A Question For Our Readers
Posted on 25 May 2007, at 7:36 pm, by Doug Goldring
Dear Gear Diary Readers:
As many of you know, Judie typically uses this space to answer questions from readers about problems they may be having with their technological gadgets. Well, we thought it was high time we turn the tides on all of you and ask you for a little help.
Here is the situation. I am a Verizon Wireless subscriber. About a year ago, I bought a RAZR phone with a 2-year service plan (man I hate those lock in plans). Anyway, a friend just offered to give me his Verizon Motorola Q Smartphone.
Ideally, I would like to be able to just switch the service from my RAZR phone to my Motorola Q. I know if I had a GSM plan like Cingular, this would be a matter of taking out the SIM card and plopping it into the new phone. But, I don’t, so I can’t.
Does anyone know, will Verizon do this? Will they just transfer my service from one phone to another? Will there be an activation fee or a penalty? I guess my question is what is the best way to approach this?
Thanks for your help and thanks for reading/
Doug
May 25th, 2007 at 9:09 pm
Doug, we are a Verizon customer in Dallas. They will switch the phone on your current plan. They have to do the programming manually, so they normally charge a fee to move your number over and then another fee to move your phone book. I did this last year, and as I remember it was about $20-$30 to move the phone plus another $10 to move the phone book (that’s the one I have a problem with). They do have some discretion on the $10 fee on the phone book, so smile and say please and thank you. Also, check before you leave to make sure no one makes any changes (inadvertently) to your contract date, they should not - but don’t leave it to fate.
My Verizon contract runs out in 25 days, also a 2 year deal, and we are going back to AT&T (Cingular) due to the SIM card benefit you noted and the ease of phone replacement (read teenagers). Coverage in one certain small college town is also an issue for us. I will say that Verizon has by far the best customer service I have ever dealt with, these little irritants that we are discussing notwithstanding.
Good luck.
Bill
May 25th, 2007 at 9:28 pm
Thanks, Bill. Hopefully that will be my experience as well.
$20-30 doesn’t sound too bad. And I hardly set up my phone book to begin with. 
Thanks,
Doug
May 25th, 2007 at 9:43 pm
Less than 2 cents worth but here goes: Some feel the Q is a lame, disabled device. No note-taking function, can’t edit docs, etc. A friend of mine returned his to Verizon for a dumbphone. It appears to run a crippled version of Windows Mobile since a true Pocket PC can do so much more. But if all you need is document/spreadsheet reading and the ability to phone your contacts you might like the device.
May 25th, 2007 at 9:58 pm
Lex, I have heard this before, along with other fairly valid criticisms of Verizon. Free is free, though, and it is much better than what I am using now.
Anyway, I am still holding out for a Palm Treo WX for my Sprint account, but this will do in the meantime. 
Thanks for your thoughts.
Doug
May 25th, 2007 at 10:26 pm
I have been a Verizon customer for 7 years. I have never been charged for switching phones, even while I was in a contract. Last year I spent a few months tinkering with some bricked xv6700’s took three of them and made two good ones. I was switching ESN’s at least once per day using their website and was never charged. Even when I had problems switching through their website I simply called and they did it for me until I learned how to do it manually myself
The problem you will have is that the Q requires a data plan and the Razr does not. There can be problems switching frequently from a ppc/smartphone to a regular cell phone (vcast doesnt count). Also there is no need to pay Verizon to transfer your phone numbers. The Razr can be synched with Outlook with Motorola Phone Tools program. Hope this helps.
May 25th, 2007 at 10:38 pm
Hey, sixftunda. Thanks for the info. One thing I did not realize was that V-Cast and Verizon Data were not actually the same thing. Any idea how much extra/month it will cost to add the data plan (I assume that I could then drop the $15 V-Cast??)
So, tell me, what do I need to do to switch from one phone to another online? Is that pretty easy to do? Anyway, I do not plan to switch back and forth a lot. I want to give the Q a try and see how it does. Who know, maybe I will even stick with it…at least until a WM6 device falls into my lap.
Doug
May 25th, 2007 at 11:01 pm
Verizon unlimited data plan is expensive 44.00 per month approx in addition to your voice plan. The kicker is that its not truly “unlimited” (see TOS). As a general rule you wont get red flagged unless you exceed 5GB per month. I tether occasionally, use mail2web exchange server and use slingbox mobile maybe two hours total per week and dont even come close. Since May 9 I have used 270902.33 KB.
Switching ESN’s online is very easy. Just sign up on their website.
I have to agree with Lex about the Q. I used one for maybe a month and sold it. I started out with and still use a samsung i730. I also have a razr on a separate number that I will forward calls and SMS from the 730 to it when I want something small to carry.
May 26th, 2007 at 10:31 am
To use the Q, call customer service and ask them to switch it since you can’t switch it online. It shouldn’t cost you any money. If they say there’s a charge, ask them to waive it since you wanted to do it free online but were unable to.
Regarding the data plan and the usability of the Q, I’d have to agree with what was said above.