Verizon adding $20 fee to device purchases

Contract upgrade fees are nothing new. You have to give the carrier money so you can proceed with giving them money for a smartphone and service, to cover support costs and such. But with Verizon, buying a device full price or going with payment plans meant no fees. Unfortunately, that’s changing on April 4.

Verizon will now be charging a $20 fee for all device purchases, whether you buy a device on a payment plan or buy at full price. Yes, you’ll have to pay a $20 fee to buy a full price device. Verizon released this statement:

“The upgrade fee helps cover our increased support costs associated with customers switching devices. Customers can pay the charge when they upgrade, bill it to their account or trade in an old device to offset the cost. The fee for upgrading on device payment is still half of the two-year contract upgrade fee.”

While none of you should be surprised, it’s still an unpleasant change. Being hit with a $20 fee when trying to give Verizon $700 isn’t exactly ideal. Verizon also says that Sprint charges a $30 fee while AT&T charges $15. T-Mo is the outlier with no fee. Of course, you can continue bringing your own devices to Verizon with no fee, so Nexus devices are always a good option.

Will this sway your decision to switch to or remain with Verizon? Or is this just another little fee you’ll endure? Leave a comment!

source: androidandme