Verizon Wireless Math Strikes Again: Pay Much More For Less!
from the pay-more,-get-less dept
You may recall, from a few years ago, the concept of "Verizon Math," where the company had tremendous trouble understanding the difference between dollars and cents once you added decimals into the equation, repeatedly telling someone that .05 cents was the same as .05 dollars. While this isn't quite as insane, Techdirt reader Pangolin shares with us his experience in trying to see if there was a better deal on his Verizon MiFi that would let him use more than the capped $60/5GB plan at a reasonable rate. Since he was going to be using the MiFi more frequently, and might have to download large files for work, he was worried that he'd be going over the cap, and the $0.05 dollars per MB overage fee seemed high. He figured there must be a "pro" or "business" plan that might make more sense.After searching and being unable to find it, he began an online chat with a Verizon rep (included in full after the jump below) where he discovered that the upgraded plan was for twice the data... but for more than three times the costs: 10GB for $199. And overage rates? On that plan, they're knocked up to $0.25/MB. As Pangolin notes, why would anyone pay for that, when they could just buy two or even three of the regular MiFi plans, and get a ton more data transfer and significantly lower overage fees even if they did go over. Verizon's answer? "Sorry."
For what it's worth, as Pangolin notes, there's no info online about a higher capped plan, and I contacted Verizon Wireless PR to ask them if such a plan existed. I got back a non-answer, pointing to the webpage showing the 5GB cap. So I asked again. And got no answer. So I asked again. And got no answer. On the fourth try, I was finally told that such a plan does not exist. Yet, if you look around many others have been offered the same plan, and various websites have reported on it as well. So, it sounds like Verizon does offer this oddly priced plan that makes no sense... but just doesn't want to admit it. It makes you wonder why they even bother at all.
In what world does it make sense to charge significantly more for less on an upgraded plan? Full transcript of the chat after the jump...
Please wait for a site operator to respond.
You are now chatting with 'Itrena'
Itrena: Hello, Thank you for visiting our chat service. May I have your 10-digit mobile number area code first and your name as it appears on the account please?
Pangolin: nnnnnnnnnn Pangolin
Itrena: For security purposes, may I please have the billing password on the account?
Pangolin: Question: Do you offer any business based or other plans that would allow larger than 5 GB or an overage charge less than .05 a mb? Password xxxxxxxx
Pangolin: Might be xxxxxx
Itrena: I'm sorry! That is not he billing password. We do have 10gb for 199.99 a month.
Pangolin: I hate this password stuff because I never use it - try xxxx
Itrena: Great, yes, that is correct. Thank you so much for verifying that information.
Itrena: We do have 10gb for 199.99 a month.
Pangolin: That's almost 4 times the 5 GB - that's quite outrageous. Wow. What about the 59.99 plan with less than .05 a mb? I don't think I'm in danger of going over but will be traveling a bit more. I could get a second and 3rd card for the $199.99 a month!
Pangolin: What about 99.99 a month? Maybe the 199.00 is a typo!
Itrena: No, I'm sorry. The price is 199.99.
Pangolin: OK - that's the only other plan available?
Itrena: Yes, it is. I'm sorry!
Pangolin: What's the overage charge per MB on that one?
Itrena: 0.25 a mb.
Pangolin: Please confirm that on the $59.99 plan I am on that the per mb charge for overage is .05 mb.
Itrena: Yes, that is correct .05 for overages.
Pangolin: So for almost 4 times the price I can double my usage but pay 5 times as much for any overage. That's not much of a deal is it?!?
Itrena: It is not again I'm sorry! But that is the price.
Pangolin: I understand you don't set them! Thank you for your time! I'll leave things as they are for now.
Itrena: Thank you for chatting with us have a Great Day!
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Filed Under: mifi, pricing, wireless
Companies: verizon wireless
Reader Comments
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expensive!
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Re: expensive!
A friend of mine calls it inverse socialism: The means of production own the government.
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Re: Re: expensive!
Otherwise known as phase 1 fascism....
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Re: Re: expensive!
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Re: Re: Re: expensive!
Note that he does not stipulate as to which takes control of the other....
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Also, even though I saw this on my RSS feed, I still think the word "jump" is retarded :-P
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Peanut butter and McNuggets
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Re:
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Re:
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Switch to Sprint?
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So with my calculations and using the Verizon site...
$19.999/GB for 10GB plan
$11.998/GB for 05GB plan
Lets do some more math...Lets say you use 15GB/month on each plan....
$96.666/GB for the 10GB plan with overages. (199.99+(5000*.25))/15
$37.33267/GB (rounded)for the 5 GB plan with overages. (59.99+(10000*.05))/15
Looks like the smaller plan is cheaper all around. Now lets go with 3 Data plans at 59.99 each. That is only $11.998 (59.99*3)/15
i am curious to what AT&T would charge for the expanded time if they offered it. Back on my corporate plan in my last job with Verizon they capped me at 5GB. The COMPANY had a contract where overages were not charged. So I guess if you are a company with 60k employees+ world wide, you might be able to barter a better deal. better start hiring yourselves some employees.
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Not learning their lesson
".05 for overages"
"0.25 a mb."
Units are important. This is where they got in trouble the first time, mixing the units between dollars and cents. Completely leaving off units is arguably worse.
.05 what per MB? Dollars? Cents? Potatoes?
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Re: Not learning their lesson
As to sprint - I have a sprint card too. It's on "holiday" right now but when active still has the 5gb cap as well as shoddy coverage compared to verizon. It is nice that they let you put it on holiday for a time though.
In self defense I added tethering to my iphone so I have a solution from each carrier.
Even so - just a moderate update to system software that happens in background can use 1/2 a gigabyte in a hurry. Do that on 5 connected machines and half the bandwidth is gone in an very short time.
If there's a mobile solution other than these 3 carriers I'm all ears.
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Monopoly pricing
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Re: Monopoly pricing
I hate Verizon as much as the next guy. But let's not confuse the issue by making assertions that can't be backed up.
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Re: Re: Monopoly pricing
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Don't know what you guys are complaining about...
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Re: Don't know what you guys are complaining about...
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Re: Re: Don't know what you guys are complaining about...
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not to defend verizon but
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Verizon Mi-Fi
Thanks for the link to my post about the mi-fi. I certainly was astounded when they suggested the 10GB / $199 plan.
Of course, we now know there's a better solution if you get Sprint coverage in your area. Virgin Mobile offers a mi-fi with UNLIMITED usage on the Sprint network for $40/month. As far as I've seen, that's unbeatable.
Thanks again and great post.
Aaron
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Re: Verizon Mi-Fi
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I Thought We Were Badly Off In NZ
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Password
I have Verizon, but haven't bothered with the IM support (they can't get stuff straight over the phone, why would I want to hamper them further by removing voice inflection?), so I don't have a basis of what thier standard practice is, but it really seems odd to me. Anyone else?
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Re: Password
Please, let's not conflate the activity here to something it isn't. It clearly says "billing password".
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Re: Re: Password
And, by the way, not be a grammar nazi... but I think you misused 'conflate'. I wasn't bringing two different texts or ideas together into a whole. I was making a completely separate point. Cheers!
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verizon
Online Verizon only offers a $30 prepaid card that expires after 60 days unless you buy another. But I discovered, after my wife stored $300+ on the phone over several years, that by calling Verizon I could get $100 card that lasted a year. It's perfect. I spend about $120 a year, so I'm gradually wearing down my stored costs.
Here's the thing: Boy, are they desperate to get me on one of their crappy new plans, the most basic of which is $40 a month for 450 minutes, then $.45 per minute over that cap. If I spend 450 minutes a year on the phone, I'd be surprised. Oh, and it's like $1-3 for the first minute, like I'm taking a taxi. Ridiculous.
Best part: I asked an operator, a nice lady from Texas, why I couldn't just be billed for the minutes I used each month the way I am for utilities. She laughed and said, "Oh my gosh, that would be wonderful!" But "wonderful" is not in Verizon's business plan.
And this I hate: you can't get through the Verizon phone tree to actually buy a card. There's simply no option. Everything ultimately leads you to a plan or a request to input how much money you want to put on your phone (but no indication how long Verizon will let it last). To get an actual person, you have to call a technical services person and beg them to transfer you.
Only in America could such a crappy country not only exist but thrive. Well, maybe it could exist in Nigeria too.
Until cell phones and the internet are made utilities, America will fall farther and farther behind the world.
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*Of course, every week during a system maintenance run, anything older than 60 days would get deleted.
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Ridiculous!!
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Re: Ridiculous!!
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Re: time zones
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