Legacy customers excluded from discounts
Verizon tricking loyal customers into paying more. | Image by Reddit user ViralSavage
As of June 4, Verizon customers attempting to switch from grandfathered plans to MyPlan are being disqualified from receiving the standard $10 autopay discount the plan promises. Before making this change, Verizon slashed the AutoPay discount on legacy plans from $10 to $5, essentially incentivizing them to switch to MyPlan.
Stuck with higher rates
It looks like customers on discontinued plans are the only ones who aren’t eligible for the $10 autopay discount available to everyone else adding a new line.What makes this change convoluted is that Verizon first intentionally got customers to abandon their cheaper plans. Customers can’t rollback to the previous plan, so on top of paying more for a new plan, customers are also not saving as much as before on automatic payments.
Blame the CEO?
According to the Reddit user who broke the news, the restriction is intentional. They are pointing fingers at new CEO Dan Schulman, who is trying to restore Verizon to its former glory.
With traditional growth paths in the telecom industry largely tapped out, squeezing more revenue from the existing customers base is an easy way to pad the bottom line.
The loophole
While Verizon might argue these were two separate, unrelated policy changes, the timing says otherwise. For now, customers have found a workaround, which is switching off AutoPay, switching the plan, and then enabling it again.
Most customers are understandably angry and have decided to send checks to the company to create an administrative headache. Others are eyeing the exit door.
