Verizon Data Plan – How to Get around the Mandatory $9.99 Fee
It all began back in January when Verizon Wireless decided that all of their popular phones would now come along with a mandatory data fee; $9.99 for mid-level texting phones and $29.99 for smart phones. The fee for smart phones, well that’s pretty much always been the norm. But to be required to pay $9.99 more a month for the same phone on which a month prior this fee was not imposed; well that’s a bit hard to swallow.
How to avoid the required $9.99 data plan
With two teenagers in the house whose Verizon contracts were up soon, the idea of paying an extra $20 a month seemed outrageous – especially because we were getting no additional value. Our girls had no interest in internet access or email on their phones – as long as they could continue to text and share pictures they were perfectly happy. They were not however, thrilled with the extremely low-end (borderline insulting) phones Verizon was offering without the required data plan.
The good news is that we did find a compromise. It took some convincing, but we encouraged our daughters to pick out an older model phone that Verizon no longer sells. We purchased these phones (that not too long ago were all the rage) on eBay for a decent price. We activated them under the girls’ existing plans and voila: a “new” phone and no additional $9.99 a month.
What if your phone breaks before the contract is up?
Ideally, you’ll want to hold on to your existing phone as long as possible to avoid the fee that will kick in when your contract is renewed. Of course, that could be a long time for those who use their phone heavily. Have you seen a teenager’s phone after a year’s worth of use?
If you go through the traditional replacement procedure Verizon offers, be very careful. Verizon will indeed tack on the $9.99 a month for the replacement phone. Though, you do have recourse. Be sure to contact customer service and have the fee removed. You should be grandfathered in because no data fee was required when you first signed up.
Your other replacement option is, of course to go through the ebay route we mentioned above. Not only will you avoid any hassle involved with removing the data fee, but you can in most cases get more phone for your money this way.
Our girls have been completely happy with their “new to them” phones. And we are giddy that we are keeping that $20 in our bank account each month.
