Ridiculous treatment of long time customers. Bills continue rising.

Does anyone else find it ridiculous that we must write on a forum rather than have a direct email to customer service? Or when we call, having to wait for nearly an hour and transfered from dept to dept before finally being assisted? My bill just went up without notice for the 2nd time since October. Since I have automatic payments, it seems quite convenient for Comcast to charge extra "fees" or remove promos from customers who have been with them for years. I never complain but this is just ridiculous. I need assistance and I do not want to wait for hours on the phone and be told that new customers are more important that loyal ones. How about providing loyalty discounts and assistance to loyal customers. I am going to have to weigh my options but moving to another TV provider may be necessary cause these prices are insane.

But accurate and truthful.
You cannot please everyone and that is a fact.
Read some of the forum posts here. You will hear:
My phone broke and Verizon will not allow me to upgrade early.
Verizon replaced my new phone with a used phone.
Verizon is charging me for data I used.
Verizon will not give me a range extender.
Verizon will not refund an overpayment I made.
Verizon will not turn my phone back on even though I didn't pay.
Verizon better get those updates out to my device or else.
Verizon took away unlimited data when I bought at less than full cost.
Verizon won't let me pay my bill when I feel like it.
Verizon charged me a security deposit. Why?
Are you seeing a pattern here? I know I am.
And even your post, "Verizon charged me a $30 upgrade fee" however you did not pay full price or use edge program.
I wish people would read up on terms for their service it will save loads of forum posts threatening to leave for another carrier. Who do the exact same thing sans T-Mobile who charges full cost.
Good Luck

Similar Messages

Verizon driving long time customers away. Why?

I try to keep my business with Verizon. Been with them over 14 years.
Have 5 lines, 2 smart, 3 basic.
Won't let me upgrade 3 basic lines to iPhone 5 via Edge program.
New customer can get them for free.
AT&T will give me $150/line (up to 4) that will cover my cost for leaving Verizon early. Get me six iphone 6s, and still have the same plan costs.
Why does Verizon drive long time customers away like this?

Well if you happen to reside in an area that provides the service, and use the One Bill to have (of course) single billing, this would be why the Edge program would be ineligible. It's a little tough to explain without going into detail, but to keep it short, if you're interested still in having the Edge program, you would need to call Verizon Communications and ask to de-enroll from your OneBill account. All billing would be separate, but at least you'll have the Edge.
Feel free to ask me any questions about it.
Michael S.

Does Verizon ever thank there long time customers

I have a friend that has been a T-Mobile customer for 12 years. T- Mobile just sent him a pair of airline tickets to thank him for all his years of service.Was just wondering if Verizon has ever done anything like that for any of there long time customers?

And yet T-mobile is bleeding customers while Verizon continues to set records for new customers every quarter. T-mobile needs stunts like free airline tickets to keep customers from leaving. And yet they still do. People want great cell service from their cell company, not tickets. I could even be a t-mobile custoemr if I wanted to as they see fit not to offer ANY kind service within 50 miles of me. heck you can't even roam around here. Yet Verizon not only provides me service but provides me with 4G. And there are millions of people just like me. THAT is t-mobile's issue. If you can't be TRULY natinwide you need to get out of the game.

Why does Verizon Penalize Long-time Customers?

I started out as a Alltel customer in 2004 and became Verizon during the merger. I had a pretty nice plan at 500mins with unlimited text and data. When Verizon started their More Everything Plans, they started alienating those of us who still had unlimited plans. Not only are the plans more expensive than the Alltel plan I have (by about $10 - $15 for a decent plan), but if you didn't sign up for it, you could no longer upgrade at the promotional price and had to pay full price for your phone.
The compromise to this was Verizon Max. This gave customers a way to keep a fairly large amount of data (6GB) and still keep their plan price low. However, even this plan penalizes customers:
     - You can't share the data
     - You can't use your device as a hotspot, even though you have plenty of data to use
This works just fine, until you decide to add devices to your plan. So here's my situation:
I'm sitting pretty at about $90 per month (before taxes, add-ons, discount) on the Max plan. All is well until I see that they started selling the Galaxy Gear S. I call Verizon and they tell me I need to upgrade to the More Everything Plan, which is about $120 before taxes for 10GB (they give you 10GB instead of 6GB). Then you pay $5 per month to add the watch to your plan. All this for a total of $125 a month - a permanent difference of $30.
Obviously I don't want to spend that much more money on my plan, so I ask what else they can do. They said the only other thing they can do is add the device as a separate line with its own data plan and phone number. Since the only plan you can buy from Big Red is More Everything, that comes out to about $25 before taxes. That's only a $5 difference between that and More Everything, so I may as well use More Everything so I can keep the same number and just share data.
My point is, either way, I will have to pay at least $25 just to enjoy the benefits of owning a new device. For context, before More Everything, new lines only cost $10 and you just paid for the device and that was that - easy. $10 is something I can handle - $15 is pushing it. But $25 more a month??
It's ridiculous I have to jump through all these hoops just to enjoy new devices and good service. As a customer of 10yrs, there's absolutely nothing Customer Care is even able to do for me (I was on the phone with them for over an hour) and their so-called loyalty plans are just crippled versions of the fully-priced plans. I just want to buy the stupid watch, add it to my plan for a low price, and keep it moving.
There's no benefit to being a long time customer at Verizon, so I'm going to start looking at other companies that take better care of their loyal customers. I'd love to stay with Verizon, but there's obviously no love for me.

Hi Lasina, thank you for reaching out.
I didn’t get a new number, but I was presented with the full paperwork.
I’m not sure how you can restore my trust in Verizon. First of all, they blew me off in the store – told me I needed to contact customer support. My expectation was that speaking to someone in the store was one of the customer service options.
Once the Target employee listened to my needs, he actually got me to upgrade my phone. When I called with questions regarding the $40 I was charged to activate the new phone. After asking to speak to a supervisor, I was put on hold, and the agent came back to me with this stupid option about how they’d refund $20 and then give me $2/month to make up the difference.
At this point, I asked about my cancellation options – since I called immediately when I got the bill. I was told I was 3 days past the opportunity to cancel my contract altogether – unless I want to fork over $350.
I am open to whatever options you have to attempt to restore my faith in Verizon, but my Customer Service experience so far isn’t promising.
What do you propose?

Unfair to long time customers!

I am writing this post on here because after about 30 minutes of searching the website I could not find a e-mail address to voice my concerns. I am sure 99.9% of the community will agree with the following and I will try to keep this short.
I have been a loyal customer for over 10 years now between my mobile phone and cable and Internet services and have been really disturbed on how verizon has treated it's long term existing customers and new. Now I know all services no matter what is is goes up in price due to new technology and that's just the way business is done..... Something goes up in price to maintain well the price for consumers needs to go up as well but verizon has repeatetly taken and taken and taken from the consumer, charging the same price for a lower value item.
It starts with the fact verizon has completely taken it's $30 a month unlimited Internet away and replaced it with a 2gb plan! When I first heard about it I thought they were out of their minds and that would revert back to the old unlimited data plans but sure enough 2 years later they are sticking to their guns and no change as of yet! As a long time customer I thought when I upgraded my phone last year (due to the fact my other phone had smashed into a million pieces) I was pretty sure because I was a loyal customer, I would be able to keep my unlimited data due to me being grandfathered in like most of the companies were allowing the loyal customers to do. I WAS WRONG! I was told not only will I not be allowed to keep my unlimited data I had to be dropped to a 2GB plan in order for my bill to remain the same. I was really upset and had some choice words with the rep but explained it wasn't his fault and apologized.
As most of you who have a smart phone know it's extremely easy to use 2GB of data a month. Between GPS usage. pandora, email, checking the weather and searching the web 2GB goes pretty quick. We live in a world right now where most people use their smart phones and tablets for everything but this company has not rewarded it's customers with something so simple as letting us have our unlimited data back. I would even will be willing to pay $15-$20 more a month to have that feature back but Verizon refuses and we will keep getting our text messages saying you have used 80% of your allowed data allowence, you have used 90% of your data allowence, you have exceeded your monthly data allowence and may incure overages! This is completely unexceptable and these policy's need to change to finally reward it's customers instead of making us feel like we never get anything in return for our layalty to this company! Sorry this went a little longer than I wanted. Hopefully someone with this company will see this and make some changes!!!!
Here's to hoping!

Well I will skim over it. For that extra $10-$15 you are willing to pay increase your data to 4GB and see if that works.
I don't believe that the so called 95% of the customers use less than 2Gb. and now with verizon keeping the data meters I simply would not trust the usage they claim you use. In days gone by remember the radar guns that said you were speeding?
Well good attorneys took the police and those machines to task for correct and accurate readings. Courts through oyt loads of cases because the record of service on the radar detector was not accurate. I would assume verizon has faulty meters since if you have over 100+ million customers there has to be a margin of error.
In another venue however you opted for a cheaper device payment, so what you had to lose was explained to you. Cheaper device equals loss of unlimited data. Really right to the point. You could have paid full price or used the payment program which you pay full price but keep your unlimited data. You had choices and alas we often times make good choices and bad choices. its what we are, human.
I doubt verizon management frequents this forum. But hey you never know.
Good Luck

Verizon not interested in long time customers?

I am upset that Verizon is not willing to extend an early
upgrade to a longtime customer who has been with the company for 13+ years. I
have been having issues with my current phone for the past year and half, and
am 6 months away from an upgrade. I realize that it is early, but since I have
been such a long time customer I would think they would want to keep my
business and extend a courtsey.
I spoke to many customer service agents, who told me they would
call me back, but did not, then when I finally spoke to another agent, was told
that I could add a line and would be credited for doing so, but when I was transferred
to sales, I was told I could not, and sales was stunned I was even offered the solution.
I was offered yet another replacement for the phone I have, it
would be my 4th one. Why they dont want to keep a long time customer by letting
me purchase a new phone at the 2 year contract price, (I'm willing to extend
the contract) instead of paying full price is beyond me. I was told that I
could get an Iphone 4 for $349!! Why do that when what I want is listed for
149.? Why do they not want to retain customers?
I will be leaving Verizon after such a long time and looking at
AT&T and telling everyone I know about it and looking at our business account as well.

sabrasword wrote:
I am upset that Verizon is not willing to extend an early
upgrade to a longtime customer who has been with the company for 13+ years. I
have been having issues with my current phone for the past year and half, and
am 6 months away from an upgrade. I realize that it is early, but since I have
been such a long time customer I would think they would want to keep my
business and extend a courtsey.
I spoke to many customer service agents, who told me they would
call me back, but did not, then when I finally spoke to another agent, was told
that I could add a line and would be credited for doing so, but when I was transferred
to sales, I was told I could not, and sales was stunned I was even offered the solution.
I was offered yet another replacement for the phone I have, it
would be my 4th one. Why they dont want to keep a long time customer by letting
me purchase a new phone at the 2 year contract price, (I'm willing to extend
the contract) instead of paying full price is beyond me. I was told that I
could get an Iphone 4 for $349!! Why do that when what I want is listed for
149.? Why do they not want to retain customers?
I will be leaving Verizon after such a long time and looking at
AT&T and telling everyone I know about it and looking at our business account as well.
There is your answer right there. You "want" an iPhone. You didn't say if you had TEC or EW, so the fact that VZW is offering you a phone replacement after a year and six months is not good enough? You can't take the replacement and ride it out for 4 months till you CAN upgrade? Being a customer for years does not a special situation make. Warranties, upgrade dates, are what they are. Your threat to move companies falls on deaf ears as every wireless company has the same policies.

Long time customer

verizon forever...not.... they may have the best network but they have the worst customer service. I was one of the people that had unlimited data and the last time i upgraded i bought the phones outright in order to keep my plan this past time that was not beneficial so i was bullied into changing plans, no i did not "have to" change plans but if i wanted the discount on the phone i had to change, so why is it that there are 2 prices for phones, if i use you service i should be given the discounted price for using your service, and not be forced to change plans because at one time i was smart enough to get the unlimited data option. then there is the upgrade fee, what the f??? that is just like saying not only are we going to screw you on your existing plan but we are going to charge you to allow us to f you over? the i get the bill this month, first month and what do i see but they are pre-charging me for services i have yet used... You are going to keep some customer because you do have the best network, but your treatment of long time customers is just pathetic. I have always told people to go Verizon but not anymore, you will never get another referral from me, this will be my last phone with you and I have been with you for years....

Please I am so tired of reading this over and over.
The unlimited data is available if you buy at full price.
It is told to you prior to any upgrade where you are getting a $800 for for almost nothing.
Good Luck

Penalizing long term customers for keeping their unlimited data plan is unwise an business

Dear Verizon President and Employees,
I have spoken to three Verizon employees via the phone today who have failed to be able to tell me why I should stay with Verizon. You see I have a very small portion of my plan that is unlimited data, I have it because I have been a long time customer. I don't use a lot of data but when I got I thought I would never use any data. Times change people change in fact my family has changed and I was thinking of adding another line to my account for my son. Maybe at xmas I will buy a tablet but I need to update my phone. I found out that if I tried to upgrade my phone I would lose my unlimited data package plan. Now I understand why Verizon no longer carries an unlimited plan. I actually have worked for a competeing wireless company and they don't offer the plan either. So yes I can understand telling people its a grandfathered plan and we honor our loyal longtime customers who have that plan by continuing to carry the plan as long as they don't remove it from their accounts. I Can understand why if you switch to the convenience of the mobile share plan you couldn't switch back. What I can't understand is why you are forcing your long time customers to question why they should be with you. I don't use huge amounts of data right now but I have been happy not having to worry about my plan and after all I have spent a lot of money with Verizon wireless over the years. In fact lets do a little math I have spent on average on my single line at least $120 a month for the last six years (I am being conservative its probably more like 150 but I think we should be conservative) that's 8640 to Verizon for the last six years... I am looking at wanting another line (Probably will add 50 a month to my phone bill) I am thinking about adding a tablet at xmas. I understand I have to get a separate data plan for the tablet or I would lose my unlimited data another 40 so saying I wanted my two year contract that's almost 200 a month for the next two years in fact lets say its an even two hundred that's $4800 you would get from me for the next four years. Am I such an unimportant customer you would sacrifice that for $300-400 on a phone? It doesn't make good business sense. If I am going lose my plan when I am already shelling out that much money I should look at other carriers who don't penalize their long time customers by saying you can only keep your plan buy paying full price on a phone. You see its dumb your taking away your own juicy carrot. As long as I had something with you I knew I couldn't get with anyone else I wasn't going to look at another service provider. I can get a limited data package plan anywhere and there are very competitive offers. Customers should be able to choose when they want to drop their plans... not be penalized into doing so. Why do you offer a discounted price on a phone? Because the customer is signing a contract they will stay with you for two years. You are guaranteed to get those fees. You have already told me it doesn't have to to do with the phone... if I can bring my own phone to the plan. It has to do with trying to bribe people if you want this phone at this price you have to give up your unlimited data... sadly its a poor choice... I can get that phone at a nice price and give up my unlimited data by going somewhere else... I will pay the same price and you... you will lose not only my money but loyalty... all because I wanted 400 off a phone like your other people get when they sign a 2 year contract and to stay my current plan. Yes I know that you said 95% of people use 2 GB or less that may be true but I want the freedom to be able to choose I am an individual not 95%. And I should be important as a customer. I have been a customer for a long time. My current contract ends in October, So again I ask why should I stay loyal to a company who doesn't stay loyal to its long time customers.
Sincerely
Candice M.

It comes down to money and profits.
The juicy carrot of unlimited is still there. But you buy the device at full price. You pay no upgrade fees and you have no contract. The data costs are not carrots but gardens of green. (money) Those same 95% are now seeing huge overage fees and that is more green to the company and the stock holders.
Sprint & T-Mobile offer unlimited data but their buildouts of 4G LTE are way behind Verizon & AT&T so you may not want their service. AT&T has no unlimited and price and coverage wise are almost identical so no savings there.
Loyality is an over used word. You are a customer like everyone else, no distinction is made because you paid $5,000 or $2,000 it just depends on what service is right for you.
I never take subsidize devices, I don't like contracts and personally I use Verizon for the coverage and I think I have called them less than five times over 30+ years for any service requests or anything.
America is profit generated and you have to remember that. When the customers leave in droves due to lower costs at another provider that is when Verizon will take a long look at trying to get customers back. But that will be many years in the future
Good Luck

Long-Time Customer (time for a change?)

I have been a Verizon customer since 2004. I have watched as my bill has steadily gone up and up and up. Which I suppose is to be expected due to cost of living increases over the years. BUT, are there no "deals" for long-time customers. Is our dedication worth nothing to Verizon. After almost 10 years of service from Verizon, I am leaning more and more toward a different carrier. I just don't know where to go. My son has an iphone and I just have a "telephone". My phone is supposed to have all this stuff, but the camera is nasty and I've never been able to access my email (unresolved issue). I also have one of the slide out keyboards but never use it. The keys are so small that I can never type the words correctly. I forget its there. All I would really want would be a good phone with a decent camera. These photos are truly awful. I don't know what I want anyone on here to do about any of this. Guess I just wanted to vent. I may as well ask (if the Verizon Police don't remove this part) if anyone knows of a carrier I could switch to OR if you know of any "deals" Verizon may have. (yes, I know I could look it up, but I still wouldn't know how much it would REALLY cost me). I pay approx. $180/mo for current usage. Does that sound like a good deal? Thanks!

I too have been a long time customer - about 13 years. I have never had a problem with VZW until the past year and a half. I got a Droid 3, based on high recommendations - and I have regretted it ever since. I have had it replaced THREE times in a year and a half - and considering I had to have a brand new phone replaced within three months with a refurb...that jerks my chain. Yeah, I know it's in the fine print - but really, it's ridiculous. So now that I have had four of the same stupid phone that keeps messing up doing the same things (VZW support said there are no known issues - yeah...read for a bit, there are lots) - I put my foot down and asked for a totally different phone. They sent me a HTC Rhyme which quite honestly, is worse than the Droid. I can't even run the apps I need on it. It's useless. The Droid 3 - their initial solution to the issues - run it in safe mode. Sure, I paid for a smartphone that I have to use as a regular phone. What is the point of having a smartphone then?? They didn't even bother to send me a replacement charger for the new phone.
My upgrade isn't available until July, my contract isn't up until November. I can upgrade at full price - or hey, I can take my husband's upgrade which he has been hanging on to in order to get an iPhone - it's there, and we'd planned to use it for him. Why should I have to use his upgrade to correct the problem with the crappy phones they send? His upgrade is his - that's how it works - I will not use the upgrade he has and is entitled to in order to correct a problem that has been dragging on for a year and a half, that VZW needs to correct once and for all. Their solution - send another of the same garbage device -
And now they have the $30 upgrade fee.
Wow, VZW, thanks for appreciating your long time, loyal customers. I've had it. I've researched other providers - tmobile coverage isn't good where I live, nor is at&t. Sprint would be my only other real option - and considering they have the iPhones for HALF of what VZW cost is for upgrade (16 gb for $99 at sprint - $199 here at VZW). It's all adding up to my saying fix it or I'm out. This is ridiculous. There is something to be said for customer loyalty - and I'm sorry, but if you run a business and don't value your customers - well then you deserve to fail.
>> Edited to remove profanity <<
Message was edited by: Verizon Moderator

I upgraded to Mtn. Lion last night but now it takes forever to boot up. I get to the desktop and my wallpaper is there, but the items on my desktop take more than 5 minutes to load. It's a ridiculously long time. Can I fix it somehow?

As I said, I upgraded my MacBook Pro (2011) from Lion to Mountain Lion last night. This morning I couldn't get it to boot up at all. The beach ball just spun and spun. Now I can get it to my desktop and can see my wallpaper, but it takes another FULL five minutes to finish loading my desktop items. Can I do anything to speed this up? It's a ridiculously long time to wait. I haven't even tried opening any applications yet.

go to Help Menu -> select "Restart with Add-ons Disabled"
Firefox will close then it will open up with just basic Firefox. Now do this:
-> Update ALL your Firefox Plug-ins https://www.mozilla.com/en-US/plugincheck/
-> go to View Menu -> Zoom -> click "Reset"
-> go to View Menu -> Page Style -> select "Basic Page Style"
-> go to View Menu -> Toolbars -> unselect unwanted toolbars
-> go Tools Menu -> Clear Recent History -> Time range to clear: select EVERYTHING -> click Details (small arrow) button -> place Checkmarks on ALL Options -> click "Clear Now"
-> go to Tools Menu -> Options -> General -> ''When Firefox starts : '''select "Show My Home Page"''''' -> Type the address of the website which you want to be your HomePage e.g. http:www.google.com -> click OK
-> go to Tools Menu -> Options -> Privacy -> History section -> ''Firefox will: '''select "Use custom settings for history"''''' -> PLACE CHECKMARKS on:
1) Remember my Browsing History
2) Remember Download History
3) Remember Search History
4) Accept Cookies from sites -> select "Exceptions..." button -> Click "Remove All Sites" at the bottom of "Exception - Cookies" window
4a) Accept Third-party Cookies -> under "Keep Until" select "They Expire"
-> REMOVE CHECKMARK from Last Option (CLEAR HISTORY WHEN FIREFOX CLOSES)
-> click the Favicon (small drop down menu icon) on Firefox SearchBar (its position is on the Right side of the Address Bar) -> click "Manage Search Engines" -> select unwanted search engines and click Remove -> click OK
-> go to Tools Menu -> Add-ons -> Extensions section -> REMOVE any Unwanted/Suspicious Extensions (Add-ons) -> Restart Firefox
You can enable your Known & Trustworthy Add-ons later. Check and tell if its working.

Why do the mac updates take a ridiculously long time

why do the mac updates take a ridiculously long time? 10 hours? this is ridiculous - my ISP is 40mbps

Which updates were you trying to get? If you are going to a very busy web site or server, the connections could be extremely slow. But to wait so long invites troubles.
If the machine is terribly slow, that should be an indication some maintenance or repair may be needed first. Some keyboard shortcuts can be used to check and attempt repair, and the problem likely is in the Mac.
Everything from the amount of RAM installed, to the total capacity of the HDD (or SSD) vs free or unused space on the drive, is important to the function of the OS X. Or there may be an issue, if the OS X checks out OK, in the internet connection. If you use wireless mostly, check the connections by wire instead.
Try to not get into a position where you end up using 'force quit' if the computer appears to freeze up. In the process of an update or upgrade, that's almost never a positive outcome.
Good luck & happy computing!

My wife was given a 5s and she sent her 4s to her daughter in Thailand to use. The problem is the 4s needs to have the imei number unlocked. We need assistance on how that can be done. We are long time Verizon customers.

My wife was given a 5s and she sent her 4s to her daughter in Thailand to use. The problem is the 4s needs to have the imei number unlocked. We need assistance on how that can be done. We are long time Verizon customers.

Your daughter will have to send it back to you. You will have to reactivate it on you line. You will then have to request to have it unlocked. See THIS thread for more information.

A cautionary tale - being a long time VZW customer in good standing gets you nowhere

Here is a cautionary tale about how being a long time VZW customer in good standing counts for nothing.
My wife and I have been VZW customers for many years. We each have upgraded phones at least two times over our initial models. Several years ago, we added a third phone to our account: nothing fancy, just a crappy Coupe flip phone. At the time, this third phone was a $10 add-on in the family plan, and was handed to my mother in law to use. After my mother in law passed away, my father in law kept the phone, and we kept up the payments for it. His health failed, and when he passed away, the phone moved to my brother in law, and we again kept up the payments on the phone ourselves.
Now in the meantime, back in 2011, my wife wanted to upgrade her phone. Either because her prior phone wasn't up for an upgrade or due to us just not paying attention, we somehow apparently "transferred" the upgrade that available for our in-laws' definitely-not-smart flip phone to my wife's phone. Now, since it was the upgrade of the $10 per-month flip phone we used to upgrade the Droid, it was the contract of the $10-per-month flip phone that got renewed into another 2-year cycle - not the Droid.
Also in the meantime, I upgraded my Samsung Rogue to a Galaxy S3. At the same time, I modified our plan to the Share Everything plan. Because of the nature of this plan, the 3rd phone, the crappy Coupe flip phone, that used to be $10 per month increased to $30 per month. When I signed my own new contract, I specifically asked at the VZW store whether it would be simple to drop the Coupe from the plan, because I was not sure how much longer our brother in law would need it. They said sure, it would not be a problem. Drop it whenever you need to, and your bill will go down $30 per month!
Now we come to the end of 2012 when my brother in law does not need this phone anymore, and in fact returned it to us. It is sitting here collecting dust. I called VZW today to remove it from our account. Can you see where this is going? Because we triggered the new contract for this phone by upgrading my wife's OTHER phone back in 2011, the Coupe is still under contract. So our choice is apparently keep paying $30 per month until June for a phone that used to only cost $10 per month and that no one is using, or pay a $150 termination fee.
I understand how this works contractually. But the big picture is that we have been good customers for many years, have been paying for 3 phones on our account for several of those years, and one of those phones is no longer being used (the usage is literally 0). But can we drop that phone from our contract now that we have been paying on it for multiple years? Nooooo. I was misled by VZW agents when I upgraded our plan to one that increased the cost of this phone from $10 per month to $30 per month that removing it would not be a problem. A cheap flip-phone phone, which is probably physically worth $5 in hardware, if that, and which itself has never been upgraded since it was purchased several years ago, cannot be removed from our account. When it's all said and done we will end up paying vastly more than the phone and its usage is actually worth because VZW "got us" with the contract shenanigans. Congratulations, Verizon Wireless, well played.
Ironically, the Droid - which gets lots of usage - is beyond its upgrade date and is no longer under contract. So I guess we could drop that phone with no problem. But we don't want to, we want to drop the cheap phone that no one uses. And we can't. As I said to the agent on the phone today who was not interested in helping a long time customer solve a problem, this is exactly why people hate cell phone companies.

I'm not *too* worried about VZW's feelings since they in effect have changed up the original contract when they forced my monthly fee for the phone to go from $10 per month to $30 per month because I upgraded a totally different phone that required a whole new calling plan, as the older plan had conveniently been phased out. (Interesting how action on one phone has an effect on totally different phones that are on a totally different contract.) Anyway, this isn't us trying to bilk VZW out of legitimate income. It's trying to do what makes sense.
Perhaps I muddied the water with all the history of the third phone. The distilled version is this: We have 3 phones on our account, two smart phones and one ancient flip phone. Only two of the three are still under contract, so there is one we are free to drop at any time. And we would indeed like to drop one phone from the account. It would be in VZWs best interest to have the phone we drop be the one they make the least amount of money from. That would be the flip phone. It is in our best interest to drop the phone that is no longer in use. That is the flip phone. Seems like a win-win situation to me!
But because of the the way contracts are structured, if we are to drop a phone, it needs to be the Droid, because that's the one now beyond the contract period. So we would drop the phone that VZW makes more money from, and that we still use. This is in the best interest of neither of us.
Yes, I'm trying to terminate early the contract we have on the flip phone. But on the other hand, we are willing to continue making monthly payments on a more expensive phone that is NOT under contract anymore. It seems like there's an easy fix: let us drop the flip phone, and heck, go ahead and put the Droid back onto contract for what would have been the duration of the flip phone contract. The inflexibility and inability to do something like this is what's irritating.
Contracts are great until there is a reason for both parties to make a change that is beneficial to everyone involved. I think that's what we have here. Contracts can be updated. Ask any professional athlete

Long time to load a first page, get "the connection has timed out" frequently.

Frequently takes a long time to get to first page. Even a "speed test" to check my DSL connection. Usually can get to "google.com" quickly but it did come up slow today (just a test for a simple page).
I have a wireless N router with it's own Firewall (which I didn't want) and I think I've turned it off. Symantec firewall, don't think WinXP firewall is on.
Tried refresh of Adobe Flash Player per suggestion in this forum, no help.
Would like to have a tool to see how long each step of getting to the web takes so I can see if there's a bottleneck.
Occasionally "try again" button works on the "connection has timed out" message.
My PC is 6 yr old. xp-home, lots of ram, HDD available. Run Symantec AV/MBAM frequently. Ran Housecall and Dr. Web- no problems.
Talked to my DSL provider and Symantec in depth. Similar lethargy when I get IE running but not as frequent as under FF. Measured my DSL speed - 5MB as promised.
When the lag occurs, Task Manager does not show FF taking a lot of processor time.
Have done the things suggested in FAQ to help with performance.
Also going to bleepingcomputer.com to see if there are suggestions there.
I'm hoping someone has experienced an analog to this and has a suggestion to diagnose and solve. Thanks - Mike.

Here's your sign! This is my problem and its solution. Let me know if someone needs help to interpret.
If you frequently get "connection timed out", go to your ISP and get Manual DNS addresses. Then beat them till they put a real fix on their system.
Problem is in the DNS server service provided by my DSL provider, Bell South/AT&T. Result of a poor performing DNS is that one can't get thru to the selected site.
If you do a web search +dsl +"time out" you will see the history with Windstream. THEY finally issues a system-wide fix which, it appears, flattened the issue. Then add +AT&T to see that experience. I did not read it all thru, I'm wasted chasing this problem. I don't give AT&T ANY credit for customer service or heading off problems for their customers on this one.
AT&T support offers me:
==================================== start quote.
How do I check and update my DNS settings, if my DNS settings are not "server assigned"?
When you visit a Web site, your browser sends the site's alphabetic domain name to a DNS server. The DNS server translates the domain into a numeric IP address, then responds to your computer with the Internet location of the Web site. Incorrect DNS settings on your computer can disrupt this information flow and cause your Internet browsing to slow down or fail.
If you have trouble browsing the Internet, check your DNS settings. You likely have your DNS settings as "server-assigned." This allows DNS information to be automatically sent to your computer, which may improve your browsing experience. However, you may need to have your DNS settings manually entered
Note: If you are using a router to connect to your Internet service, check with your manufacturer's web site for instructions on updating your DNS settings with the following information:
Primary DNS: 68.94.156.1
Secondary DNS: 68.94.157.1
1. Click the Start button and select Control Panel from the menu.
2. Select Network and Internet Connections.
3. Double-click the Network Connections icon at the lower right.
4. Under the LAN or High-Speed Internet section, right-click the Local Area Connection icon and select Properties.
5. From the "Components checked are used by this connection" list, select Internet Protocol (TCP/IP), then click the Properties button.
6. Read the current DNS setting on the lower half of the TCP/IP properties screen. If the radio button Obtain DNS server address automatically is selected, you do not need to update your DNS settings. Otherwise, please continue.
7. Input the new Preferred DNS server of 68.94.156.1 and the Alternate DNS server of 68.94.157.1.
8. Click OK.
9. Return to the Network Connections screen. If you have a DSL Connection icon in the Broadband section, proceed to next step otherwise you have completed updating your DNS settings.
10. Under the Broadband section, right-click the DSL Connection icon and select Properties.
11. Select the Networking tab.
12. From the "This connection uses the following items" list, select Internet Protocol (TCP/IP) and click the Properties button.
13. Read the current DNS setting on the lower half of the TCP/IP properties screen. If the radio button Obtain DNS server address automatically is selected you do not need to up date your DNS settings. Otherwise, please continue.
14. Input the new Preferred DNS server of 68.94.156.1 and the Alternate DNS server of 68.94.157.1.
15. Click OK.
================================= end quote.
So it appears I can't put screen shots in here. Well I hope you get the gist.
In fact this is a bit hosed up.
It says if you user "automatic dns" you're OK, that's opposite of my experience.
I changed to the specified DNS addresses and things seem 99.9% fixed.
I also changed my Router (wireless) settings.
If there's a survey of my experience here I'll take it.
Mike Hardy

Verizon just lost a long-time customer

On September 19 I walked into a corporate Verizon store on East Washington Avenue in Madison, WI to check out the iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus. Because of the early upgrade offer both of my lines were then eligible for the upgrade. I've been a customer for 9 years. When one of the reps brought up the Edge program I asked him, and then his white-shirt companion, about pricing. I was clear that I was not interested in the Edge plan if I could not get the upgrade pricing. Several times I made this clear. They punched numbers on their calculators and the numbers came out to what I expected for upgrade pricing. Two days ago I get my bill notification. I take a look and there it is; full price charged for the phones.
I called Customer Service, and while the young lady on the phone was sympathetic and did try to correct things (she did her job the best she could), it came down to I have to go into the store and argue with the manager, Dustin, to fight to get the pricing adjusted and get back on my old plan. What possible reason would I have to pay full price for two phones, and move to a more expensive plan? I've had plenty of data in my old plan, and a 2-year contract has never bothered me. Apparently, according to the CS rep on the phone, this is not the first time a store has said one thing and charged differently.
What's going on, Verizon? Can you not control your corporate stores? A long-time customer has to go in and argue with the manager? Argue? This has all the makings of a shady used car dealer. And in the end, if I could manage to get things worked out, what do you have for your long-time customer for the trouble? Verizon needs to empower their first-line call center folks to offer something for the misery that their lack of corporate control seems to unleash on customers. Not a $10 gift card either. Something of this magnitude should have a whopper of an apology offer.
Anyone thinking of going to Edge, don't. In fact, after this whole deal today I'm going to take my business to T-Mobile. I just can't believe Verizon has no control over their stores. I can't believe they have no ability to correct this kind of issue without sending me into a store to essentially wrestle with a manager who, apparently, is an a-hole. Head to T-Mobile people. My old plan with Verizon will cost me $40.00 a month less with T-Mobile. So again, if I wanted to pay full price for a phone, why wouldn't I just go to a better carrier who has superior coverage in my area? Well, that's what I'm going to do.
So long, Verizon. Maybe you'll learn after state consumer laws crawl up your rear for the actions of the stores you cannot control.

veldigar wrote:
... I was clear that I was not interested in the Edge plan if I could not get the upgrade pricing. Several times I made this clear.
Then the employees, and you, don't understand EDGE. It's not a service plan, it's a PAYMENT option to pay the full price of the phone in installments, and have no "contract" or obligation to stay with Verizon once the phone is paid for, which you can do at any time. So if you were trying to get discounted pricing, and the reps were talking EDGE, you were talking at cross purposes....
In order to get the upgrade pricing, you need to sign a contract for 2 years of service, and agree to an ETF if you leave Verizon before the two years.

Ridiculous treatment of long time customers. Bills continue rising.

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