I have had AT&T since 2007.. never really had any issues, but I want to upgrade my iPhone because my 4s runs really slow, the data is SLLLOWWWW and it even lags when I type most of the time. They won't let me upgrade until 7/29/2014 unless I pay full price!! (I have had this phone for 15 months).

So in doing what I do best, I am going to be a brat and cancel my contract so I can switch to Verizon and get a new iPhone. I have heard good things, and the monthly charges will be about the same. But I would like good and bad reviews, if anyone has any, before I take the plunge.

Check to make sure you won't have to pay an early termination fee if your contract runs through 7/29/14 as well.

Oh I do. But we will get $400 back for selling our current phones, so with my crazy logic is evens out. The fee is less than that, so we would just be out the new customer with contract cost of the phone, less some.

Can you handle calling Verizon monthly to straighten out your bill that they figured incorrectly?

Every carrier says that they're the best, fastest, most reliable, etc. I have had Verizon forever (well, since they took over my original carrier - Airtouch). According to Consumer Reports, Verizon is the best of the major carriers in every major market, but this makes me think that the others must really stink. I get fair to poor voice/call quality at home and even worse data signal but I get a great signal for voice and data at work, which is only 4 miles away. And I live in L.A. County, so it's not like I live in the sticks.

Another bummer is that even with the trial period, there is often a restocking fee if you try it out and are not satisfied with the service or the device.

It would be ideal if you found someone with the same phone on Verizon and lived/worked in the same area as you so you could truly compare with all things being equal.

As mani stated, be sure to check your current contract for an early termination fee. Verizon's fee is $350 for a smartphone, if I remember correctly.

The fine print: I don't have an iphone, I have a Samsung Droid.

i have verizon for a work phone, it is no better than AT&T which i had for a personal phone, and many texts i send and that are sent to me never make it to the intended destination.

Go to the apple store and buy a new iphone, won't cost the $400 cancellation fee...

I currently have Verizon. I've always had good service and I've not had any problems with billing. However, my husband and I plan on switching to Straight Talk when our contract is up. We are some of the lucky ones that still have unlimited data with Verizon, but we will lose that if we ever decide to upgrade our phones. With Straight Talk, it's unlimited everything for $45/month for each line. The only down side is that you have to buy your phone at full price, but $90/month will be half of what we pay now.

I have been on Verizon for years and years. What plan are they offering at AT&T?

We have 3 smart phones with 1 gig of internet, unlimited friends and families, unlimited text, etc. and my bill is about $225-ish.

Oh, and Verizon service is great; rarely a dropped call or static in the line, and the internet isn't too bad either.

<<<---Straight Talk with Verizon service. No problems and better coverage (in my neck of the woods)

you may as well wait for iPhone 6 next year

Ok here is the breakdown of the term fee.

It's $175 per line to terminate (it is pro-rated)

So $350 (ouch!)

However, we can sell our current phones to Verizon or Best Buy for $200 each.. so we are in the positive $50.

BUT Then we pay the new customer cost for the phone... $199 for me and whatever the husband chooses.

Cheaper than buying the phone full price. But still a lot. If AT&T would just let me upgrade I could use the phone buyback money because they offer it too, and just get it for free.

AT&T is really bad here. Verizon is very good here. It might be my area, but all of my friends with AT&T complain.

Ditto, although I don't live in a swamp.

There was an article in PC World a few months ago and AT&T had the fastest network, but Verizon had greater coverage on their fastest networks.

http://www.techhive.com/article/2039452/...rong-start.html

You could alway go in and threaten to leave. I did that recently with Verizon. We had three basic phones. We each wanted to switch to an iPhone. One was going away (contract was not up), and the other two were going to upgrade. We paid the termination fee for the one we were going to cancel, and because we threatened to leave, we both got the "loyalty" plan. We each got 2 gb/month, unlimited talk and text for $60/mo. Two days after we terminated the third line, Verizon called and offered to give the third (cancelled) line an iPhone for the same price with the same package. They just credited my account the $125 termination fee. So now, three lines with more data than we would use, unlimited talk & text for $180/mo. Not too shabby.

I've been with Verizon ever since I had a cell phone. I've never had billing problems.

Straight Talk does run off of Verizon towers, but only a percentage. That percentage makes a different here in the North GA Mountains. Also, I always have better service than my AT&T customer pals.

Have you called AT&T's customer service? Perhaps they coulddo something similar for you.

From what I understand about Straight Talk, you can choose either Verizon or AT&T (color coded! LOL). I would have thought it ran off any Verizon tower, but I couldn't say for sure. All I know is that when I was traveling, almost daily, I still had AT&T. As soon as I left my county I had no service (back woods mostly) until I returned.

That, in these days of instant communication, was kinda scary. A few spots had emergency calls only...but alot of it was just plain dead zone. Verizon worked in all those areas...thus, I switched.

We have AT&T and my husband would LOVE Verizon; however they are not here. Of course - the grass is always greener.

Each company has their issues. I am with Verizon mostly because of their coverage. While I have not had any customer service issues with them, I do know several people who have had issues.

I've tried AT&T, T-Mobile, and each time, have returned to Verizon, sorry to have made the change to save money.

Verizon has much better coverage, call quality, etc. in my neck of the woods.