The Frugal Whiner

I was stumped about what to Blog about today - until I saw the CNN article about Verizon charging a new $30 fee to existing customers who are upgrading their phone with a new two year contract.   This follows three other carriers - TMobile ($18); ATT and Sprint ($36).  So if you haven't heard me gripe enough about the cell phone charges for data plans (with their shenanigans on throttling) now I can whine about Verizon's new "upgrade" charge.  I just wonder if and when they will start to charge a fee for switching phones.

Let's see -  I am paying Verizon $226/mth for the four family cell phones  (Susan and I stilll have dinosaur - non smart - phones).  I have tracked cell phone usage for the last 107 months (April 2003 to present) and Verizon has received $18,288 from me over those 9 years.  Now they want to charge me $120 extra (4 people * $30) every two years to "continue to provide customers with the level of service and support they have come to expect".

It is time to revolt and reverse the trendline!  Don't bother calling my cell phone - Skype, Magic Jack and  emails only.  Dumb down the smart phones!

PS -  A linear trendline is not mathematically correct for this analysis.  The costs are typically a "step function".  We have stepped up recently (Oct 2011) due to Ellen and Jenna's iphone data plans ($30/phone).  What Verizon has done is "step up the price" again.  A better measure is the Compounded Annual Growth Rate (CAGR) from $130/mth to $230/mth for the 9 years - 6.6%  - now that's inflation!