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FCC Taking On Verizon's New ETF

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why

yeahright

Dec 5, 2009, 2:36 PM
hmmm... buy a storm for $100 after rebate get one free.

So $100 for $1000 worth of equipment

Sell second storm on ebay brand new in box for $500 and pay $175 eta.

YEs factor in activation fee and I just made $300 profit. If you don't think people figured this out and where abusing it you are nuts!

In order to keep offering such great deals to honest consumers they had to hike that up to keep the scammers away. It was that or stop offering bogos on the high end devices... but I am guessing those who used to promo wouldn't have liked that to much
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yeahright

Dec 5, 2009, 2:56 PM
1st for a consumer out there.. not an At&t, Tmobile, Sprint or Verizon fanboy

would you rather pay $400 for two high end BB, Droid or whatever and have a $175 cancellation fee

Or Would you rather pay $100 upfront for two devices and have a $375 fee

Question 2 for the Att Iphone fanboys (which is fine)

If At&t came out and said we are going to offer a bogo on the new iphone... 2 for $50-$100 bucks but we are raising the ETF... are you trying to tell me there would not be a lot of consumers and sales people out their rejoicing over and an extra $300 in savings off of iphones this holiday season in a crappy economy????
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payurbill

Dec 5, 2009, 8:00 PM
i would rather go with answer #2 but yet again im not type to break contract so for all i care it could be $1000.00 if it makes me get high end phone for free or cheap
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Globhead

Dec 5, 2009, 11:54 PM
I would rather take option 3:

The carriers stop padding my bill to pay for "discounted" phones which they selected and modified with their own interests in mind, and instead I keep my money and use it to buy a phone I actually want.
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yeahright

Dec 6, 2009, 11:32 AM
I am for that to... but the general public has become accustomed to getting high end phones for nothing. Educated people would realize this but for it to work all carriers would have to do it. If one kept the current practice they would slaughter everyone else.
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waldorfsalad

Dec 6, 2009, 7:52 PM
How do the carriers "pad" the bills? You pay for the services you want, period. And as for the phones being modified... I think that tide is turning. The Motorola Droid, for example doesn't include verizon's "modifications".
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xjittianx

Dec 5, 2009, 5:10 PM
okay. i see what you're saying, but how many consumers are actually going to do that? not many. when you factor in how many phones they sell and how many people go and sell them on ebay, its a tiny percenage. they aren't losing enough money there for them to make such a massive change as that.

I think Verizon is realizing that there is such a massive saturation in the cell phone industry, they need to retain as many customers as possible, by any means.

Another great example is looking at all the commercials that have came out recently from verizon, as well as at&t, and Sprint.

Lets face it, most people who are activating new service are coming from a different carrier.
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yeahright

Dec 6, 2009, 11:30 AM
i know some one who signed up for 4 lines but only needed 1.

so he received 4 BB storms..paid $200
he then paid 3x175= 525 + free acts (did online)
then sold all three phones for around $1400 on ebay making a nice $900 profit (well about 800 after prorated first bill)

I am just saying it probably happens more then we think.... I have considered adding a line before just to cancel and sell it.
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akidwai

Dec 7, 2009, 10:04 AM
I have a interesting idea, and anyone can forward my idea to the higher ups out there at all or any of the cell phone companies.

With the above example, one could avoid the higher termination fee by returning the phones if less than 4 months old at cancellation to the cell phone provider with a nominal restocking fee of say $25-35 per line/phone. In this way that phone(s) can not be sold by the customer on Ebay or Craig's List.

Option 2, have the ETF decrease twice as fast for those higher end phones so that after 18 months the ETF is the same for both low and high end phones.

I am welcome to any suggestions for those out there about my two options to min the gouging of the cell phone subsidies.
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flagrantmisuse

Dec 7, 2009, 10:40 AM
but it isn't just about people abusing the bogo offers. for some people who dont have insurance or cant upgrade and lose/get phone stolen, it's cheaper for them to just activate a new line of service and get discount phone price. then they cancel their other line and pay etf. because paying full retail for a phone is out of the question.

i know that's why att is considering raising etf to equal difference in price of iphone to full retail.
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murmermer

Dec 7, 2009, 1:46 PM
lets think for a moment... I am going to give you a scenario that follows the same moral ethics as these perpetrators and you tell me if Verizon wrong.

You decide to have a party at your house. You send out invitations saying you will provide soda, steak and Ribs and everyone who visits should bring their own side dishes. you realize 1/2 way through the party that people are coming to the party not only without side dishes but stealing other peoples food out of the fridge and off the counter. They are even steeling the free meat you are cooking for people. Do you get mad? how do you stop these hooligans?

What point would Verizon have in raising prices if it wasnt to protect itself?
its not some wireless conspiracy going on, its abou...
(continues)
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