Verizon discontinues 'New Every Two' policy in the wake of the iPhoneWithout much fanfare, Verizon Wireless has discontinued "New Every Two," a long-running promotion where anyone completing a two-year contract was eligible for a new or discounted phone if they signed on for another two-year contract. As of January 16, a few weeks before pre-orders would be accepted for Verizon iPhones, Verizon has changed its policy.
Previously, anyone completing a contract would be eligible for either a new low-end phone or a credit ranging between US$30 and $100 toward the purchase of a new phone. Verizon has also changed its early termination policy, which once allowed customers with a two-year contract to bail after around 13 months. This has now been raised to 20 months. It's true that Apple mobile products rarely, if ever, enjoyed this perk on AT&T, but the timing of this policy change is a bit of a slap in the face for the 26 percent of current iPhone users expected to switch to Verizon once the iPhone becomes available. According to a ChangeWave survey, 41 percent of those potential switchers plan to switch to Verizon within the first three months of the iPhone 4's release on that network, and another 31 percent plan on switching within the first year.
If you are an existing Verizon Wireless customer at present, you will be grandfathered in to the "New Every Two" program, but it seems that the timing is calculated to make sure that any switchers from AT&T will not have the opportunity for any sort of discounted phone. This and the fact that the Verizon iPhone will not be able to use the internet while talking on the phone may dismay people who are intent on switching -- me included -- but I'm sure that Verizon Wireless considers this a minor inconvenience for customers looking forward to using an iPhone on a network that (theoretically) will offer better performance than AT&T.
We'll keep an eye out for other "gotchas" that Verizon may announce.
[via InformationWeek]Verizon discontinues 'New Every Two' policy in the wake of the iPhone originally appeared on TUAW on Mon, 17 Jan 2011 07:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.Permalink | Email this | Comments
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