Verizon wireless is my wireless provider. I’ve been with them for almost 3 years, and I’ve been happy with their products and services. I have a family plan, with 500 shared minutes, 2 phones, and I use pay-per-text to send and receive text messages. (My wife and I are not really all that interested in the “text-ing” feature, and we only send one or two a month.) This plan costs 59 dollars, plus taxes, etc. My bill averages about 70 or so bucks a month. Verizon has this plan called the New Every Two Program where you get a free phone (valued less than 100 or less) every two years, as long as you re-up for two more years of service. Well, our phones were over 2 years old, and I needed to upgrade. Since I purchased my phones over the web via their site at Verizon Wireless.Com two years ago, I went to the site to upgrade my phone. The process is really, really simple. At the bottom of my online account summary there is a little bar that lets me know if my 2 year period is up or not. (This is called the: New Every Two Meter) My 2 year period was up in September, so I decided to get new phones. I simply clicked on the Upgrade To New Phone link, and then I selected the phone number associated with the new phone. In this case, I wanted two new phones, one for me, one for Mrs. NCN. (The second phone IS NOT eligible for the New Every Two Program. Only the primary phone. But, it does qualify for a 50 dollar discount towards the purchase of a new phone.) So, I selected both numbers, and I went to find my new phone. To my surprise, on top of my 100 dollar discount, there was already an additional 50 dollar online sign-up discount and FREE activation and FREE shipping.
Also, the phone that I wanted (An LG phone with basic features that cost roughly 150 dollars) was available… AND it was buy one get one free! So, I wondered, could I get the phone for free with the New Every Two Feature AND get the second one free b/c of the bogo deal. Guess what? YES. So, not only did I get one phone free, I got TWO phones free, and the process online was quick, painless, and very, very, very simple. My phones arrived 4 days later, I charged them, turned off my old phones, turned on my new phones, activated them, and I was up and running. Verizon gets a ton of bad press, and I’ve “ranted” here at the site when a company tried to job me, so I thought that it was only fair to praise a company when they deliver (over-deliver) when they promise. By the way, I am in no way connected to Verizon, other than being a customer. Edit: One last thing. When I checked my account today, the New Every Two Meter shows that I will be due a new phone in October of 2008. In other words, even though I waited until December to use the feature, I have already been credited as if I used the deal 3 months ago. Good job, Verizon!