After nearly two years on T-Mobile, I’ve returned to Verizon. T-Mobile offers the best rates (of the major carriers), the most progressive policies, and stellar customer support. Yet, despite network improvements, their coverage continues to lag the competition (in the places I find myself) and we’ve concluded reliability must be our priority. Even in my high density, supposedly well-served area, it’s been kind of ridiculous driving home from work with my phone pinned between my sun visor and roof, while squinting from the glare, in hopes of preventing calls from being disrupted in some way (and rarely succeeding).
Verizon dropping the BS “activation” fee allowed me to contemplate coming back home. And, once in store to review the options, they made an offer we couldn’t refuse. My older iPhone 5s net a lofty $300 trade-in valuation — about double what T-Mobile and Gazelle offered. And, as an existing FiOS customer, $200 was knocked off iPhone 6s hardware pricing via some sort of promotion I wasn’t aware of but gladly took part in. To seal the deal, a few months down the line, I’ll be getting a $100 “port-in” credit as a “new” customer.
Our T-Mobile two-line plan included unlimited everything for $100/month, whereas the new Verizon plan runs $120 for a shared 12GB of LTE data. It’s obviously not as generous and at a higher rate. But, again, we’re willing to pay a premium for the best network. And our long national nightmare is over.
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Verizon's excellent coverage is one reason why I hope I never need to leave. I'm still grandfathered into their unlimited data/texts and 450 minutes talk. For only $60 before taxes. And I get a 4G LTE signal 99% of the time. Even in sub levels of buildings in DC without any cellular reinforcement. But if they eliminate my grandfathered plan, my monthly cost would around double since I would need to be on one of the higher data plans. And I would not enjoy paying over $120 each month for just one cell phone.
I have two lines (unlimited everything) with C-Spire for $168/month (all fees included). I finally left the city life, and moved to a rural area (commute sucks but I get a whole lot of house for cheaper property taxes).
C-Spire has killed my Android experience with spotty service (add the fact that Galaxy micro SD cards randomly ended up in RAW format). My oldest is turning 16 so we'll be in the market to add another line.
Anyway, I was considering Verizon but their data plan tiers gave me cold feet. If they ever offer unlimited data again, I would pay a premium for reliable service. It seems like a majority of companies these days care less about reliability, and more about a customer not only making a purchase but using all free time to keep suckling for customer/tech support.
Scary times.
Pretty sure the days of unlimited data are over... In fact, I believe our (former) T-Mobile plan had language indicating the pricing and/or quantity was only guaranteed through the end of this year or next. Related, 12GB should be more than sufficient for us. But I'm thinking of limiting photo syncing and app downloads to WiFi-only. Assuming that option exists.