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What kills me!!!!

johnnyb0810

Feb 16, 2011, 9:34 AM
First off, I realize this is a site devoted to the phones of a specific carrier. I have a soap box and no matter how hard I try my wife just can't seem to calm me down.

As a rep at a call center, I see WAY too many people trying to save that quick buck by being on calling plans that simply do not fit the person's (or family's) usage. People not taking advantage of friends and family or "unlimited" data simply because they can save a buck (theoretically) by being on a lower plan. People who like to watch movies but stay on a 5gb plan for mobile broadband services.

700 min plan is 69.99 and thats all you get, if you use any more than that with your 5 lines... pay the extra $20 a month can save you unlimited amounts of money due to the ...
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wbgirl

Feb 16, 2011, 9:56 AM
AMEN!!! Its my fault you used the minutes and went over... yeah right 🙄
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acdc1a

Feb 16, 2011, 3:50 PM
What kills me is service providers still charging by the minute and KB/MB/GB. The question should be, Do you want voice? Yes, it's $XX.XX per month. Do you want Data? Yes, it's $XX.XX per month. Do you want text? It's included with the data plan.

Charging per minute is cruel. Charging by the KB/MB/GB is cruel. You either want the service or you don't. Stop playing games with limits.
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johnnyb0810

Feb 16, 2011, 4:00 PM
The reason for limits makes sense though. There are unlimited plans. If you need to use 8000 mins and 10000 MBs why should someone who doesn't cost the company nearly as much in service pay the same as you. There isn't a flat rate for water or electric either. And you pay for gas based on how much you consume as well. It's not a game it's a business.
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Azeron

Feb 16, 2011, 4:34 PM
Stop it. A minute never cost ANY carrier $.25 never mind $.45 If Verizon's reseller Page Plus can offer Unlimited Text and Talk for $45 flat am I crazy to suspect Verizon is just plowing into customers with no Vaseline by charging them $90?
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johnnyb0810

Feb 16, 2011, 4:52 PM
The argument still stands that this is the way it is. If you can afford 1 tower let alone enough to cover most of the map, Maintenance, and let's not forget paying the wages of enough call centers and stores to keep the product in the hands of the customer, (with very few actually appreciating that convenience) How is it unruly to please the minority by offering a lower price for their lower use? Why is it so unheard of to think that things like this and advancement require some kind of gain. Seeing as adding additional lines cost 9.99 a month hardly making back the investment of the phone (if done at all) in the first year of service.

The overage rates are given when you move to the plan, and if they are not you could simply ask. There...
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Azeron

Feb 16, 2011, 7:48 PM
"The argument still stands that this is the way it is."

You call it an argument. I call it *Bleeping* their customers. *Shrug* We're never going to agree on this. Just because Verizon can get away with it doesn't mean it's right.
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johnnyb0810

Feb 16, 2011, 8:36 PM
I guess I was unclear, for that I do apologize. 🤭 I'm not totally for the overage rates as they are right now (cost wise), at the same time I do think people are accountable for their actions. I look at the calling plan as being a form of contract: I agree to pay x, I will recieve y mins, the penalty for going over is z. In that way, if you do go over, it is in no way mine or anyone elses responsibility to be accountable for your losses. It may not be fair cost wise but it is the way it is.
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CellStudent

Feb 16, 2011, 6:48 PM
Azeron said:
Stop it. A minute never cost ANY carrier $.25 never mind $.45 If Verizon's reseller Page Plus can offer Unlimited Text and Talk for $45 flat am I crazy to suspect Verizon is just plowing into customers with no Vaseline by charging them $90?

The "marginal cost" of one more minute of usage is nearly nothing.

The overhead cost of the entire enterprise is huge, for all the carriers.

I totally agree that the current "per minute" and "per text message" overage rates are way out of hand. The pricing structure needs to change to something like "$20 per month for each line plus $0.02 per minute and $0.01 per text message."

Flat, rock-bottom base rate plus pay for what you use. Simple.
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daxdcagain

Feb 17, 2011, 11:18 AM
That would be brutal. Have you seen the minutes used on some of these bills? I see realistically 1000s of minutes used for the majority of subscribers, then 1000s of text messages on top of that. Unless you are only talking about peak time minutes............

I see bills where customers use about 5000 total minutes and then another 2000 SMS messages. Under your proposal that would cost the customer 120 bucks before even talking about data.
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CellStudent

Feb 17, 2011, 2:53 PM
I fully realize that the example prices I gave are not realistic. I was trying only to make a point. Maybe it should be 5 minutes for $0.01 or perhaps 25 SMS for $0.01.

I have no idea what the actual cost of service is for any cellular product- I'm only advocating that a simple base + usage pricing model make the most sense in the big picture.
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epik

Feb 17, 2011, 4:05 PM
If I may expand on your comments, CellStudent, I see your point.

A system of usage buckets seems to be the best compromise between unlimited at a flat rate and per minute charges. Say, for example, $20 for every 500 or 1000 minutes used. Use 1001 minutes, you pay for the first and second thousand minute buckets, or a total of $40.

We must keep in mind that if you assume the base cost of a modern price plan and divide it by the number of minutes it provides, we have a better understanding of what a minute costs the end user. A 450 minute plan on Verizon costs $39.99, therefore, assuming you never use mobile to mobile or night and weekend minutes, you're effectively paying $0.089 per minute. On the 900 minute plan, at $59.99, you're ...
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nodeposit

Feb 16, 2011, 6:54 PM
What kills me is the fact that somethings can not be corrected. Whether its a reps error or a customer error, someone somewhere should be able to fix it.
Example: Customer comes in to start a NEW line of service a few days ago with it's own separate account number, and the rep adds it to an existing account and now that account is past due and shut off. I am told by numerous customer service reps that the new line cannot be removed from the account with the past due balance, which I understand but in certain circumstances it should be able to be done. This is not the customers fault and therefore the customer should not be punished for it. 99% of the time I have no issues with policies and system rules and what not but this is dumb. ...
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Azeron

Feb 16, 2011, 7:52 PM
In the old days it could be done, but I personally witnessed fraud where a manager would add lines for customers who were hot-lined by posting fraudulent payments and then voiding the payment at day's end. Those were the lawless days.
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johnnyb0810

Feb 16, 2011, 8:30 PM
Another example is the hotline feature being added to the line cancelling out the bta for 6 mos. tried to get it removed on several occasions but there is no work around.
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