<p>Ooh-- I should clarify after the above post. The website reviews s can help you narrow down what you might like-- then definitely go check them out in the store.</p>
<p>Have you called customer service at Verizon? I’m with ATT, but my experience has been that their website, the brick and mortar store, and customer service (via phone) all seem to work for different businesses! I was also told by store clerks that I had to buy a data package with most phones, that it would work in Europe, etc, or that a $10 data plan was required with certain phones (according to the website), but when I actually talked to someone, they were able to circumvent most of these “requirements”. If you have been a good customer for a few years, you have some leverage. I basically ask for everything, including all fees waived, and I have never been turned down.</p>
<p>Occasionally I’ve called several times until I get someone who will give me what I want. But I usually luck out the first time.</p>
<p>So, my recommendation is, go to a few stores and check out the phones in person (go to several stores because they don’t all stock the same ones-- sometimes they don’t even stock the ones available online). Then call Verizon and see if you can negotiate.</p>
<p>Yes, I did go into the store - I am one who likes to see something before me if possible before I buy. However, it is also true that the store does not carry all options. </p>
<p>The call may be worthwhile. I’ll get my H on that. 
He has been very successful with Verizon customer service many times in the past with different rants about charges. </p>
<p>Weird how they can have so many options in general (i.e., phones) but it still seems to not meet a lot of needs!</p>
<p>We all switched to Verizon a little over a year ago – 5 phones on a family plan with shared minutes & unlimited texting. No data plans. My requirement was a QWERTY keyboard. We all ended up getting the Alias II – open it one way and it’s a flip phone; open it the other way and it has a full keyboard. Great for texting. We checked out phones at a store but got a MUCH better deal ordering online. The store rep we dealt with was pretty much a jerk and tried to tell us it would be difficult to get the phones up and running if we ordered them online. Plus the store couldn’t match the online deal of “buy 1 phone, get 4 free” + free activation. None of that was true – the phones worked out of the box. We’ve been pleased.</p>
<p>Also be sure to only go to a Verizon store not an authorized dealer- they can be very different. We had a lot of trouble with an authorized dealer.</p>
<p>CBB, see that’s the thing - your Alias if purchased today, requires a $9.99 data plan. The Alias is a good example of a phone that is not over the top, but has some features - but, these days requires the data plan. Thus, my rant! :)</p>
<p>Yes, I am at an authorized store. But the data plan info matches online what is quoted in the store.</p>
<p>
My son is trying to replace/upgrade his phone before leaving for school next week, and discovered this as well.</p>
<p>So, thanks swimcatsmom for the recommendation to try Walmart or BestBuy. I’ll be sending him over there today!</p>
<p>We use Verizon, also. I am not interested in a data plan; I just want to be able to talk and text. My phone works fine, so that’s not an issue for now. My daughter, however, has been having trouble with her phone and might need a new one soon. We are not at the end of our contract, so it seems as though they are trying to make it difficult (with few phone choices) to stick with a basic plan. </p>
<p>Abasket, are you at the point where you can switch carriers? (Or is this the way with all of them now? :/)</p>
<p>
Oh, I had no idea! That really stinks. We have no desire to spend that kind of money on data plans. I’m sure we’d all have fun with smart phones, but the cost really adds up. No doubt the carriers have discovered that enough people ARE willing to pay for the latest and greatest, so why not just force everyone else in the same direction.</p>
<p>It looks like Virgin Mobile has a pay as you go plan for a Blackberry.</p>
<p>Last time I looked, Verizon’s family plan would carry only 4 phones…
I’ll have to look again. We have to have 5. No one has been allowed to get new phones for quite a while, so we are not under contract. I am the only one with a smart phone. H has a crackberry fm work, and the kids actually have internet blocked on their phones. They can text.
I MAY consider a jump to Verizon if iphone makes an appearance. The only thing holding me to AT&T right now.</p>
<p>Just a note… If you need to replace an AT&T phone, but do not want to extend the contract, get an AT&T gophone at Target for $50 and pop in your sim card. It’s not fancy, but if your child has killed their phone, it’s a lot less expensive than paying out of contract to get a new one. Two of my boys have done this. No data plan required.</p>
<p>No data plans here either. Our contract “obligation” ended two years ago…and we are simply paying for the same plan (and the same phones). We use ATT and their customer service, plan options and call service are about as bad as Verizon from what our friends tell us. Since our son (not on our plan) has an Iphone and we like the ability to do free in network calling, we probably won’t switch carriers…yet.</p>
<p>I wish I could remember the name of the phone my sister in law has. I think it’s a LG of some kind and it has a Querty keyboard that slides out. For phone purposes, it’s a block phone (not a flip). No data plan required. She has Verizon…and her phone is new within the last couple of months.</p>
<p>If you have a “smartphone” without a data plan, can’t you access the internet (via the phone) when you are somewhere with free wireless internet service?</p>
<p>Sprint offers a 10% discount for Credit Union Members. You have to call Sprint and talk to them about it to set it up because that can’t be done in a store. They didn’t even ask which Credit Union I belong to (and only one of the three I belong to ever bothered to inform me about this option). I have a 5 year old Sprint plan, and have been given the discount with the requirement that I renew our plan for two more years. </p>
<p>I’m with all of you on the “up-sell” tactics of the customer service folks, and the disconnection between the Sprint store, Sprint phone customer service, Sprint on-line information, and the Sprint guys at Radio Shack. They all seem to come from different space-time continua. I want a phone that DOESN’T have a touch-screen, and that DOESN’T have eeny-weeny qwerty keys. I think I found it at the Sprint store - it is almost exactly like my current (5 year-old) phone just with a bit more memory and an un-scratched camera lense.</p>
<p>We have a Verizon family plan with 3 phones–two are LG’s with Qwerty keyboards; one is a tiny little bare bones flip. No dataplan here.</p>
<p>Garland, did you get them since January? That’s when I believe the new data plan charges went into effect. And if so, do you know the models of the qwerty phones?</p>
<p>whatever- i think the smart phones require a data plan, maybe that is why</p>
<p>abasket I’m in the same boat as you. The kids both need new phones, they are on their last legs, and I will not pay for the data plan. What gets me is that phones that used to not require data plans now do. I get that as you introduce new phone that they require data plans but to have to get a data plan for a phone that didn’t used to need one. That really gets me. </p>
<p>Thankfully no one has a phone on contract right now. Our plan just expired and I think we are going to switch to ATT. I know that they have a bigger variety of phones that do not require a data plan. It’s going to cost exactly the same as what we have now from Verizon. Walmart offers no activation fees occ. and when they do, I’m going to switch. If nothing but for the principal.</p>
<p>Where my S goes to college is in one of the last places on earth that he can not even get any data plan coverage. Why would I pay an extra 10 a month for something he can’t even use. He even has problem accessing his voice mail.</p>
<p>^^^ Good to know I’m not alone in my frustration! Verizon is where we’re stuck for awhile cause it receives the best service at the 3 areas our family is currently “residing” in…</p>
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<p>No you can’t. For example, you can do this with an ITouch but not an IPhone…different access. IPhone requires a data plan. ITouch uses wifi.</p>