Verizon is planning to increase grandfathered plans between $3 – $5 depending on which plan Verizon thinks you have kept for too long.
The Mobile Report has received an exclusive screenshot of a planned rate increase for grandfathered plans on Verizon, shown below. Customers on Mix & Match 1.0, which includes Go 2.0, Beyond 2.0, and Above, as well as Start 1.0 and Single Basic Phone plans are affected. The change affects only voice lines on the account.
Communication to customers is set to begin on July 27th, with the change taking effect on either August 23rd or 29th, depending on which date you want to assume is correct in the image.
This isn’t Verizon’s first rate adjustment in 2023 either. Earlier this year, Verizon announced a price increase for grandfathered plans. On April 10th, 2023, customers on select retired plans received a permanent $2 “Plan Rate Adjustment” on their bill, forever. No segment was safe, as multiple 55+ plans and even business plans were impacted by the $2 rate increase.
This new change will likely come in a similar fashion, as a “Plan Rate Adjustment” line item on the bill. It is also worth noting Verizon does not offer support for these plans anymore, either.
Beyond grandfathered plans, Verizon is apparently not done when it comes to rate increases.
More To Come For Verizon Home Internet Customers
Reported by Yahoo from Bloomberg, Verizon is planning to announce a second price hike in its home internet plans to the tune of $10 more per month.
This will mark the second increase for the home internet product in two years. This comes barely a year after they pushed a major campaign for the current rate – $25/month on select rate plans. Going to the rumored $35/month for those eligible customers is a staggering 40% increase in price. That is quite a large pill to swallow. For a product only a couple years into its life, and a major part of Verizon’s plan to increase revenue streams in new markets, this is a bit of a head-scratcher.
Customers should take a moment to familiarize themselves with Verizon’s price guarantee on the Verizon Home Internet landing page:
Verizon says a minimum of 2 years holds a lock in for your price, but with a 90-day window for them to make the change when you do sign up. What if you signed up a year ago, with at least one year of guarantee to go? Per the price guarantee, if the rate increases, they might be violating their own promise.
However, since the $25 plan is a ‘promotional rate’ discount based on your rate plan, they might be within their limits to decrease the discount. At that point, your only choice is to deal with it.
How many customers signed up knowing that, though? It will all depend on their verbiage – if the base rate increases alongside the discount going down, they might land in hot water. If they just decrease how much the discount is on their rate plans, then they can presumably do it without retribution.
Carrier 2023 – The Year Of The Price Hike
It seems the carrier movement of 2023 is to re-introduce complexity and control over normalizing rate increases for service and convolute billing practices.
These Verizon moves come hot on the heels of T-Mobile’s recent change to bill customers even with suspended service among other anti-customer fees. AT&T has not seen changes beyond their video product, AT&T U-Verse, seeing broadcast and other fees see increases typical for cable providers annually. So far, AT&T has seemingly not made a move on their wireless subscribers yet in 2023. Yet, of course, seems to be the key word as of late.
Is Verizon shooting itself in the foot with a newer product increasing prices? How would you feel seeing a grandfathered plan get a price increase? Let us know your thoughts below.
