they still bill up to the end of the cycle? I hear it's better to wait until the end of my billing cycle (which for me is the 9th of every month) to initiate the transfer(s) so that I don't have any billing issues, but moving all three numbers on one day (even separately) sounds kinda daunting.
-Do the phones I currently have under Verizon simply "disconnect" or deactivate once service is cancelled? Will they no longer be associated with my family plan lines and therefore be free to be resold or handed off to other family members who are using Verizon? I notice many phones on eBay/Craigslist list a "cleared ESN" as a requirement for someone to activate a used phone on Verizon and wanted to know what that was about.
Thanks for any help on these concerns!

michae2414 wrote:
Hey there! I've done some searches on the board before posting and encountered tidbits of information I found useful, but I couldn't get all of my lingering questions answered from older posts so here's my situation:
My number is the primary number on a family plan (3 lines, mine included) with Verizon, and I'm considering porting it along with the two other lines elsewhere. All three lines are no longer in a contract and are month-to-month (the 2-year agreements ended many months ago and none of the lines have been upgraded or anything since then). I'm planning to move them all to separate prepaid services through another carrier.
I'm doing my best to gather enough information about how to go about moving all three of these family plan lines with the least amount of hassle , so I've got some questions I hope I can get answered. Thanks for any assistance!
This is my understanding:
-I'll need to contact my new carrier to have a given number ported, correct? And that line will be subsequently cancelled on Verizon's end, with no ETFs since none of the lines are tied to a contract? All correct - the port happens via the NEW carrier.
-Should I port the second and third lines first and not port the primary number (mine) first, so asto not cancel all the lines of service before they're ported? I'm okay porting one number at a time AKA separately instead of all at once if that simplifies the transfer process. You can do it this way - but based on your next question, you wouldn't want to do it this way. You can't do both!!
-When the porting process takes place and my Verizon service is cancelled, does Verizon prorate the remaining days on my billing period from the date it's cancelled, or do they still bill up to the end of the cycle? You have already paid for the current month's service - you are billed in advance for the coming month. What WILL be billed is any texting, roaming calls, data charges, etc, that have occurred during the month that were NOT billed in advance. I hear it's better to wait until the end of my billing cycle (which for me is the 9th of every month) to initiate the transfer(s) so that I don't have any billing issues, but moving all three numbers on one day (even separately) sounds kinda daunting. But YOU don't have to do anything - your new carrier will deal with it, and it seems to me it would be better to end the service on all three at one time, since it is one account. You can ask your new carrier what they recommend. There should be no issues with porting all three lines at once.
-Do the phones I currently have under Verizon simply "disconnect" or deactivate once service is cancelled?Yes - once the number is ported to the new carrier, the phones will no longer work until they are activated with another number. Will they no longer be associated with my family plan lines and therefore be free to be resold or handed off to other family members who are using Verizon? This is correct, and another reason for doing the port at the end of a billing cycle. Issues have come up with transfers done mid cycle - and because the account had been billed and paid for the full month's service, the phone's ESN was not released until the end of the billing cycle. I notice many phones on eBay/Craigslist list a "cleared ESN" as a requirement for someone to activate a used phone on Verizon and wanted to know what that was about.
Thanks for any help on these concerns!
It may take several days for the numbers to fully port over and have all services working correctly, and for the old phones to be fully "released" from your account to be used on another Verizon account. I would wait a week or so after the port, then call CS and check the ESN status of the old phones to see if they are "clear".
Hope this answers most of your questions. Post back if you need further clarification.

If You Have A Family Plan Beware Of Social Beat App!!!!!!!!!

We have a family plan with 5 phones. In January of 2011 after noticing some extra charges on our bill we went to the Verizon store to investigate. We found that these charges were from texting and accessing the internet. At that time, after talking with a sales rep we upgraded our plan with more voice minutes added texting plans and blocked (we thought) the internet and bought 5 new phones.
Last month we received bill for over $1100. So we immediately drove to the store to find out what was going on. The customer service rep brought up our bill on the internet and said that one of the lines had gone way over on there minutes. When we looked at the usage screen it showed hundreds of data airtime minutes used. When I asked what they were they said someone was accessing the internet. I told them that I had blocked the line from the internet. They said they could see it was blocked but somehow they were still accessing it. By that time there were several agents gathered around the computer and all had puzzled looks on there faces. They said they would have to dig further into this and call us sometime the following week. That was a Friday and I heard nothing for 9 days. So I returned to the store, all they could tell me then was that they found that the charges were legitimate and if had any other questions I would have to call the customer service line.
After calling the customer service line and getting no answers I went to a different Verizon store and found a very helpful sales rep who helped me dig further into this and was told by someone that the the line in question was using an app called social beat to access face book over the phone. I said that I had blocked the internet from this line. They said that this was different and that these were legitimate charges. Any way, I'm still trying to get an answer that I can understand.
But you should be aware that this app comes preloaded on certain phones and that anyone can sign up and start using it without the approval of the plan administrator.
We are still trying to get something done about this and I know Verizon doesn't care but I want them to know that I am logging complaints with the BBB, the FTC, and the FCC. It may not do any good but it will make me feel better.

I know exactly how you feel, i checked my account this month and I had overage charges and called to find out and was told it is Social Beat. I said but we blocked all MB usage charges and they told me the same thing. I see that it is blocked but social beat is something else. Well then why did my phone come with it and why are yall still charging me for MB when they are blocked? There is nothing they can or will do to fix it. So now I had to upgrade to a smart phone and pay even more money per month. Its unreal at the charges Verizon can come up with.

Address Book + .Mac Family Plan

On my laptop I have one address book - my family uses my laptop. When I go to sync - everything including my kids friends are sync into my address book. It's odd when you scroll through and see Bobby's name. I'm considering signing up for .Mac Family Plan. I already have an individual account which I planned to let run out. If I get a family plan - wife, kids me - how does that work? Do we each have our own address book online? And if so, can my son have his own address book on the desktop - so when he sinks his stuff as I do - everything stay seperate. In other words 4 .mac accounts online and 4 address books on the desktop. One for each person? Please help....

O c'mon somebody must have a thought, idea or solution.

L added her sister R to a family plan. Can R have her own itunes account for syncing the phone and downloading her own apps, or must she always sign in using L's account and password?

So, if R wants to sync her iphone 5C but still have L pay for it on the family plan, can R just get her own itunes account for buying music and apps? Or is she stuck using L's account?

Family Plan as with the cell phone carrier?
Is so, the iTunes account or Apple ID is not related to the type of cell phone plan an iPhone is under.
Will the sisters being using the same computer and iTunes library?

I have family plan of 5 iphones and all them have the same apple id, the q. is how I can set each one with their own apple id? please advise...

I have family plan of 5 iphones and all them have the same apple id, the q. is how I can set each one with their own apple id? please advise...

See How to Stop Sharing an Apple ID.
(Note that I am affiliated with that site, and some pages contain ads).

Is there any way to combine 2 seperate lines on the same account into a family plan?

My wife and I have our phones on the same account, but the Verizon Wireless salespeople signed her up as 4 separate lines instead of a family plan. I admit she was an easy mark for the salesperson, because she went in to get two smartphones and walked out with 3 smartphones and a home voip device. I was at work and wasn't expecting her to be taken advantage of in such a way, or I would have had her wait to join when we both had the time to do it together. Now we have a smartphone collecting dust in a drawer, and a home phone that only rings when telemarketers call.
Long story short, we are going to have to cancel two of the lines that we don't use, probably pay etf's, and all that fun stuff. If we are to keep Verizon, we will need to switch our lines from being separate services to a family plan or it just won't be worth keeping this carrier. 2gigs of data just simply isn't enough for us both, considering the family plans for 2 people that are comparably priced have 10gigs.
Has anyone here run into a similar situation? Any help you can give in fixing this would be greatly appreciated.

How are you on the same account if they are separate lines?
Were any of these lines on the Edge payment option?

My experience, frustrated and next step is cancelling our family plan

This is my experience, as frustrated as it makes me, I wanted to post so others don't have to endure this...
I have been a customer of Verizon for a long time (had the same number since 1993 and Verizon for a big part of that time). We have had a family plan for our boys, my wife and I with I phones, air cards, I-pads you name it. I had a single air card on a different account for using at work and never used it, so when my wife and I visited a store to upgrade her phone, I decided to cancel the card.
This was in January 2012 and when I asked at the counter what I needed to do to close it. I was told that I owed a couple of months and there was a couple of months more on the contract and I said "ok whatever is left". They charged me and said, ok sir, it is all taken care of. I paid $176 that day and have the receipt.
Fast forward to March. They send me a bill for $75, to which I respond by calling and talking with Customer Service. They say, well let us call the store to verify. Then they call me back the next day and say Well the store verifies so we will remove this from your account.
Fast forward to May and I get another Bill --- so repeat the process and call the customer service dept. We talk, and then supervisors for what was probably hours. Result was "we are so sorry sir, we will credit your account right away".
Another Fast Forward to June. I get a bill for $140 (late fees now). We have a longer discussion, more supervisors and end up with "You are right, we talked with the store and they can't remember, so we are going to go ahead and credit this for you....Give us a call on Monday just to confirm everything"
That next day, "sir I am so sorry you had to go through all of this, I will personally take care of this for you...you may not know me, but I stand behind my promises, so don't worry" (seriously).
Fast forward to September Collections Notice from CBE (wow really?)
Called and explained it should have been credited and told they could see all the notes in the file and that a credit was applied, but I would have to call back during the week.
Just called today and spent two hours being on hold and having repeated new people read through the file. Finally ending with Helen who says "I'm sorry, sir but you have an outstanding bill. I said what do you mean, it should all be in the notes, I have been told countless times it was all going to be credited. She says "No I don't see that here". I ask for a supervisor and she says she is sorry they have left for the evening (My call started at 3pm and this is now 4:45pm). She says I need to put you on hold for a few minutes...10 minutes she gets back on the line and says "sir I am filling out a form, you should get a call from a supervisor in 24 to 48 hours" I said "I am trying so hard to be nice, but I am extremely frustrated with this whole thing and considering switching our family plan to any other company that values a loyal customer". She says, well I am sorry sir, but I just can't help you.
This company is so big and so out of touch and now stepping on me for a wrongful $75 and stand to lose $325 a month for the next 10 year easy (3 cell phones and an air card). If I was their manager, I would do anything I could to keep a loyal customer that had been with us so long (not to mention not billing for things that have been paid and agreed to be taken care of)
I don't think I can take another 30 minutes of being on hold and listening to that same music only to explain everything to the next rep. At this point my only option is to email the local tv station customer advocate Jesse Jones. And then to start the process of switching our accounts to another company (I can hardly wait). It is too bad a good customer was driven to leave.

Hi bobwina!
It saddened me to read your post, and see that your issue is not yet resolved. I'm here to make sure we work together on a resolution. Please send me a DM including your name, your mobile number, and a good contact number for you. I'll be able to review everything and work this out once and for all!
Christina B
VZW Support
Follow us on Twitter @VZWSupport

3 Phones on current family plan - Can i Switch a phone(#) without penatly?

Here is the situation:
My girlfriend pays for the Family Plan and has 3 phones on it (hers, her mom's, and her EX-boyfriend).
I have an individual account which I am currently eligible to update my phone (which i wanted the Droid X), BUT my contract ends in MAY I believe.
Her ex-boyfriend refuses to give the phone back as well as refuses to pay his part of the bill (it being in my gf's name, she is kind of stuck paying his part). So, my question is: What is the most economical way for her to deal with it???
I believe she still has quite awhile until the contract ends, so it's NOT worth her paying the bill each month, BUT she also does not want to cancel his phone because of the early termination fee.
Are there any ways for her to get out of this WITHOUT a fee (keeping her other 2 phones on, but getting rid of HIS)?
MY idea was: taking his phone (and changing the number figuring that way the fee would probably much less - just the cost of a number change, BUT he is not giving the phone back).....
Is there any way Verizon would cancel his phone/# and add mine (guessing i'd have to wait until MAY ), and not add a fee since it would still be 3 phones?
Any other ideas would be GREATLY appreciated!

jbluemke wrote:
Here is the situation:
My girlfriend pays for the Family Plan and has 3 phones on it (hers, her mom's, and her EX-boyfriend).
I have an individual account which I am currently eligible to update my phone (which i wanted the Droid X), BUT my contract ends in MAY I believe.
Her ex-boyfriend refuses to give the phone back as well as refuses to pay his part of the bill (it being in my gf's name, she is kind of stuck paying his part). So, my question is: What is the most economical way for her to deal with it???
I believe she still has quite awhile until the contract ends, so it's NOT worth her paying the bill each month, BUT she also does not want to cancel his phone because of the early termination fee.
Are there any ways for her to get out of this WITHOUT a fee (keeping her other 2 phones on, but getting rid of HIS)?
MY idea was: taking his phone (and changing the number figuring that way the fee would probably much less - just the cost of a number change, BUT he is not giving the phone back).....
Is there any way Verizon would cancel his phone/# and add mine (guessing i'd have to wait until MAY ), and not add a fee since it would still be 3 phones?
Any other ideas would be GREATLY appreciated!
Your GF AGREED to pay her ex's phone bill for two years. She is stuck with it.Changing numbers or replacing with your phone will not eliminate the responsibilty she agreed to.
Some ideas, her and him could do an assumption of liability if he is willing... I suspect he wont.
What I am going to suggest MAY force him to take the phone onto his own contract..... Suspend the line. She can choose to continue to pay or not. Without paying she can go three months and the contract is extended three months. Bit if he wants his number bad enough he may agree to take the line over when he finds the phone is DOA.
if he refuses to take the line, She needs to decide which is cheaper, paying the monthly bill (which if she suspends and still pays, she can choose a much lower plan) or whether the ETF is cheaper. But no matter what, short term I would suspend the line so it does not work.

Multiple devices streaming the same music on Family Plan

If I get the family plan for 2 devices, will we be able to listen to the same songs at the same time? I want to be able to stream music on multiple devices yet have the option to listen privately. Will the family plan offer this?

It will store multiplle devices.

Switching to AT&T with family plan -- need multiple iPhone 4's

We are currently Verizon customers coming to AT&T for the iPhone 4. We want to get three iPhone 4's, along with another regular phone, and put them on a family plan. My son lives 4 hours away, and won't be able to come to the local AT&T store on June 24 to get a phone.
Because of the limit of one per customer, can my husband and I each pre-order a phone and then still buy an additional iPhone 4 for my son at the AT&T store on June 24?
Could my son pre-order an iPhone 4 and have it shipped to my address for me to have activated with the other phones? He is not planning to transfer his number, the rest of us on the plan are.
Since he's not porting his old number, could he pre-order and have the phone shipped to him and then add it to our family plan once we've activated our new phones? Or do all the phones on the plan have to be activated at the same time and place?
Any information would be appreciated -- thanks!

AT&T has a whole upgrade and new account guide on its website. Looks like new accounts can order one per person in line but only one per account online. Existing accounts can order one new iPhone per line (numbers with AT&T accounts). Nothing has been released about Apple's pre order policy.

Using a phone from a Family Plan to a Single Line Plan

I am currently on a Family Plan and looking to switch to my own Single Line Plan. I would like to use my iPhone 6 and the same number on the new plan. Is this possible?

You'd need to do an Assumption of Liability. From this link:
My Verizon FAQs | Verizon Wireless
note # 2 under Assumption of Liability.

Family plan nightmare

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