What's the catch with the new line + free phone deal?

[u/Gumi_39]

A family member's phone has finally given out and they need a new one. A rep was being pretty firm with an offer for a new line + a "free" phone... which is somehow cheaper than an upgrade phone and no extra line.

They don't need 2 phones, and we have no one to give the extra to. What's the catch in this deal? Should they look into other options, like Visible (since we have everything through Verizon) or should they just push for an upgrade instead?

[u/Gwsb1]

You are on the hook for 3 years of service.

[u/basement-thug → u/Gwsb1]

This. This. This..

[u/Gwsb1 → u/basement-thug]

That's where I am.

[u/Aireyez]

Corporate Verizon retail rep. I was blown away with this promo when it came out. I think it’s to show investors “look at all this growth!” With that said it is USUALLY a better option. I present my customers with both options, standard upgrade vs BYOD+ and let them choose. Typically customers are saving anywhere from 10 to 20 bucks on average. Over the 3 years that’s can be in the range of and additional 720 bucks.

New line gets added with your current phone but Verizon covers the difference for 36 months. (Whether you use that line is none of Verizon’s business)

You are then opened up to the + part of the promo. You can upgrade your existing line with higher discounts and on lower plans.

If you find a use for the line, great. If not, just pull a Hereditary on it after the 3 years.

[u/dtxboy93 → u/Aireyez]

This is exactly it. I decided to do this. I was able to get the rep to waive one of the activation fees and ended up with a new iPhone. Now I have a “free” line sitting on my account that I’ll axe after 36 months.

[u/Fearless_Flatworm_72 → u/Aireyez]

Can you move the phone to an existing line without issue?

[u/Meechgraphics]

Get the upgrade and get the free line. Why would you throw away an $800+ phone?!

[u/airmech1776 → u/Meechgraphics]

Because paying for a line you don't need costs $2,520 over 36 months on their cheapest plan, plus taxes and fees.

[u/Apprehensive-Web416 → u/airmech1776]

Except the line is free…

[u/dtxboy93]

I just did this. You’ll basically be getting a BYOD discount for the new line. I went from 1 line to 2. So effectively my bill didn’t go up. The new line gets a BYOD credit for 36 months, you get the new phone on your original line with a device credit for 36 months, and your old phone goes on the new line. You can choose to use the new line or just let it sit dormant for that 36 months. You will incur 2 activation fees (stupid, I know) but you can ask the rep to waive 1 of them. I just got my monthly bill and it’s as they said it was when I spoke to the rep. It’s a good deal if you want a new phone or need to add someone to your account. But again you’re stuck for 36 months with the line and the new phone until it’s paid off.

[u/__343_Guilty_Spark__]

Corporate Verizon has decided that the false growth shown by adding these “new lines” is worth giving up the monthly cost of the line for 3 years + whatever value they get from the phone you would normally be trading in

Maybe they’re desperate, maybe it’s a long term gamble and they’re hoping that people will forget to cancel the line 3 years down the road. Either way, if you’re going to be sticking around for another 3 years it’s a no brainer

[u/GamingNorms]

You still have to pay the surcharges and taxes but other than that it’s the three years locked in. Can’t get rid of the extra line or you lose your promo

[u/Ljecker31]

Literally nothing. You’re basically being paid to keep your phone. All you have to do is keep that new line, your old phone, active for 36 months to get the full credit on the plan and your new phone. Once your phone is done being paid on you can disconnect it.

[u/Commercial-Brick-104]

Assuming the rep does everything correctly, you get the new line on welcome for $0/m, along with the "new line" promotions on your current number that don't require a trade. You will incur a $40 activation fee on both lines, and of course pay the taxes and any applicable in-store fees.

It sounds pretty scammy, honestly, and I'm pretty sure it's just for artificial number inflation, but it could realistically be the better option. And as that free new line expires in 36 months alongside the promo, you would just he able to call in and cancel it when it's done.

ETA - also if the rep is firmly pushing towards that and is refusing to entertain the idea of an upgrade, find a new rep to help you. That's putting their commission over actually being helpful.

[u/Gumi_39 → u/Commercial-Brick-104]

Thanks for such a thorough response! We've been talking about it and they're thinking about speaking to a different rep about the deal.

[u/Civil_Squirrel_6363 → u/Gumi_39]

Theres some details missing from the post to know the true answer. How many lines do you have on your account? Was there a trade-in offer potential?

If you have 3 lines then technically adding a 4th line on welcome unlimited is “free”. It brings down the cost of the other 3 lines by adding the 4th line. By how much is added for the 4th line will cost it equals itself out to where you wont see a bill increase for the line cost but you will see an slight increase due to taxes on the 4th line $5-$10 depending on your area.

If the rep does things correctly and that is the case going from 3 to 4 lines, you should only have the 1 upgrade/activation fee. They would simply activate the phone on the new line to secure the new line promotion, then do a device only change to the phone number that your family is using so they can still use there original phone number without any issues

[u/Trick_Association_86 → u/Commercial-Brick-104]

How is this not being helpful? If the customer has a tier 2 trade in they would get a max of $360 off doing a regular trade in. Doing it this way gives them a free line and $800/$830 off the upgrade making it literally the cheaper option. It obviously gives them a higher commission but I don’t see how that’s not helpful. Also T-Mobile has been doing free lines for the past 10 years I know accounts that have 3-4 free lines on T-Mobile accounts that they’ve accrued over the years.

[u/znikki → u/Commercial-Brick-104]

Yeah, it’s definitely a let’s make the shareholders happy thing. However, it does make sense for some customers and gets them a new phone for “free”.

[u/idkwthtotypehere → u/znikki]

It’s their response to T-Mobile having the statistic of 44 line adds to every one of Verizon’s

[u/crashbandit3]

So there is what we call a 'sweet spot' where if you have 3 phone lines and you add a forth it pretty much zeros out (minus taxes) which is roughly 8 bucks a month and you can get the device for free

[u/SpeedAndOrangeSoda]

It could be a situation where they owe a device payment on the phone they want to upgrade. If that's the case, this process actually does help.

Normal upgrade with no device payment: trade phone, get promotional value towards new phone, pay new phone taxes at time of purchase, activation fee on first month's bill.

Upgrade with device payment of $150: buy out of said $150, continue process of normal upgrade outlined above.

Add a new line the rep is talking about: take the second device ID (known as IMEI2) off of phone you're looking to upgrade and attach it to a new line. The IMEI1 will contain the payment agreement (This includes promotion. Say you have 8 payments of $30/mo. left, so your balance is $240 if you wanted to do the buyout and continue the upgrade process as normal.

However, what if $20/$30 was being covered by your previous trade promotion? That means that you'd only have to pay $80 total in payments if you let the payment agreement ride out.

When you add the new line in that scenario, you're qualified to get a new phone with no device payment. So, you can get that phone, put it on the number you wanted to upgrade. Use the IMEI 2 of the device you may or may not still be paying off to be the active phone on the new line, and then attach your remaining balance on that existing phone that links to the IMEI1 as described in the last two paragraphs as the payment agreement.

So your new line takes on IMEI1 of existing device to keep the payment as is and avoid the buyout, and uses IMEI2 of existing device to treat it as a new device you brought to Verizon and assign it to the line. Then, Verizon discounts the cost of that line completely for your entire 3 year upgrade cycle.

Also, if you have phone insurance and the phone you're looking to upgrade is shot, you can pay the deductible and get a new phone and use it as a back up. Once it's done being paid off, it's still an active line on the account, and since you haven't traded it in already, you can use it as a spare upgrade slot as well.

As with anything else, they're hoping you forget to cancel it in 3 years, so make sure you do just that AFTER you choose to utilize the upgrade.

[u/Visual_Watch_586]

You get a better promotion on the new phone by adding a line to the old phone than you would by just trading in the old phone. Yes, it's for the artificial number inflation. Since Verizon is great at pissing customers off, many are leaving. So they have to do something.

[u/alessiot]

How do you get this free line?

[u/RigoGRANDE]

So the line is free too? As in no charges for the unlimited plan?

[u/Accomplished-Eye5068]

I have four lines and need to add a fifth byod--was told yesterday there were no promotions and I'm not eligible for an upgrade on my paid off device. Very frustrating. I'm adding and getting nothing

[u/skatetop3 → u/Accomplished-Eye5068]

Hmu I got you I can definitely get you a really good upgrade and byod