Verizon Loses 400K customers in first 6 weeks of 2017?

[Ratherboard]

In the first six weeks of the year, Verizon lost nearly 400,000 wireless customers, according to its latest earnings report.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/the-switch/wp/2017/04/20/why-verizon-is-losing-more-cellphone-customers-than-ever/?utm_term=.fa05015b86bd

Mustachians maybe?  I'd love to think they were all Mustachians and it's likely some of them were.  It states that when Verizon unveiled their Unlimited plans, they gained 110K customers, but that's still a net loss of approx. 290K!

Well, make that 290,001 - I'm leaving in two months when my contract expires.  Company paid cellphone coming soon.  Woohoo! 

[enb123]

I left several years ago for T-Mobile.  I currently have 3 lines for $100 with unlimited data (all taxes/fees included in the flat $100), 10GB/line of hotspot tethering, plus some occasional "perks" like 25 cents off per gallon, free video rentals, etc. through the "T-Mobile Tuesdays" app.  Better yet, 2 of the 3 lines are eligible for $10/off per month if you use less than 2GB of data, so the total bill goes down to $80.   

I'm sure there are ways of potentially reducing that bill a bit more through other carriers, but compared to Verizon, it's a ridiculous improvement.

Edit: The third line was a recent promotion, so I think it's only available these days as a 2 lines for $100 deal, but I also believe they run that promotion (and maybe even a better one like 4 lines for $100) from time to time, and you can nab it when they do even if you are a current subscriber.

[hoping2retire35]

I would guess two Christmases ago a bunch of people got IPhones with two year contracts. they are now switching plans/carriers

[farmecologist]

We are on Cricket (AT&T).  5 lines for $100 ( basic plan...3GB per line ).   This is their 'family' plan with a progressive discount for each line added...up to a 5 line max.  Verizon could not even come close to that the last time I checked.

I should also note that Cricket does not charge you when you pass the 3GB data limit...they just throttle you substantially.  This is great for teaching kids how to be reasonable and NOT assume that data is unlimited.  :-)

The big 'catch' is that this is a 'bring your own phone' setup.  Or you can buy discounted phones from Cricket.

[SwordGuy]

They sent a text message this week saying my plan was being cancelled, but I was being upgraded.

Background:  I have a 19.95 flip phone.  I pay about $15 a month plus $1.99 each day I actually call someone.   That adds about $10 to $20 a year to my monthly bill for the service.

The new "upgrade" was $30 a month.

I asked the cust svc rep how charging me twice as much as before could possibly be considered an upgrade.

They told me that it included unlimited phone calls and text messages, plus something called "mobile web".

I told them I used the phone maybe 5 to 10 days out of the year, didn't use text messages ever, and had no need for mobile web, whatever that is. 

They decided to extend my plan for another year.  :)

[lost_in_the_endless_aisle]

Where I live, there is Verizon and there is shouting from hilltops. I go with Verizon.

[Hargrove]

I keep getting sweet upgrade offers from Verizon. Don't pay $30 for 1GB - a plan which no one can sign up for anymore - pay $35 for 2GB and a list of irrelevant features. I always forget to, uh, upgrade.

[SingleMomDebt]

That explains why my family's prepaid acct dropped $5/ea/month with 2gb now to unlimited data.

[MrsPete]

Where I live, there is Verizon and there is shouting from hilltops. I go with Verizon.

Yeah, I can relate. 

Where I live, plenty of phone services work fine ... but in the small, remote town where my daughter attends college, Verizon is the only game in town, so -- for the moment -- I am a loyal Verizon customer.  As soon as she graduates, I'll go elsewhere ... somewhere cheaper.  My cheapskate co-worker has a child at the same college, and she's come to the same conclusion:  We're stuck until graduation, and I can live with that.

[JLee]

Verizon is very, very good at pissing off their customer base. This does not surprise me in the least.

[bdoubleu]

Where I live, there is Verizon and there is shouting from hilltops. I go with Verizon.

Haha. Yes, this.

Though we just "renewed" our contract (quotes because our old one was done, the new way does not have contracts any more). We were paying, after taxes/fees, $175/month for two smartphones + 3gb data to splitt and a "dumb" phone.  We now pay $125/month after taxes/fees for 3 smart phones with 8 gb to share.  I'm definitely satisfied with the price decrease. Again, there really aren't any other reliable options where I live (yes, I've looked at the IP Daley thread for alternatives).

[LearnTo]

Verizon is very, very good at pissing off their customer base. This does not surprise me in the least.

The past two months they claim I've run out of data, even though I don't feel my habits have changed.  I can see where they might be losing customers, b/c I've heard they may be scamming people in this manner.

[farmecologist]

Verizon is very, very good at pissing off their customer base. This does not surprise me in the least.

The past two months they claim I've run out of data, even though I don't feel my habits have changed.  I can see where they might be losing customers, b/c I've heard they may be scamming people in this manner.

Does Verizon still charge for data overages?  If so, that's  a bummer.

Part of the reason I like Cricket...and other "prepaid" carriers is because they only throttle your data when the data limit has been reached.  It also teaches kids that phone data isn't an unlimited resource!  Many of them seem to think it is.  :-)