Upgrade Fee

[Rach48]

I just bought a phone from Samsung and paid for it in full and was still charged $40. Ridiculous!

[mama23dogs]

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@Rach48 wrote:

I just bought a phone from Samsung and paid for it in full and was still charged $40. Ridiculous!

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Did you receive a Verizon Sim card with your new phone? If you did that is why you were charged the upgrade fee.

[Susan2020]

Did you buy a Verizon branded Samsung phone or an unlocked Samsung phone?

I recently purchased an unlocked Samsung phone through Best Buy and because I wanted the promo activation discount for the device, I chose to activate with purchase so the phone came with a SIM card. I expected to be charged an upgrade fee as they make you log into Verizon to check your line status (upgrade existing line or add new line). My line was available for an upgrade so that was the option for me to take advantage of the promotion. 

Had I opted for no activation, I'd pay retail price, no discounts, plus tax and would not get charged Verizon upgrade fee. It would not make me log into my Verizon account since no activation involved. 

[espk]

They charge an upgrade fee even if I'm paying full retail up front rather than over what is now 30 months for an iPhone 12 Pro.

[espk]

This just isn't true. Maybe it was when you posted this. But I just put a phone in my cart, selecting to pay the full $999 up front, and there was still an activation fee tacked on. 

[espk]

I just tried to circumvent the upgrade fee by ordering directly from Apple, and I was told there would still be an upgrade fee, and that it would be $40 rather than the $20 if I order online from Apple.

[mama23dogs]

@espk 

if you order it from Apple and request the Verizon version it’s going to come with a Verizon Sim card and you will be charged an upgrade fee. If you order it directly from Verizon and pay full price it’s going to come with a Verizon Sim card and you will be charged the upgrade fee. If you order from Samsung and ask for the Verizon version and it comes with a Verizon Sim card you will be charged the upgrade fee.

Simply put: If it comes with a Verizon Sim card, you will be charged an upgrade fee..

if you are going to pay full price and want to avoid the fee walk into someplace like Best Buy tell them your prepaid and tell them what phone you want to buy and they will sell you whatever version you want at full price without an upgrade fee, and without a SIM card.

[Ann154]

@espk

The upgrade fee is charged when you purchase a phone at the full retail price with Verizon Wireless service. It is charged when you purchase a phone with Verizon Wireless service using the device payment agreement.

The upgrade fee is NOT charged when you purchase an unlocked phone at the full retail price WITHOUT carrier service aka SIM free and unlocked. 

[Ann154]

@mama23dogs

You ninja, you! 

[Tigerstep]

Unlocked/Sim Free and retail are two different things.

My S20 didn't incure an upgrade fee because I didn't get the Verizon version. The SD card slot was more important to me than UW 5G that isn't in my city. 

For everyone reading: You DON'T get charged an upgrade fee if you get the phone WITHOUT a sim card. The moment you opt into getting a phone with a carrier sim card, you are subject to their upgrade fee cost. If you plan on buying full retail, never get the Verizon one. Problem solved.