Late last month my family was getting bills from Verison for $500 per month. We have three lines with them, on the same "plan" (like it's a fucking mortgage, you know?): one for my mother, who is a professional business woman, one for my sister, who is a very socially active college student, and one for me, a very socially INactive college student. I hardly make any texts or phonecalls at all. It's been about 320 a month for the last year, which I thought was way too high for phones, but which was apparently about the going rate these days, per phone. But this recent and inexplicable hike in prices was unacceptable. How in the hell do normal Americans / people pay for this? So about 3 weeks ago we switched to another provider. The process of getting our physical phones transferred from one "provider" (ha!) to another has been awful. None of these 20 year olds working in their store know what to do! Especially the process of transferring the "SIM card" from one company to another has been horrible, because the advice and instructions given to us from the "associates" at the phone store have, no less than three times, been waylaid, or have had to have been repeated, because the employees forgot to mention a particular step. Tonight as I was on the phone with an employee, trying to get the last SIM card activated or whatever, he told me that the phone was locked, still being on Verison's network (why didn't they unlock it when we left them??), so the SIM card, although we had finally gotten it, and gotten it installed, wouldn't work, and that I had to go back to the Verison store tomorrow, to see what other surprises and unexpected twists await me. I can only imagine the cellphone companies know that the customer service is piss poor, but do they make the process of "leaving them" as hard as possible on purpose? Has anybody else noticed this?
An update everybody: I spent a half hour on Verison’s customer service line. One thing that can said about Verison: you can get hot air blown in your ear 24/7 via their customer service hotline. The guy on the other line instructed me to activate my phone, but when push came to shove it didn’t work; actually my phone stopped letting me do anything on it. I can’t even unlock the screen. The man sounded really confused, and ended up telling me that my phone was still on Verison’s network, and when my service was canceled, it had been “locked." He told me that to be “ulocked,” I had to go back to the verison outlet location. Come the next day, I did this. The man at the customer service counter told me “Oh, we don’t do that here, but I think the Cricket store will flash (?) it for you.” Trying to keep my eyebrows from crashing through the roof, I said “Come again?” Apparently the guy picked up on my outrage, and defensively repeated what he had told me. I took a breath and gave him my best middle class smile, said goodbye, and left the store. What the hell does he mean “they don’t do that here,” or apparently anywhere in my entire city! What the hell!? Sure, they’ll connect a phone to their network, but unconnecting it? Sorry. How can that not be anything but a deliberate policy on behalf of Verison to put their defectors through an arduous maze of inconvenience?
I'm assuming you're talking about Verizon Wireless because Verison isn't a wireless company. When you leave Verizon's network for another provider, you can only switch to a service provider that utilizes CDMA technology. ALL Verizon phones utilize CDMA and not GSM (AT&T, T-Mobile). Sprint is the other major CDMA user. Unless the phone is unlocked, you can't even switch to another CDMA network, and companies don't have to provide you with the unlock code, although many will once the contract is over. If you're trying to switch to a new provider, then the only way you'll be able to use the current phones is by using Sprint or Verizon or a prepaid company that utilizes those networks for service. Currently, the only phone produced in the country (besides imports) that offers dual GSM and CDMA (because it has the radios and antennas built in for both networks) is the LG Nexus 5, which amusingly enough Verizon doesn't support in the first place due to a dispute with Google. Plus, if you didn't pay the early termination fees for the Verizon services or you skipped on the last bill, then the devices will be ESN blocked non-payment, so they can't be activated on any provider.
I didn't know Sherlock Holmes browsed this board Impressive knowledge there bruh, thanks. My family bailed on the last couple bills. They wanted $1,000+. One thousand plus dollars, for "providing service," to three phones. To hell with the Well I'm glad the "rules" let them treat customers like this. It makes me feel a whole lot better about the whole thing.
Luckily I have not had to deal with this from where I live in regards to any phone company that I use, but I can say, I have experienced similar things that would evoke anybody's frustration, although not phone provider related, my suggestion to you is, is there anyway that you and your family can arrange a prepaid contract with your service provider? Because, I believe that then you do have that plan, you have the option to purchase credit whenever you want it, and use it, and when it is finished, it is simply finished, as opposed to a postpaid plan, where you are billed every month, will practically makes you worry less about the bill until it comes :-( I really do wish there was something I could do because I know how frustration feels, but, work it out man! you can do it, just stay calm about it All the very best!
They are not reaming me at all, never mind whether they are reaming me softly or hardly lol. I am not on any kind of cell phone plan. I live in the UK, and I have a pay as you go sim card. I m not sure if it is the same in America. I wrote a piece of American fanfiction once and one of the reviewers kindly let me know that American phones don't really have sims cards like we do over here in the UK. I hardly phone anyone. If anything, I text more. Vodafone are always texting me with the latest offers. But I ignore them religiously.
SIM cards are far more common in America than they were a few years ago. In the past, CDMA phones didn't come with SIM cards unless they were Blackberry devices, and millions of people were subscribed to CDMA (Sprint/Verizon) providers. GSM (ATT/T-Mobile) customers always had SIM cards because the technology demanded it. These days, every 4G device on CDMA or GSM requires a SIM card, so they're more common than ever before here. You're definitely right, though. SIM cards have been and probably still are more prominent in the UK than the US because many people still use non-4G devices here (a large number of which don't require SIM cards).
An update everybody: Been haggling with the customer service people on the Verizon telephone line (why are they all so snotty? What the hell is going on in that company?), and they've agreed to unlock my phone on the 20th this month. It's lUm... okay. Sure, thanks. But if you can do that, then why did you... oh, just nevermind.
Are they? It was so strange for me to discover that they were not common in the first place. Because sim cards were always how the mobile phones over here had worked, I had just assumed that all cellular devices operated the same. It just seems so quick and easy to have a sim card in your phone. That way you can change your number at the drop of a hat, if you were unlucky enough to snag a stalker lol. I had made the mistake of making out that one of my characters was a player and that she had a box of sim cards ready to slip into her phone, should one of her flings get to clingy and she felt the need to change her number lol. And the reviewer was like, 'we don't typically own a box of unused sim cards over here in the US.'
Yea, we have something like that here. Companies like Cricket have Pay-As-You-Go plans, which have a reputation of being alot easier than comiting to a a multi-year "contract" (another one of their terms! What are they, the devil? Am I signing over my soul?) with one of the other companies. You don't get a fancy, do-it-all gadget-phone out of the deal, and if you need or want to be on the phone constantly, then yea it's going to cost you an arm and a leg, but for me, at this point I am seriously considering this. It's neat to have a phone that can take pictures, download software, access the internet, and record video, and losing this will be a drag, but I don't need to "chat" on the cellphone. It can just be there in case I really need it, and then the good ol' fashioned landline will be like 50 bucks a month or less. And then I can just buy some knockoff gadget from ebay to do those other things. It's not like Crapple's phones are rock solid in their functioning, anyway.
Haha. I'm not even sure how to respond to that. But yeah, most people that had a CDMA phone before 4G was implemented had their accounts and information tied to the device itself rather than a SIM card. You'd have to use a backup service from the wireless company more often than not to easily transfer your numbers and stuff from phone to phone. Not as convenient as using a SIM card. Nowadays, most Americans are used to having a SIM card at their disposal. GSM and SIM cards are definitely the better technology compared to CDMA and its old ways of not using SIM cards.
Wow!!! I thought my cell phone bill was high! Holy cow! I would be flipping a freaking log by now. We pay 200 dollars for our U.S. Cellular bill and honestly I thought that was way too much. It is absolutely ridiculous what they make people pay now just for a phone. Once my contract is up, we are switching to a pre paid phone. Only 40 dollars a month with the same freaking plan we have now. It is crazy stupid how every company is just ripping off one another. Verizon and U.S. cellular is very good at having hidden fees that you don't know about. Oh and the insurance. Forget about even thinking about getting it. It is a complete waste of time. My fiancés phone just broke and they were like, ya that's going to be 100 dollars plus he will have to wait about 2 months to get his phone. I literally just want to freak out on every cellular company. Go to pre paid. It is way better.
And by the way, this post is hilarious! I mean it really sucks but they way you are telling your story just has made my day. I'm sorry about all the complicatedness but hey you are making people smile through this forum!! Keep updating us because this is awesome! We need to send it to Verizon.
An update my comrades: The 20th came and the phone would still not work (And how come I had to wait a week and a half to have it turned on? It's like they're making up protocol ad hoc). On our umpteenth, hour-long phonecall to "customer service," even my beatific mother was handling the employees roughly. You know how it is, you don't want to take it out on them, but after awhile you kind of have to be mean to them, or nothing happens. "I'm sorry that blah blah blah, and I'll try and do everything I can to help you, but our policy is blah blah blah." So I finally, now, have a new, functioning phone with our new service provider, T-Mobile. We'll see how this company handles things, and if they're any less corrupt and insulting than Verizon. What we think, at long last, was the reason that my phone wouldn't activate, or deactivate, or unlock, or whatever the hell it was supposed to do, was because I had an Iphone4, and for some reason or another these phones don't connect or function with the wireless networks or whatever. They're an entirety of, like, three or four years old, since their release, and so now the focus has shifted to the new gizmos and do-dads that they're using to sucker people into their fraudulent contracts. And get this: My family isn't off the hook from Verizon, either. After everything was said and done, they still wanted to charge us for stuff that happened during this month that we've been trying to transition. They wanted, in total, $1,300 For three months of service, one of which was hampered by their incompetence. What in the name of HELL are we doing that costs them THAT much? We're not teleporting cast iorn ingots across the pacific with these fucking gadgets. When my mom told me that over the phone, I was at a loss of words for the anger. How dare they? T-Mobile did something or another, and Verizon reduced the fee, but we still have to pay 600 of that 1,300, or they're going to send the credit collection companies after us. In retrospect, families may want to consider collectively designating one member to be the credit-sink, and then embarking on all volatile contracts and investments under their name, so that if the companies try and screw you, you can default, while having the credit-damage inflicted only onto the member who has been set aside for that purpose. I don't know. It's an idea. I hope the companies go bankrupt and their greedy owners have to eat garbage off the streets. Thanks, and no offense taken. I'm trying to be funny about it. It is absurd. Absolutely absurd, considering the type of service they're providing. I'd like to know how much the big wigs at the top of the cellphone companies are making off this extortion, and how much it really costs them to maintain a wireless network. Everybody should go to pre-paid, pay as you go, or just back to landlines and email.
Not getting reamed at all, I am on Republic Wireless and I pay $25 a month. I sometimes think about dropping down to the $10 a month as I have a mobile hotspot, but I know that I probably won't carry all of that around with me until I finally decide on a tablet to buy and then it will be worthwhile. Anyway, it works on wi-fi calling, so at $10, I would get 3G talk and text, but the extra $15 gets me unlimited data on 3G. I'm not much of a talker on the phone, but for those times I want to download something, I want to know that I can do it without worry or wi-fi.
What How are you only getting charged $25 a month for wireless service that includes mobile downloads?? How can they charge (what is that) 1/10th what we're paying, per line? Are you restricted from texting, or other basic services? I just don't understand. The big companies need to be hit with a public lawsuit.
