Want to switch 3 phone cellular contract shortly - Need advice re Verizon vendors

Factual Questions
1

I’ve been with Cingular for over 10 years now and Cingular service in this area on the Eastern Shore of Maryland in the 21801 zip code region is definitely not as good as Verizon re coverage, especially in outlying areas.

My current Cingular 4 phone contract expires in April and my intention is to switch over the Verizon and get a 3 phone contract with mine as the primary phone and my two kids with one phone each.

I currently have a plan that provides approx 2000 regional minutes for the primary phone for 60 month and the others share off those minutes @ 15 each monthly. My monthly bill usually runs around $115 - $120 after all the carrier taxes.

I notice there are almost a dozen Verizon dealers in the phone book. I called one at random (mall booth kiosk guy) and he laid out a 1400 minute plan for the primary phone (minutes shared with the others) that would cost 80 a month for the primary phone and 10 each for the sharing phones.

The Verizon dealers in this area range from a Mall booth kiosk vendor to a 15,000 sq ft Verizon company store. Do all Verizon dealers usually have the same deals regarding phones and plans set by Verizon or is there a reason to shop around?

2

My personal limited experience is that the contracts are the same but the phone prices are not.

For example, the verizon store lists various phones at 50 to 100 dollars higher than a non-verizon store I go to. But I have not seen any difference in the cost of the contracts.