Check Out Our New Verizon MIFI Benefit!

[rcantrell52]

I have completed the Verizon application three times for this benefit and have never received a response. Called the Benefits Department at FMCA twice and all I get is the Plan ID, OST number, and a different phone number to call at Verizon. I have called Verizon three times and have spoken to at least six individuals and none of them have a clue about this program even when the Plan ID and OST number is supplied. When I have called Verizon I have been placed on hold numerous times. It is disappointing that a better implementation program was not developed for this benefit or specific Verizon personnel be used as customer support.

 

Reese

[cthomp]

BAIT AND SWITCH!

 

Versizon flat out cancel my order and "re-did"it when I called to a 4gb mo plan.

I am LIVID!  I want my membership canceled and refunded and my 4 HOUR's back on the phone call to them.

They did take my money though, and will LIE to you on the phone.

[manholt]

Time to say this, it probably will be deleted.  The plan seems to be flawless, if you work for FMCA or your a National Officer or on a Committee for FMCA!  Wonder why them and not us?

[hermanmullins]

cthomp,

Sorry for you problems.  May we have a bit more information? Is your issue with Verizon, FMCA or both? Please, on Monday contact Dan Ball at FMCA and let him know what and where you are having a problem. dball@fmca.com

Herman 

[rcantrell52]

Herman,

Thank you for providing Dan Ball's name. I called and talked with Dan this morning and he was very interested in this issue and developed a plan to get it resolved.  The information you provided about calling Dan has been the best information provided on this thread regarding a resolution to the problems of enrolling in this Verizon/FMCA program. My family and I live in Tyler, TX.

Thanks,

Reese

[dball]

Happy to help, Reese!  One way or another we will get to the bottom of it!

Sincerely,

Dan

[manholt]

Reese.

Herman and I was just in Tyler, left yesterday from Tyler Oaks RV Park!  I'm currently at Antique Capital RV Park in Gladewater, TX.

[rcantrell52]

Manholt,

What was your impression of Tyler Oaks RV Park?

Reese

[rcantrell52]

All,

Dan Ball was extremely helpful with his follow up in contacting Verizon. A Verizon representative contacted me today and discussed the process to acquire the MiFi and establish the service. The representative gave me his contact information and mentioned that if I had problems with purchasing the MiFi or setting up the service to have the store rep or the online customer service rep to contact him. The customer service that Dan Ball and the Verizon rep has provided has been excellent.

Reese 

[elkhartjim]

I'm interested in obtaining internet through this plan but I don't have the patience to spend days getting signed up. Hopefully, this will all get ironed out in the next few months.

[manholt]

Reese.  Been there 3 times before, once with the FMCA Swinging Golfers and twice with Lone Star.  Last weekend was also Lone Star!  Before I found Tyler oaks, I stayed in the parking lot at Sharon Shrine Temple.

Everything seem to be working out for you/Verizon now....hope it stays that way!

[rcantrell52]

Manholt,

Got the deal done. Very happy with the Verizon MiFi 7730L.

Reese

[dacollins]

Two approved orders cancelled by fraud/verification dept.  Over an hour on the phone verifying credit, identity, purchase and order. Yesterday, after a week of trying to get the order finalized, was told the order would be “released”. One minute later, got an e mail telling me to fax utility bill, driver license and credit app.  Really, for a device and a 50.00 monthly line of service!!  I’m not applying for a mortgage. lol.            This is more trouble than it’s worth. Turns out it is NOT a member benefit. Just a way for Verizon and probably FMCA to get your personal info. 

[manholt]

I am very suspicious of any entity, that sends a e mail, wanting personal information!  I suspect it was NOT Verizon and hope you did not comply!

Call Dan Ball at FMCA Member Services or scroll up on this thread and get his mail add.

[hermanmullins]

Just a bit of FYI. If you know the name of a person you would like to contact at FMCA just use the Initial of their first name and their last name in full @fmca. So to reach Dan Ball it would be dball@fmca.com

Herman

[manholt]

Quote

FYI

Good to know!  Thanks.

[alegler]

For what it's worth, I was able to sign up for the Verizon Unlimited Broadband (25 gig) FMCA plan this week (existing long-time Verizon Customer), with the following issues:

I never received an email saying that the registration of my line was approved, however when I logged back into the Verizon Webpage the following day, the jetpack was listed as $0.01 with an "employee discount."   It showed the same in my cart, with a $99.98 employee discount applied.  When I went to check out though, the total was back up to $99.99 plus sales tax.  I called Verizon and they told me that the promotion was a "rebate" that would be applied to a future statement.

I received the jetpack today, activated it, then called to update to the appropriate rate plan as described in the instructions.  That went smoothly.

I then spent an hour on the phone with them to get the $99.98 credit applied for the price of the Jetpack, since the paperwork included with it made no mention of a rebate.

So yes, it was a hassle, but it's do-able.  I just stayed pleasant and firm when the agent offered to "meet me in the middle" with a $50 credit and explained that I wasn't asking for a favor, I was asking them to honor the price that was still displayed on the website when I was logged in.

 

 

[wildebill308]

Welcome to the forum. Glad you got it straighten out.

Bill

[jpmihalk]

I can tell you after talking with Verizon engineers at length that this plan is basically CAPPED at 25GB. When it says you will be downgraded at 25GB, it is to 1G standards (70kbps.) That is not even close to unlimited as that is unusable in the modern world. Web pages take minutes to load. I got my Jetpack on Thursday, watched some movies, played some Xbox games... and the next thing you know, it just simply stopped. Checked my data usage and it said 25GB... as a former IT manager I did some troubleshooting before calling Verizon. I did several speed tests which verified the 70kbps download speeds. They ended up telling me that the plan that was negotiated with FMCA is basically NOT unlimited as it is for all practical purposes capped at 25GB. After that it operates at dial up speeds. Since I am a consumer of a large amount of data (on my AT&T plan we regularly use 250-300GB per month) this strikes me as a very badly worded promotion... it is not UNLIMITED. I got this Jetpack as a backup to when my AT&T MiFi didn't have coverage - but it isn't going to work for me.

Of course Verizon couldn't tell me how to cancel my Jetpack/FMCA plan without eating the $175 ETF but I am in the 14 day window and rest assured, it is being returned. The FMCA website NEEDS to be updated so this plan is not being misrepresented. I have been around cellular data for over 20 years. Other carriers may throttle down to 3G or even 2G speeds. This is worse. I wonder if anyone at FMCA was aware of that when promoting the plan.

I posted this elsewhere on the forum (in the technology section) but want to spread the word so others don't think they will have UNLIMITED data. FMCA, please update the page at fmca.com/Verizon to truly represent the terms of the deal. At least be up front about what the data speeds will be pushed back to. We also need to know how to cancel in the 14 day satisfaction return window since we are being sent through a special link from FMCA.

[dball]

jpmihalk,

My apologies if you felt misled, but the data amounts are truly unlimited.  However, to your point, speeds do slow considerably (almost unusable) once you reach your 25GB limit within a given billing cycle.  The FAQ on our Verizon page provides the range of slowdown speeds one can expect, therefore I do not believe we are misleading consumers.  Here is the exact verbiage:

Is there a data threshold?

Yes, you will see decreased speeds upon 25GB of usage in a given billing cycle. Slowdown speeds will range between 70 kbps – 2.7 mbps. Normal 4G LTE speeds will resume at the beginning of the new billing cycle.

If you still wish to cancel I understand.  Please let me know if you need assistance.

Sincerely,

Dan Ball, Director of Membership & Marketing

[hermanmullins]

Let me be one to say something good about the Verizon MiFi. 

I don't know kg bits from Chigger Bites. Mine work fine, day after day, since the day I got it. We live in a Metal Home.  Roof and Exterior Walls out in the country, and I still have good and dependable service. Does it slow down at 25 gb sometimes but not every time, but I can live with it. 

Thank you FMCA for the Benefit.

I didn't join FMCA for the MiFi and will stay a member, if God forbid, it goes away. 

I will put my soap box away for now.

Herman

[chindog]

For us, the FMCA Verizon plan works very well.  The 25GB/mo is just about what we use for our laptops.  We don't stream videos or play games online, just the normal email and internet surfing.  It is rare that we exceed the limit, and when we do it's usually because of a Windows update.  We use Consumer Cellular for our cell phones, and have a 3GB data plan for them, which we hardly ever exceed.  But for the computers, our FMCA/Verizon hotspot bill is just $50 and change each month, and is less expensive than any other plan on the market that we can get.

[manholt]

Quote

$50 & change

You don't get additional add on for Tax's & service charge?  Amazing, I'll get one tomorrow and I use less than 5 MB a month, with my Verizon 5 MB, I pay almost $12 above in Taxes!

[riverman]

I became a member and got my Verizon hotspot plan all in one-half day. I am well pleased, it is fast here and works perfect.

Exact details are posted in the RV Internet to Go/Staying in Touch section of the forum.

Thanks for the good internet deal. 

[jpmihalk]

I don't mean that I am canceling my FMCA membership. What I mean is that when it says UNLIMITED it may very well be, but I am an IT professional who needs way more than 25GB per month that is USABLE. With my AT&T plan, when it gets throttled, it goes to 3G. I was expecting this Verizon plan to be the same. I got this to backup my AT&T plan, since we don't always get good coverage and Verizon happens to have coverage where we currently are.

Maybe I am the minority. I am simply repeating what I went over with the Verizon rep who read the plan info back to me. If you think waiting 10 minutes for a web page to load is ok, then enjoy! For those who aren't big consumers of data, it is a great deal. Even the Verizon rep said he wanted to join FMCA for the deal.

I did take it back yesterday to the Verizon store 20 minutes away. They confirmed what I found out with tech support and also said they do have other data plans that are "uncapped" and go from 4G LTE to 3G. For me, they were way too expensive.

All I wanted to point out is that it seems like a fantastic deal UNTIL you hit the 25GB limit. Then it becomes so slow it doesn't work. I could live with 2.7Mb speed, but sadly that isn't what I found. 70kbps is way too slow to do anything. So don't say UNLIMITED when for all intents and purposes it isn't. 

I'm not hating on anyone. I just want to be clear about expectations.