Verizon: ‘You Dunk It, We Upgrade It’
Except when there’s battery damage.
Verizon wants to pay for your pilgrimage to the wireless carrier.
“If your new network isn’t working for you, come home to Verizon and get $300 when you trade in your smartphone and buy a new one,” the company says in this recent radio ad.
A few hundred dollars in cold hard cash may seem like good enough reason to join Verizon but that’s not actually what the wireless carrier is offering. A disclaimer at the end of the radio ad rushes through the details of the offer — even after several listens, it was still hard to decipher every word — but Verizon’s website discloses the caveats (emphasis added):
New smartphone device payment activation and port-in req’d. $300 = $200 trade-in VZW gift card + $100 bill credit (applied within 2-3 billing cycles). Trade-in must be in good working condition.
So, it’s not $300 that you can spend as you please, on dinner or opera tickets, for example, but rather $200 that goes back to Verizon and $100 that goes toward a future bill. Perhaps this is not a bad deal, but to say that you “get $300” by trading in your smartphone and switching to Verizon is a bit misleading.
Find more of our coverage on Verizon here.
Our Ad Alerts are not just about false and deceptive marketing issues, but may also be about ads that, although not necessarily deceptive, should be viewed with caution. Ad Alerts can also be about single issues and may not include a comprehensive list of all marketing issues relating to the brand discussed.
Except when there’s battery damage.
Interested in 5G? Spectrum Mobile may not have you covered.
When you don’t own what you buy.