Unhappy With Verizon? Now May Be Your Chance To Leave Them

The Consumerist writes today that a small $.03 increase in a regulatory fee that Verizon plans to implement on July 1st could be your chance to get out of your contract with Verizon without being charged their "early termination fee" which could save you up to $350 per line.

They claim that the fee increase from $.13 to $.16 falls under the "materially adverse change of contract" clause in the agreement you signed the last time you renewed.

From Verizon's customer agreement:

Can Verizon Wireless Change This Agreement or My Service?

We may change prices or any other term of your Service or this agreement at any time,but we'll provide notice first, including written notice if you have Postpay Service. If you use your Service after the change takes effect, that means you're accepting the change. If you're a Postpay customer and a change to your Plan or this agreement has a material adverse effect on you, you can cancel the line of Service that has been affected within 60 days of receiving the notice with no early termination fee.

Now I am guessing there will not be many takers here in South Dakota as our choices for a Verizon replacement aren't the greatest but if you have been looking to leave, this may be your chance as long as you act within 60 days of the fee implementation. The post over at the Consumerist has all the details as well as some helpful stories from those using similar situations to terminate their contracts early.

The End Of Unlimited Data On Verizon

The era of unlimited data on Verizon is coming to an end as the news has leaked, and has since been confirmed, that starting July 7th Verizon customers signing a new contract will no longer have the $29.99 data option. What hasn't been confirmed yet but is being widely reported is that you will still be shelling out at least 30 bucks for your data plan, but now that will be the cost of their minimum option and will only get you 2GB of bandwidth.

Here is the rumored data pricing structure:

2GB – $30/month
5GB – $50/month
10GB – $80/month

And if this wasn't bad enough, Verizon also thinks that you shouldn't be able to use your bandwidth how you chose and will implement a "required" data plan for those that like to tether for the "bargain" pricing below:

4GB – $50/month
7GB – $70/month
12GB – $100/month

Why exactly does it matter how I use my bandwidth especially since it is no longer unlimited?

All above plans include a $10 per GB overage charge and a bottle of Vaseline to ease the pain when you bend over. (1 hour streaming Netflix will eat up around 1gb for those wondering)

If you are a Verizon smartphone user in South Dakota, what does that mean to you?

As long as you happen to spend most of your time along the I29 corridor and don't travel to points west very often, you still have the option of telling Verizon to pack sand and sign up with Sprint. They have a very good selection of Android and Blackberry phones (no iPhone) and still offer true unlimited data for those of us that tend to use our phones like they were intended to be used. But if you are like me and spend a lot of time outside of Sioux Falls, Sprint is not an option.

That just leaves new South Dakota resident AT&T. Unfortunately, they have long since done away with their unlimited data programs after finding out that their crappy network couldn't handle the traffic. They do have somewhat better pricing plans, averaging about $5 a month less plus they have a much more wallet friendly plan for those that are small time data consumers but if you plan on streaming a lot of music or video with any carrier other than Sprint, plan on taking on a 2nd job.

200MB – $15/month
2GB – $25/month
4GB – $45/month

Where does that leave current Verizon customers that often use over 2GB a month?

If you are currently enjoying unlimited data, you should continue to do so and will until you sign your next 2 year contract. If you are eligible for an upgrade but were just waiting for Verizon's next super phone i.e. the Bionic, you either continue to wait and then get hit with the new data pricing or you chose one of Verizon's current offerings before the 7th and get locked in under the old pricing. If you aren't due for an upgrade until sometime after the 7th, you either keep your current phone, pay full price for one now, or bite the bullet after the 7th and use wi-fi wherever possible. So far no word on what will happen to those who are month to month and chose to pay full price for their phones yet.

Finally, what if you are like me and being told that you will effectively be required to pay more for less doesn't sound very palatable? 

That remains to be seen for me as I just renewed and have 2 years to decide but that old Motorola Razr in my desk drawer is looking a lot better as does saying goodbye to Verizon altogether.

(via DroidLife)

UPDATE: It now looks like customers already on Verizon's $29.99 unlimited data plan as of 7/7/2011 will be grandfathered in for the foreseeable future even after renewing their 2 year contracts. The rumors now point to only those buying new lines or moving to smart phones for the first time having to choose a tiered data plan.

(4Z66TKHF8X3D)

AT&T Propaganda In The Capitol Journal

I came across an interesting article this morning in the Pierre Capitol Journal that had to be something originating right out of the marketing department of AT&T. The piece covers the proposed merger between AT&T and T-Mobile and how it will do nothing but benefit customers of both companies.

Putting aside for the moment that the only person cited in the article is AT&T's regional vice president of external affairs, the article fails to touch any of the many problems that this merger could cause. I especially loved this line from AT&T that specifically addresses South Dakota:

“We are really excited about it,” Canuteson said. “It is going to be great for a state like South Dakota with small, rural, metropolitan areas where 4G technology wouldn’t necessarily come for a long time without something like this.”

Really? So buying out T-Mobile, which doesn't even have a presence here will some how magically allow AT&T to upgrade our technology? Considering that AT&T just finished building their network in South Dakota from the ground up after buying Alltel's assets and built it using older 3G technology instead of their already sub par "4G" system why do I not believe you? And in regards to our so-called small rural metropolitan areas not seeing 4G, they somehow failed to mention that Sioux Falls is already enjoying the technology...on the much faster Verizon network.

AT&T merging with T-Mobile will surely have some benefits, mainly for T-Mobile's share holders, but for consumers I see little to cheer for. We already have very little competition with only 4 major carriers (only 2 with a significant presence here) and cutting that down to 3 won't help especially considering T-Mobile has the cheapest plans on average of the big 4.

So what is really behind all the merger propaganda coming from AT&T and published by the Capitol Journal without even once throwing the much needed BS flag?

I'm guessing AT&T is starting to worry that the merger is in trouble and is hoping to win the support of consumers before it is too late to which our local papers' advertising departments "news" department seem to be more than happy to oblige. After all if it doesn't get approved and the deal falls apart, AT&T will be on the hook to T-Mobile for $6 billion in cash and prizes. Ouch!

That's a lot of unavailable ad dollars iPhone sales...

4G Goes Live In Sioux Falls

Verizon had promised that 4G would go live by June 16th and they have made good on that promise. Pulling into the Sioux Falls Regional Airport this morning I noticed the beautiful sight of the 4G icon for the first time on my Thunderbolt.

Enjoy Sioux Falls, it is about time we were able to get onboard with new technology before it had already become obsolete.