At the moment, it seems carriers are fighting quite aggressively to secure new customers, device purchases and contract renewals. As such and more often than not, there are a number of announcements which come though and look to offer consumers a better deal than what they are currently getting. This was most recently evident with the launch of the Samsung Galaxy S7 and S7 Edge when all the big U.S. carriers were detailed offering various upgrade or ‘move to us’ promotions, including Verizon.
Well, if you are a Verizon customer the latest report is detailing a change that is on the horizon in terms of upgrading, although it might not be one you are hoping for. A report from Phone Arena details a leaked memo they have received which seems to be confirming that Verizon are about to introduce a fee for upgrading on their network. As the image below shows, if you are on a Device Payment plan and are looking to upgrade your handset, you will be liable for a $20 upgrade fee. Likewise, if you are on Verizon’s Device Payment Annual Upgrade plan, which is essentially the same as the Device Payment plan but with the option to upgrade after one year, the $20 fee will also be applied. Just as it will if you are planning on upgrading and buying a handset at the full retail price.
In fact, according to the memo, the only options that are not seeing a change are those who move over from another network and bring their own device, as that fee will remain at $0 or for those who are upgrading on a two-year contract. Although, this latter group are already liable for a $40 upgrade fee, so it stands to reason this particular option will not be seeing any further increases. According to the information which came with the image, the noted changes will take place from April 4th. If these details are correct, then with April 4th being Monday, it would seem likely that an official confirmation from Verizon should not be too far away. For those who had been contemplating upgrading soon, then it might be worth considering an upgrade this weekend, if you would prefer to avoid the additional $20 charge that is.