The Money Mustache Community

Learning, Sharing, and Teaching => Ask a Mustachian => Topic started by: richcatpoorcat on September 28, 2014, 06:48:49 AM

Title: What do you make of these new phone lease plans like Verizon Edge?
Post by: richcatpoorcat on September 28, 2014, 06:48:49 AM
Was in the Verizon store yesterday and one of the sales guys was telling me about the Verizon edge plan where you essentially lease the phone for 6 months.
You end up paying the whole cost for the phone ( so more expensive than if you did a regular 2 year upgrade) but you are also not locked into a 2 year agreement and can upgrade again in 6 months.

This seems like a gimmick to me but I know so many friends/ co-workers doing it who would other wise steer clear of plans like this.
Title: Re: What do you make of these new phone lease plans like Verizon Edge?
Post by: StangStache on September 28, 2014, 09:11:32 AM
It looks to me like another way of doctoring numbers so it attracts customers to buy a new phone and spread out the cost in a slightly different manner compared to the "subsidized" traditional 2-year contract (i.e. 2-year loan for the phone).

I've been away from Verizon for 6 years now, but I assume this is somewhat similar to AT&T's Next program, up to a few minor differences.  The NYTimes just had an article on their front page about this yesterday (entitled "the $650 iPhone is fantasy, if not fiction" or something). 

At the end of the day, people are buying a $650+ phone and just paying for it in a different fashion.  24 payments with an option to leave early (and pay up to the 12th installment) still comes with the responsibility of paying full price for the phone, or half if you leave early.   In the "leave early" scenario, it seems to me like you're just leasing the phone and come out worse off at the end.  It's a way to feed the "gotta have the newest" habit of the masses. 

I still think it's best to buy the phone you want and go with a primo prepaid carrier like Cricket and save money in the long run.  Even better, buy a used phone or keep your old one and do this (that is, if you're a smartphone power user.  The MMM community has been great about Ting and Republic).   
Title: Re: What do you make of these new phone lease plans like Verizon Edge?
Post by: boarder42 on September 28, 2014, 09:49:21 AM
if you're going with a carrier you go with Tmobile ... its hands down the best offer out there.  2.5 GB per line ... if you get 6 people together its 20 bucks a month ... just insanely good deal.  BYOP
Title: Re: What do you make of these new phone lease plans like Verizon Edge?
Post by: StangStache on September 28, 2014, 01:35:24 PM
if you're going with a carrier you go with Tmobile ... its hands down the best offer out there.  2.5 GB per line ... if you get 6 people together its 20 bucks a month ... just insanely good deal.  BYOP

Tmobile has pretty solid offerings, price wise.  Can't argue with that.  Definitely worth looking into if you're in an area with good TMO coverage.

Otherwise, I highly recommend Cricket, as it's all native AT&T coverage. 

Further to the OP's original question, getting new phone via Verizon's Edge program is pretty much the anti TMO/Cricket/Ting/Republic/etc.   Very unmustachian. 
Title: Re: What do you make of these new phone lease plans like Verizon Edge?
Post by: chasesfish on September 28, 2014, 02:20:15 PM
If you need a big fancy data hogging phone for work, its hard to beat T-Mobile's price all in.  I was one of those 2% of users that Ting told me they weren't a fit for.

The service seems to improve every quarter where I'm at, there was one section I would always drop on that they've now stuck a tower in.