Veterans Eligible for 15% Discount on Wireless Bill

[Just Lou]

Since Verizon now owns Alltel, has anyone tried to obtain the discount through Alltel?

 

[BruceinFL]

My sil was told to wait until Alltel was fully absorbed into Verizon.

BTW, the Verizon rep who set up my discount told me the 15% was off my total bill. I assumed it also included the wireless data. I will check further on this.

 

[Ron]

Well today we Sam took me for a drive to Great Falls and while there we visited the Verizon store.  They were aware of the discount. I handed them my DD214 and she entered the required information from the DD214 and we were done.  I asked if the discount was effective broadband wireless to which she replied no.  I pointer out the announcement indicated wireless services so she made a call and confirmed that the discount is not effective for broadband however, all accessories including those needed for broadband are eligible for the 25% discount. Also the second phone $9.95 is not discounted.  Still the discount is better than what we had before.

 

[RLSharp]

Still the discount is better than what we had before.

That's the way I look at it, Ron. $6.00 plus the corresponding tax and fees on $6.00 amounts to somewhere around $78.00/year. Definitely better than what we had last year.

Richard

 

[Jim Godward]

Well today we Sam took me for a drive to Great Falls and while there we visited the Verizon store.  They were aware of the discount. I handed them my DD214 and she entered the required information from the DD214 and we were done.  I asked if the discount was effective broadband wireless to which she replied no.  I pointer out the announcement indicated wireless services so she made a call and confirmed that the discount is not effective for broadband however, all accessories including those needed for broadband are eligible for the 25% discount. Also the second phone $9.95 is not discounted.  Still the discount is better than what we had before.

I stopped at VZW today and got my discount.  Before I could ask specifics she told me that it is 15% on service, 25% on accessories including new phones, data cards and other accessories AND 12.5% on Data service OVER 29.95 per month.  I don't have any so can't check.  I asked to to verify and the Manager agreed.  NOw what?????

 

[sheltie]

I also sent Verizon an email asking if they did the same discount for their "regular" service.  I haven't gotten a response yet.  I have their dsl on a dry loop and wouldn't mind saving a couple more bucks if I could.

I got an email back from Verizon saying that they don't have vet discounts on their landlines or dsl lines.

 

[Ron]

We received confirmation from Verizon that our discount has been added for our monthly access charges.  The email further explains that our discount percentage is 15% and will appear on the next Billing statement. In response to my questions the following was provided: "The discount is available on wireless numbers with calling plans of $34.99 or higher. Since the add-on lines of Family Share plans are $9.99 per month, they are not eligible."

Better than what we had before the discount.

 

[RLSharp]

I stopped at VZW today and got my discount.  Before I could ask specifics she told me that it is 15% on service, 25% on accessories including new phones, data cards and other accessories AND 12.5% on Data service OVER 29.95 per month.  I don't have any so can't check.  I asked to to verify and the Manager agreed.  NOw what?????

Jim,

Do I read your message to say that data services over $29.95 may qualify for the discount and that the manager is going to verify that for you? If so, and you get any reply, would you post the manager's decision? There seems to be conflicting information concerning whether data plans qualify for the discount. If it does, I sure want to know so I can take advantage of it. So far I have been told it does not qualify for the discount. Thanks for posting any reply that you receive.

Richard

 

[Ron]

I was told the data plan does not qualify for the discount.  But I don't use it so I didn't look into it any further.

 

[Jim Godward]

Jim,

Do I read your message to say that data services over $29.95 may qualify for the discount and that the manager is going to verify that for you? If so, and you get any reply, would you post the manager's decision? There seems to be conflicting information concerning whether data plans qualify for the discount. If it does, I sure want to know so I can take advantage of it. So far I have been told it does not qualify for the discount. Thanks for posting any reply that you receive.

Richard

Richard, Sorry for the confusion, the manager agreed the data plans were covered IF more than the $29.95.  I am not using them so until someone has experience we just don't know.

 

[RLSharp]

Richard, Sorry for the confusion, the manager agreed the data plans were covered IF more than the $29.95.  I am not using them so until someone has experience we just don't know.

Jim,

Thanks for the clarification. Unfortunately, when I applied for my discount on our phone and wireless broadband accounts, I was told that my data plan $59.95/mo did not qualify for the discount. Bruce thinks he may get the discount on his data plan. If so, I will do some more checking about its availability for us. BTW, I am not aware of a data plan which costs $29.95 or less.

Richard

 

[Mike and Sherrie in VA]

Sherrie (my wife ) is a veteran not in active service and we have this to share.  Based upon the post (thank you!!!) Sherrie went to our local Verizon store to apply for the discount.

The original rep said that only active-duty people were eligible.  Sherrie presented some info that we gleaned from this topic, which prompted a manager to step up and say that yes, she is eligible.  He also got a "kick" out of the fact that we had the correct filing code in hand, hence my thanks to those of you who've posted regarding this discount. 

After several minutes passed with the irritated first individual who was presenting us incorrect info Sherrie provided documentation with discharge papers and we were assured that the discound WOULD take place.

All paperwork was filed.  Unfortunately Verizon corporate (or someone along the chain) then denied the request because we got married after Sherrie's discharge and her last name is now different.  We are working on that issue and feel that it will be  a simple matter of time to provide all related documentation, meanwhile not happy about having to provide too much personal info that could potentially lead to identity theft.

Sherrie is planning to return to the store location and ask the manager who was/is aware of the issue to assist.

Their terms as we understand them at this time are 15% off voice service and 12% off the data plan that we have on one phone for tethering/Internet.  We didn't ask about accessories since we didn't need any at this time.

Will advise if the situation changes - pain in the butt to file everything but probably worth the effort in the long term is my current assessment.

BTW - Sherrie's brother is an active-duty Marine, went in and filed for this discount (switching from a different provider) and sailed through the process with no issues in under 20 minutes.

 

[carson]

Mike, very interesting..

because we got married after Sherrie's discharge and her last name is now different.

  Sounds like your DW became a new person after marriage. Have you had her checked out?  ;D

  Mini bureaucracy at work...hang in there.

carson FL

 

[Mike and Sherrie in VA]

I can confirm that her sex is what she presented herself as when we started dating, which is a comfort.  Beyond that I think we're OK too ;-)

 

[Wendy]

I believe the primary account holder has to be the veteran - is the account under your name or hers? Could make a difference.

Wendy

 

[RLSharp]

Their terms as we understand them at this time are 15% off voice service and 13% off the data plan that we have on one phone for tethering/Internet.

Mike and Sherrie,

Can you give us some details on exactly what type of data plan you have? Is this the $59.95 data plan that uses either a tethered phone or an USB modem? If so, I need to investigate that 13% discount, as I was told that my $59.95 data plan did not qualify for the discount. One other member (BruceinFL) was told that his plan qualified but to date he has not posted that he actually has received the discount.

Thanks for following up on this, as there are a lot of our framily who could qualify for this data discount, if indeed it is an option.

Richard

 

[Mike and Sherrie in VA]

Just talked to Sherrie to reconfirm the info and I misspoke - 12% off the data part of the plan. not 13% as I had posted.  I'll correct mr prior post as well..

 

[Mike and Sherrie in VA]

RI Sharp - Our plan has two phones - both Windows Mobile.  We have voice on both phones, and data (tethering) on the 2nd phone which would be the USB or Bluetooth connection.  No separate data card, so maybe that's where the problem lies for some folks.  Our data plan IS tied to data usage over one phone.

Beyond that, both phones came with unlimited PDA use under our existing plan but could not be tethered without the additional data charge - no sure how much that is offhand but I am thinking around $30-$50 a month.

 

[RLSharp]

RI Sharp - Our plan has two phones - both Windows Mobile.  We have voice on both phones, and data (thering) on the 2nd phone which would be the USB or Bluetooth connection.  No separate data card, so maybe that's where the problem lies for some folks.  Our data plan IS tied to data usage over one phone.

Mike,

I would appreciate knowing the actual name of your data plan so I can investigate it. If it provides comparable data service to the plan we presently have, perhaps we will change to it when our present plan runs out. Do you find that your data plan provides acceptable wireless data service? What are the monthly data limits on your plan? It seems that there are a lot of phone/data plans available from Verizon; the trouble is figuring them out.

Thanks. Richard

 

[Mike and Sherrie in VA]

Hi Richard,

We have the voice plans on both phones and they came with unlimited PDA use.  I called Verizon and told them I wanted to add "tethering" to the 2nd phone for use when our home Internet goes down since the work I do requires it.  I'll get with Sherrie to see what it is described as on the bill - we have both phones under her account now so I am not really sure.

I do know that download speeds are reasonable in my estimation, usually around 300K and we are in a fringe coverage area.  They do have a 5 GB per month limit on usage, but since we use it solely as a backup (which means a couple of days a month) I have never reached a usage cap.

Now that we have the RV I am sure we wil use it more, but only for maybe a weekend per month since we're both emplyed full-time and don't get out as much as we'd like to.

I will post details or ask Sherrie to.