No, it’s not a belated April Fool’s Day joke; if you’re a Verizon customer hoping to upgrade your phone, prepare to pay out a $20 fee for the privilege. MacRumors was able to get its hands on a leaked document demonstrating a plan to quietly introduce the new $20 fee on April 4.
“Verizon customers planning on upgrading to the iPhone SE or another new smartphone should do so sooner rather than later, as the U.S.’s largest carrier has outlined plans to introduce a new $20 upgrade fee starting next week.”
“Beginning next Monday, April 4, a new $20 flat rate charge will be applied to smartphones purchased on a Device Payment financing plan, or at full retail price, according to a leaked internal memo obtained by MacRumors .”
Here’s a look at the leaked document MacRumors obtained.
Verizon planning $20 upgrade fee even for customers of Apple’s iPhone Upgrade Plan,… https://t.co/fFsznobHCp pic.twitter.com/XNMg4Okd8e
— Apple News (@applenws) March 31, 2016
Even if you’re someone who was hoping to take advantage of the iPhone upgrade, that act will also qualify for Verizon’s $20 fee. The pre-existing $40 upgrade fee “will remain in place.” Also, and in a particularly messed up turn of events, if you happen to be paying full price (hundreds of dollars) for a phone, you’re greeted with an additional fee rather than a discount .
DroidLife notes that before the April 4 upgrade changes, “the only fees you had to pay when getting a new phone at Verizon were during initial sign-up or when signing a new 2-year contract.”
“If you bought a phone on a payment plan or at full retail, they spared you the activation or upgrade expense.”
What’s the justification that Verizon gives for an additional $20 upgrade fee? DroidLife asked Verizon about the fee directly. The company confirmed the upcoming fee and explained its actions with an official statement.
“The upgrade fee helps cover our increased support costs associated with customers switching devices. Customers can pay the charge when they upgrade, bill it to their account or trade in an old device to offset the cost. The fee for upgrading on device payment is still half of the two-year contract upgrade fee.”
While that excuse may be good enough for Verizon, it doesn’t appear to be good enough for Verizon’s customers.
Not a joke: Verizon raising unlimited data prices by $20 on May 15 for some – https://t.co/3GdRnkzZ2a #android pic.twitter.com/lwPol56Ug5
— Droid Life (@droid_life) April 2, 2016
DroidLife created a hilarious post meant to capture the best responses to the upcoming Verizon $20 flat fee, and the consumer outrage didn’t disappoint. Said commenter Mike, “So this is like when I pay my lawyer $4,200 to pay my ex-wife $24,000?” A fair comparison at this rate.
There were also the meme references
@droid_life DAMN @verizon ! Back at it again with the shitty fees!
— TankRizzo (@TankRizzo) March 31, 2016
Perhaps the most poignant observation came from a man named Asa Thomas.
“All this means to me is that Verizon doesn’t want me to buy phones from them. That’s okay, I don’t want to buy phones from them either.”
Why is that poignant? Well, the fee apparently applies only if you get your phone upgrade at the “point of sale through direct Verizon sales channels.” Not buying your phone through Verizon? No $20 flat fee to worry about.
The few of you that have escaped price hikes for Verizon’s unlimited data plans, good luck. https://t.co/028ZcObjb3 pic.twitter.com/VpLKY2KPaS
— Pocketnow (@Pocketnow) April 2, 2016
The leaked infographic might have also done Verizon’s competitors something of a solid favor by demonstrating that AT&T has a cheaper upgrade fee at $15. T-Mobile? No upgrade fee at all. It would be extremely surprising if T-Mobile didn’t use this information against Verizon in an ad at some point, or “thank” the company for the indirect advertising.
Only Sprint charges more for an upgrade, with up to $36 paid out “per device.”
Verizon seems confident that customers will adjust to the reality of yet another upgrade fee, even if $20 seems like very little money in the long run. However, from the looks of things, this could be the “last straw” that forces quite a few service users to a new provider.
[Photo by Spencer Platt/Getty Images]
