Suspending Account

[johnnyjohnson2043]

When I decided I wanted to hike the AT fifteen years ago cellphones were still relatively uncommon so the thought of carrying a phone on my hike never crossed my mind, obviously. Since I have a fixed amount of cash to live off of for the next six months or so I cannot afford to pay the monthly charges anyway. No big loss, in my opinion. I understand why some people might bring a cellphone (safety reasons, weather reports, calling home or ahead for shuttles, etc.) but if backpackers have been successfully hiking the trail for more than sixty years then I think I can live without. It'll be nice to get away from the constant bombardment of modern communication anyway. Now on to my question:

I already suspended my Verizon Wireless account but I just wanted to ask if anyone has ever had any issues with this. I remember suspending my account years ago but it has been almost a decade. Any strange fees that popped up; any other customer service issues? Working with corporate America is always a pain in the ass so, I hate to say it, but I expect something to go wrong. Thanks for the info.

[mweinstone]

if you put your account into standby or ristricted or vacation suspend, then a small 6 or 7 dollar charge plus tax will continue for 6 monthes untill at witch time if you are hiking and unaware that date has passed and you have not reasigned a new plan and removed your phone from these status, they will asign the cheapest plan. and a new 2 year contract will begin. this last point is the sticker. by suspending service, you restart your unfair and unamerican buy out claused contract that they hold over my people.


end rant 54

[johnnyjohnson2043]

One of the reasons I'm asking this question is because the customer service rep told me one thing and the VW website says something completely different. For example, from what I've been able to gather from the website, you can only suspend your account without billing for one month at a time. The customer service rep, on the other hand, said that she suspended it for six months (the max). I was planning on giving them a call later today to clear thing up but, unfortunately I have to take everything they say with a grain of salt.

[endubyu]

Im Verizon also and would like to know what they tell you

[Creek Dancer]

Fifteen years ago thru hikers probably depended upon using pay phones when they got to town. Now that most people use cell phones, public pay phones have become mostly obsolete.

[johnnyjohnson2043]

Fifteen years ago thru hikers probably depended upon using pay phones when they got to town. Now that most people use cell phones, public pay phones have become mostly obsolete.

I have found that also but, from what I can gather from various sources, there are hostels, motels, and other businesses that will allow you to use their phone for quick calls. Am I wrong about this? Of course, if there were an emergency I sure that almost everyone would be willing to accommodate. Also, I look at it this way, we as a race survived without phones for hundreds of thousands of years I think I can handle it for six months. Hell, I have handled it for months on end. I was deployed in the Navy. Communication to one's family was limited in many cases.

[Desert Reprobate]

It is hard to find pay phones any more. Many hotels don't have phones due to the cell phone explosion.

[WaitingInTheWeeds]

I work at a call center for a large cell company (not verizon). I can't speak specifically to verizon's policy, but at my company we have a reduced rate suspend option which reduces the cost to $10 per month. Bear in mind that we NEVER advertise this and it is only supposed to be used in special circumstances (we've been told that it is for somone who will be in the hospital or otherwise unable to use their service for a period of time). As one of the other folks mentioned it can only be instituted for a maximum of 6 months, after that it automatically reverts back to the plan it was on before, unless you call back and re-suspend it. If you just do a regular suspend you'll still be billed for the normal monthy charges.

[johnnyjohnson2043]

Okay, just called Verizon to clear things up. Here's the skinny.

Without billing you can suspend your account for up to 90 days at a time. Once that 90 days is up you must call and resuspend the account but it will only extend for 30 days at a time. If you don't extend the suspention the account will become active again and billing will restart. There is a $15 fee for every 90 days from what I understand. Also, in a 12 month period you can only suspend your account for a maximum period of 180 days. So I suspended my phone starting April 1. I must call back before June 4 in order to extend the suspention. Starting in July I must call every month in order to renew the suspention but I can only do so through September as the 180 day rule applies. Lastly, if you suspend without billing your contract renews for that period of time. For example, if you suspend for 30 days then your account renews for another 30 days beyond the previous contract end date. Blah, blah, blah, blah, blah. Pain in the ass, if I may say so myself. Better than paying $100/month for a phone I'm not using, I guess. :datz

[Trailbender]

When I decided I wanted to hike the AT fifteen years ago cellphones were still relatively uncommon so the thought of carrying a phone on my hike never crossed my mind, obviously. Since I have a fixed amount of cash to live off of for the next six months or so I cannot afford to pay the monthly charges anyway. No big loss, in my opinion. I understand why some people might bring a cellphone (safety reasons, weather reports, calling home or ahead for shuttles, etc.) but if backpackers have been successfully hiking the trail for more than sixty years then I think I can live without. It'll be nice to get away from the constant bombardment of modern communication anyway. Now on to my question:

I already suspended my Verizon Wireless account but I just wanted to ask if anyone has ever had any issues with this. I remember suspending my account years ago but it has been almost a decade. Any strange fees that popped up; any other customer service issues? Working with corporate America is always a pain in the ass so, I hate to say it, but I expect something to go wrong. Thanks for the info.

I cancelled my account with Sprint a few years ago, I never used the phone, so I just shut it off. They are still sending me bills for the early termination fee. I just burn them along with my receipts and sensitive papers. They kept calling my house until I started saying weird stuff like I was watching tranny porn while I was talking to them, ect. I have said all kinds of crazy stuff to bill collectors.

[johnnyjohnson2043]

I cancelled my account with Sprint a few years ago, I never used the phone, so I just shut it off. They are still sending me bills for the early termination fee. I just burn them along with my receipts and sensitive papers. They kept calling my house until I started saying weird stuff like I was watching tranny porn while I was talking to them, ect. I have said all kinds of crazy stuff to bill collectors.

Hahahahahahaha! I'll have to remember that one. What? You want money from me? Sorry but I need that money to cover my midget porn addiction. I like them extra small...you wanna come over to my place for some wraslin'? I'll get the ice cream pit ready...Can I call you back, my undead mistress is on the other line.

[jbwood5]

You might try calling Verizon again and have them bring up your account. Ask the rep to tell you what information is typed into the customer contact section to see if the original rep typed in exactly what they told you. Always record the reps name, time and date called. If the original rep put it in writing (i.e. 6 mo suspension), you should be good. Rules change all the time and all the agents aren't up to date on the latest stuff. Sometimes an agent has the right to make an exception if it means keeping a customer. It is best to see what they recorded in the account when you made the original call.

[BJStuart]

If it were me I'd think about porting my number to one of the cheap no contract carriers like Trac or Virgin Mobile, then you can figure out how much money you'd need to leave in the account (usually $15/90 days) and just let it autorenew while you're hiking. That's assuming you're not still under contract with Verizon. If you got the smallest little flip phone with a standard micro-usb charger port (not most Samsungs) you could even just carry it turned off with no charger; the charge should last a month or more, and you'd be likely to be able to top it up every so often by borrowing a charger. Wouldn't weigh much, and you'd have it if you needed it.

[johnnyjohnson2043]

If it were me I'd think about porting my number to one of the cheap no contract carriers like Trac or Virgin Mobile, then you can figure out how much money you'd need to leave in the account (usually $15/90 days) and just let it autorenew while you're hiking. That's assuming you're not still under contract with Verizon. If you got the smallest little flip phone with a standard micro-usb charger port (not most Samsungs) you could even just carry it turned off with no charger; the charge should last a month or more, and you'd be likely to be able to top it up every so often by borrowing a charger. Wouldn't weigh much, and you'd have it if you needed it.

Unfortunately I'm still under contract with Verizon Wireless so it wouldn't be worth it with the massive cancellation fee and all. Damn my ex for talking me into renewing my contract. Next time I'll just get a pay-as-you-go phone.

[chiefdaddy]

Just sit on the trail until the next hiker comes along and like the Magic hiker Fairy a cell phone will pop out and If I happen to be the next hiker you are more than welcome to use my phone for almost any calls 911 or home...except calling the guy watching tranny porn.

After two thru hikes I know I like having a phone but not a huge bill so I ditched VW and stick with monthly boost mobile or Metro pcs if I need more I pick up a local prepay for ten bucks in the area. I text mostly and if you have a woman this helps a ton.

I would agree that not having one would be ideal!

[johnnyjohnson2043]

Just sit on the trail until the next hiker comes along and like the Magic hiker Fairy a cell phone will pop out and If I happen to be the next hiker you are more than welcome to use my phone for almost any calls 911 or home...except calling the guy watching tranny porn.

After two thru hikes I know I like having a phone but not a huge bill so I ditched VW and stick with monthly boost mobile or Metro pcs if I need more I pick up a local prepay for ten bucks in the area. I text mostly and if you have a woman this helps a ton.

I would agree that not having one would be ideal!

Thanks for the offer. I keep an eye out for 'fairies' like you. :D Hopefully I won't have to use 911 and I'll try to limit my calls home to when I can find a landline. Its nice to know that there are people like you out there, though.

[Fiddleback]

Anyone who wants a simple cell phone...one that makes and receives calls, stores numbers and not much else...should consider a service such as TracFone, IMO. I've had ~10 years of very reliable service and rarely if ever was in an area where cell service was available but which didn't support TracFone.

The reason I'm so positive on TracFone? Currently it costs me about $6.65 a month, per phone (service/time cards bought online from WalMart). Now, if one talks more than an half-hour each month the cost will go up as more minutes are bought. But who talks that much?:rolleyes:

FB

[Old Hiker]

Anyone who wants a simple cell phone...one that makes and receives calls, stores numbers and not much else...should consider a service such as TracFone, IMO. I've had ~10 years of very reliable service and rarely if ever was in an area where cell service was available but which didn't support TracFone.

The reason I'm so positive on TracFone? Currently it costs me about $6.65 a month, per phone (service/time cards bought online from WalMart). Now, if one talks more than an half-hour each month the cost will go up as more minutes are bought. But who talks that much?:rolleyes:

FB


Anyone under the age of 30 nowadays! (Full disclosure: I'm over the 1/2 century mark. I hate the cell phone my wife makes me carry.) ;)

[Crotalus]

Anyone under the age of 30 nowadays! (Full disclosure: I'm over the 1/2 century mark. I hate the cell phone my wife makes me carry.) ;)

I will beg to differ on that one, our 18 YO niece recently moved in with us and we added her to our family plan, she hardly uses any minutes but averages 7000 texts per month.

[SassyWindsor]

Back when I hiked the AT I used a Sam's Club Phone card, good for domestic and international calling, easy to use and to buy more time.

[SassyWindsor]

It is hard to find pay phones any more. Many hotels don't have phones due to the cell phone explosion.


Phone cards would be harder to use these days, you could use Skype or Google Phone instead, assuming library's, etc will allow it.