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frontpage Posted by aus • Sep 22, 2023
frontpage Posted by aus • Sep 22, 2023

Costco: New Lines w/ Trade-In at Verizon: iPhone 15/15 Pro + $250 GC

& More (In-Store)

Free after 36-Monthly Bill Credits

Costco Wholesale
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Deal Details
Costco Wholesale Stores via Verizon Offers New or Existing Customers: 128GB Apple iPhone 15/15 Pro (2023) for Free after 36 Monthly Bill Credits when activated on a New line and trade-in any iPhone on eligible Verizon Unlimited Ultimate Plan (see plan pricing). Existing Customers can Upgrade and Receive $830 Off New iPhone 15 Lineup with Select Trade-in on Qualified Unlimited plans after 36 Monthly Bill Credits.

Additionally, Costco Wholesale offers Members a $250 Costco Shop Card with New Line OR a $100 Costco Shop Card for Upgrading Eligible Line when purchasing this offer In-Store at any participating Costco location featuring Verizon wireless service kiosks [store locator; scroll down to "Shop Verizon at a participating Costco location near you"].

Thanks to community member aus for sharing this deal.

Offer Details:
  • Trade-In: Follow the instructions on the product page or provided by the Costco rep for details on how to fulfill the trade-in portion of your offer

Editor's Notes

Written by slickdewmaster | Staff
  • About this deal:
    • Offers will be delivered digitally via the email on your VZW account, verified at the time of purchase. A physical card is available upon request. Eligible service lines must stay active a minimum of 60 days to qualify. Costco Shop Cards are not redeemable for cash. Except as required by law.
    • Please refer to the Forum Thread for additional discussion regarding this deal.

Original Post

Written by aus
Community Notes
About the Poster
Deal Details
Community Notes
About the Poster
Costco Wholesale Stores via Verizon Offers New or Existing Customers: 128GB Apple iPhone 15/15 Pro (2023) for Free after 36 Monthly Bill Credits when activated on a New line and trade-in any iPhone on eligible Verizon Unlimited Ultimate Plan (see plan pricing). Existing Customers can Upgrade and Receive $830 Off New iPhone 15 Lineup with Select Trade-in on Qualified Unlimited plans after 36 Monthly Bill Credits.

Additionally, Costco Wholesale offers Members a $250 Costco Shop Card with New Line OR a $100 Costco Shop Card for Upgrading Eligible Line when purchasing this offer In-Store at any participating Costco location featuring Verizon wireless service kiosks [store locator; scroll down to "Shop Verizon at a participating Costco location near you"].

Thanks to community member aus for sharing this deal.

Offer Details:
  • Trade-In: Follow the instructions on the product page or provided by the Costco rep for details on how to fulfill the trade-in portion of your offer

Editor's Notes

Written by slickdewmaster | Staff
  • About this deal:
    • Offers will be delivered digitally via the email on your VZW account, verified at the time of purchase. A physical card is available upon request. Eligible service lines must stay active a minimum of 60 days to qualify. Costco Shop Cards are not redeemable for cash. Except as required by law.
    • Please refer to the Forum Thread for additional discussion regarding this deal.

Original Post

Written by aus

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Top Comments

F1Racer
6251 Posts
822 Reputation
Wow 36 months bill credit.
i.e. 3 year contract.
injailhahahaha
507 Posts
50 Reputation
Why would anyone want to be on a 3yr contract?
thehash
6530 Posts
1458 Reputation
36 month contract and you have to pay tax on the phone.
getting taken to the cleaners.

1,476 Comments

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Original Poster
Sep 22, 2023
681 Posts
Joined Jan 2007
Sep 22, 2023
aus
Original Poster
Sep 22, 2023
681 Posts
Quote from General_Klinger :
Where does it say they waive activation fees? Because I've had the military discount for years and they've never waived activation fees.
Unfortunately, you have to pay the activation fee.
.
Sep 22, 2023
272 Posts
Joined Aug 2009
Sep 22, 2023
zseba
Sep 22, 2023
272 Posts
Quote from VulnoX :
It's effectively a contract. Not much difference from when there were actual contracts. Back in the contract days though you just paid some amount for the phone up front that was discounted, and you could still cancel any time, you just owed some prorated amount for the phone at that time for "breaking" the contract.

Now they are smarter and you are on the hook for the whole amount essentially, as you pay tax on the full price up front, then they contribute a little bit each month. If you want to leave early or get a different phone, you have to pay off the remaining balance and give up your remaining credits.

It's a contract, as far as how cell phone contracts used to go, in everything but name. Some might say it's even worse than they used to be. I was fine with the 24 month but 36 month is silly. So much can happen in that time and risk of phone failure only goes up. It's like financing a car for 84 months which some people are doing now. You are getting more and more likely to have some major repair needed while still owing money, just makes no sense.
Yes and no.
The contracts before were merely giving you $200 towards a new phone every 2 years. I don't remember any contract giving $1000.
Also, these are discounts you get on your phone so if you leave, you just pay the full price on the phone (or rather the remainder of the payments). Sure it sucks but comparing to paying a full price for the phone, it ain't that bad. And speaking of full price, very difficult to get a discount right now on the 15 any other way.
4
Sep 22, 2023
5,935 Posts
Joined Nov 2004
Sep 22, 2023
General_Klinger
Sep 22, 2023
5,935 Posts
Quote from aus :
Unfortunately, you have to pay the activation fee.
.
I'm aware. My comment was towards the person that posted military/veterans get free activation. That USED to be a thing if you upgraded at Costco years ago, but they killed it, and I haven't gotten any free activations because of my discount.
Pro
Sep 22, 2023
12,695 Posts
Joined Aug 2010
Sep 22, 2023
WhosUrBuddiee
Pro
Sep 22, 2023
12,695 Posts
Quote from pechango :
It's not a contract, but you give up the bill credits if you upgrade the phone.

I upgrade my phone every 3 years or so, so I don't mind the 3 year bill credits.
It absolutely is a contract. Even if they changed the official language to "agreement" instead of "contract". You are still agreeing to maintain service for a set length of time or incur penalties. Under previous contract terms, your termination fee was a prorated amount of your phone depending on remaining length of contract. Now it is a prorated amount of your phone depending on remaining length of the promotional agreement.

It is honestly worse than when they called it a contract. At least when it was a contract, customer service had the ability to waive early termination fees if you wanted to upgrade a little earlier. Now, the terms are longer and youre screwed if you want to upgrade earlier.
3
Sep 22, 2023
2,255 Posts
Joined Dec 2006
Sep 22, 2023
dvpatel
Sep 22, 2023
2,255 Posts

Our community has rated this post as helpful. If you agree, why not thank dvpatel

Quote from WhosUrBuddiee :
It absolutely is a contract. Even if they changed the official language to "agreement" instead of "contract". You are still agreeing to maintain service for a set length of time or incur penalties. Under previous contract terms, your termination fee was a prorated amount of your phone depending on remaining length of contract. Now it is a prorated amount of your phone depending on remaining length of the promotional agreement.

It is honestly worse than when they called it a contract. At least when it was a contract, customer service had the ability to waive early termination fees if you wanted to upgrade a little earlier. Now, the terms are longer and youre screwed if you want to upgrade earlier.
Agreed.

Long long term VZW customer here. Got the 4 free iphones with trade-in deal in 2021 (ends Dec this year).

They made us switch to the cheapest unlimited plan and said our bill will be a few dollars more than the limited 3GB shared plan we had. It was supposed to be $120 ish with credits and taxes.

Within months, it rose. Then it rose again and again and again. Last month, it went to $145. Since it is "not a contract" they can raise prices too. You cannot change plans if they raise the monthly payment(s) as you would lose your bill credits.

I called them as the last ~ $12 price hike was unacceptable. They miraculously found a CHEAPER plan. Apparently, my new plan as of late 2021 is now a "grandfathered plan" and they were charging me $3 a line to stay on a "grandfathered plan". They did find a new plan but we could not change. THEN. All of a sudden, the rep talked to their supervisor since we were such loyal customers and was able to move us to the same old $120 plan for 4 lines and keep our credits.

If they still have a $120 for 4 lines plan, WHY did our's rise. This is a scam.

We will be switching to another scammer this year end. Big Grin
1
2
Sep 22, 2023
6,188 Posts
Joined May 2009
Sep 22, 2023
SkyKing02
Sep 22, 2023
6,188 Posts
bill credit for 36 months? ewwwwwwwwww
2
Sep 22, 2023
2,035 Posts
Joined May 2011
Sep 22, 2023
pechango
Sep 22, 2023
2,035 Posts
Quote from Brooklynite :
And you pay $1800 more over 3 years compared to prepaid services.
You've seen my bill? Amazing.
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Sep 22, 2023
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Joined May 2004

This comment has been rated as unhelpful by Slickdeals users.

Sep 22, 2023
755 Posts
Joined Nov 2012
Sep 22, 2023
OGSDER
Sep 22, 2023
755 Posts
Quote from Brooklynite :
And you pay $1800 more over 3 years compared to prepaid services.
Which prepaid service includes world roaming, like T-mobile?
2
Sep 22, 2023
258 Posts
Joined Nov 2009
Sep 22, 2023
gobbgookV
Sep 22, 2023
258 Posts
Quote from zseba :
I think you guys don't know the difference between a contract and a promotion.

You can leave any time you want, there are no more early termination fees. Yes, now you lose the promotional credits for your new iPhone.

Case in point, I placed an order through my local Costco, despite the fact that I will forfeit as much as $800 in credits I was getting with AT&T on 3 phone lines plus for Apple Watches.
However the $250 Costco cash card plus the bill credits here make the switch worth it. The Costco Verizon rep said that he can get me $300 bill credits dor watches as well.

I upgrade every 2 years typically, so I should get at least $670 in credits.

Now the caveat. Stupid Verizon made me cancel the initial order, that included 15 Pro (and Pro Max) pre-orders. They pretend they couldn't process the credit card payment for fees and taxes. I gave them the Costco card in the store and then tried several other credit cards online. This experience along with similar stupid hassle 5 years ago when I attempted to switch, almost made give a hard pass to Verizon again. However, this time the Verizon rep from Costco worked hard to put a deal together for me, so I'll give him one more chance to place another order.
He is giving me $1000 credit for the 15s even on the unlimited plus plan and I'm trading in even a couple of iPhone 5s that were sitting in drawers (I also bought one for $30, so thatI trade in and upgrade to 15 on all the lines).
Amazing deal for those who want to stay with Verizon and have a couple of really old phones lying around. Which'd be totally me as I don't mind the 2 year credits as I anyway like their service the most in my area and will be with them. 3 years is too much, Verizon is getting greedy and their ever changing higher tiers of plan.

Over the years I have come to the conclusion that the reps at these stores are all in some kind of compensation to make it tough for the customers to avail the deals so they feel like winners in the end. Every single time in the past 15 years I have availed these deals, the reps have done me a "favor" or "out of the normal" deal and every single time there's been a "system is not taking credit card/doesn't recognize your account/their system is down, will do later" kinda excuse, not to mention the time spent on it, I hate that time of the year to go in for an upgrade 🤒
Last edited by gobbgookV September 22, 2023 at 08:06 AM.
Sep 22, 2023
2,035 Posts
Joined May 2011
Sep 22, 2023
pechango
Sep 22, 2023
2,035 Posts
Quote from WhosUrBuddiee :
It absolutely is a contract. Even if they changed the official language to "agreement" instead of "contract". You are still agreeing to maintain service for a set length of time or incur penalties. Under previous contract terms, your termination fee was a prorated amount of your phone depending on remaining length of contract. Now it is a prorated amount of your phone depending on remaining length of the promotional agreement.

It is honestly worse than when they called it a contract. At least when it was a contract, customer service had the ability to waive early termination fees if you wanted to upgrade a little earlier. Now, the terms are longer and youre screwed if you want to upgrade earlier.
You can call it whatever you want, but it's not the traditional sense of a contract. Semantics.

either way, I see no situation where i'd be "screwed" under this "agreement" because they want to pay me almost 80% of the phone cost. You want to pay full price? Knock yourself out. For $11/mo over 3 years (effectively less than $400) I have a new phone and i'm on the provider I prefer. YMMV
3
Sep 22, 2023
2,255 Posts
Joined Dec 2006
Sep 22, 2023
dvpatel
Sep 22, 2023
2,255 Posts
Quote from jay-zala :
Help me understand why "you're screwed if you want to upgrade earlier"??

I should be able to just pay off the phone fully anytime I want and upgrade?
Yes. But. Are you forgetting that you "traded-in" a phone too? Depending on the condition of the phone you trade in, you may be out that phone as you'd still owe the remainder of the balance of the bill credits.
1
Sep 22, 2023
150 Posts
Joined Mar 2007
Sep 22, 2023
funkmasta
Sep 22, 2023
150 Posts
How is this deal different than what Verizon is offering themselves? Just the additional Costco gift card?
Sep 22, 2023
1,053 Posts
Joined May 2004
Sep 22, 2023
jay-zala
Sep 22, 2023
1,053 Posts
Quote from dvpatel :
Yes. But. Are you forgetting that you "traded-in" a phone too? Depending on the condition of the phone you trade in, you may be out that phone as you'd still owe the remainder of the balance of the bill credits.
I am trading in a phone with a cracked screen that is worth $50 on eBay for $830 in credits.

What do you mean I still owe the remainder of the balance of the bill credits?? The bill credits just end if I decide to pay off the new phone early???
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Sep 22, 2023
742 Posts
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Sep 22, 2023
joeboy
Sep 22, 2023
742 Posts
2 questions -> does anyone know which Verizon plans qualify? (eg: Welcome Unlimited, or just the Myplan ones)

Also - any guidance on finding which Costcos have Verizon? When I search online and in the Denver area, all I get are TMo and AT&T
1

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