Consumers Union Asks Verizon To Clarify iPhone Policy

With an estimated 500,000 pre-orders for the Verizon iPhone sold in one day last week, there is ample pent-up demand for the Apple device on Verizon's network. But an issue hovering over the wider debut of the iPhone 4 in 2,000 Verizon retail stores nationwide on Feb 10 is what happens if an iPhone 5 comes out this summer, as recent history would suggest?

That's what Consumer's Union asked in a letter sent Feb 7 to Verizon, asking for clarification of its upgrade policy concerning people who buy the iPhone 4 now, five months before the next-generation model is released. Among the questions the nonprofit publisher of Consumer Reports posed, in the letter sent to Verizon president and CEO Daniel S. Mead by CU's Policy Counsel Parul P. Desai, were:

• Will customers receive a rebate or some type of discount towards purchasing the new iPhone model?
• Will customers wanting to replace the iPhone 4 with the iPhone 5 be in violation of their two-year contract commitment and thus subject to an early termination fee of $350?
• Will customers face any other costs, penalties, or obstacles for upgrading to an iPhone 5?

Consumers Union asked Verizon to provide "transparent answers to these questions" before Feb 10, when the Verizon iPhone goes on sale widely.