Background
I was a reasonably happy Sprint PCS customer for the last 2.5 years or so. But ever since I moved into my new place, I've become more of a disgruntled customer. The wireless signal in my house sucks. I get one "bar" of signal strength and calls typically drop, if they work at all. And the coverage at work seems to have gone downhill too. Even on the 4th floor where my current office is, I get lots of dead areas.
While I was in Nevada back in late May, my phone was on Analog Roam the whole time. That's not a big deal. I expected analog-only coverage in the middle of nowhere. But I couldn't make a single call! Meanwhile, some of the other guys I flew with were able to make calls. They were using Verizon.
With the advent of number portability, I've been toying with the idea of switching cellular carriers. It seems that Verizon is currently the best game in town for my needs. The signal strength at work and home is considerably better too.
A Web Site Visit
After checking out the Verizon Wireless web site, I was quite happy. It's much easier to browse their phone selection than it is on the Sprint PCS site. They let me sort by features that matter. Sprint doesn't do that. And, better yet, many of Verizon's phones are tri-band phones--that means they'll fall back to analog coverage just like my current phone. That's pretty important for me. Not only is the cell phone a nice convenience nowadays, analog coverage is an absolute necessity in many of the places I fly my glider.
The only real negative is that they have no bluetooth enabled phones. So I'll need to get a cable for my Powerbook. :-(
Like all cell phone carriers, some parts of their service offerings are quite difficult to decipher. In the case of Verizon, the calling plans are fairly straightforward. However, the data plans and add-on services make no sense to me. After trying to decipher their abstract names for the options they offer, I decided to visit my local Verizon Wireless store. It happens to be over in Cupertino.
A Store Visit
I spent a few minutes chatting with one of the sale droids about my desire to switch. I was a little concerned by how the discussion began.
Him: "How many lines do you have with your current carrier?"
Me: "Lines? This is a wireless phone. I have no lines."
But we moved on from there. He confirmed that my number was, indeed, portable and then I tried to get two questions answered. This is where things spiraled down into a deep, dark, stinky hole.
I wanted to know if they had a service that would allow me to plug my phone into my computer and get an IP connection that's faster than standard dial-up. I also wanted to know if they had a usage-based plan for it instead of a flat rate. I don't expect to use the service a lot, but it'd be really nice to have when I actually need it.
He explained that I could either buy their data service, which comes in various rates per month and doesn't use up my minutes, or I could use up my minutes and make an old-school dial-up connection to the ISP of my choice.
I was rather puzzled by this omission. Surely there are others who'd like the high speed service available on-demand and are willing to pay by the megabyte (or whatever) without paying a monthly fee on the off chance that they use the service.
He got me on the phone with their local expert on the service. What followed was a 45 minute discussion during which this "expert" spent half of the time trying "understand my needs" and also up-selling me to either a Blackberry or their unlimited data plat (at a whopping $80/month!). Needless to say, I was not impressed.
The guy simply didn't want to answer my question directly. Instead he asked all sorts of questions about my usage, the kind of e-mail I receive and send, and so on. It was blatantly obvious that he wanted to figure out how to sell me something expensive and use what I had told him to justify the sales push.
Soemtimes I really hate salesmen. Actually, I hate them most of the time.
He didn't understand what SSH is and was generally being difficult. But I eventually did manage to get the information out of him I needed: there is no plan for someone like me. So I'd just use my minutes and play the analog-style dial-up game.
Coverage Maps
Before leaving the store, I asked the sales droid if they had more detailed coverage maps available. I wanted to see what coverage in northwest Ohio is like and wanted to see where the digital/analog breakdown was in western Nevada. Really, I wanted to get a feel for how likely it was that my phone would work if I land my glider on a dry lake somewhere.
He pulled up a cool mapping application on the store computer. You could find locations by address, zip code, GPS coordinates, or landmark name. The map depicted color coded areas that represented the various service areas. We could pan around, zoom in/out, and so on. It was like using Yahoo! Maps or MapQuest.
It blows my mind that they don't make that application available to the public on their web site. Verizon has a very big network and decent coverage. It would have made my research easier a lot earlier on in the process.
Conclusion
Given their good digital and analog coverage as well as the good experience that friends have reported, I'm planning to switch to Verizon Wireless in a few weeks (probably after OSCON in Portland. I just need to decide on a phone and choose between the National SingleRate plan and the America's Choice plan.
Anyone have Verizon stories? Reason for or against using them?
I'm not really gonna hold this sales guy against them. All phone companies are evil, so I might as well use the one that comes closest to providing what I need.
Anyone have a favorite or most hated Verizon phone? I'm not looking for anything fancy. A decent tri-mode flip phone with long battery life and a cable that can hook up to a Powerbook (and maybe my Thinkpad). Camera is optional. Color display is optional.
Update: Since other carriers have come up, I'll mention this. I've had Cingular before and was quite unhappy with 'em. I tried switching to AT&T only to be told I had to pay a $1,000 deposit. They claimed my credit wasn't good enough. They were nuts.
Posted by jzawodn at July 18, 2004 05:50 PM
I use Verizon, and I don't have any problem with coverage in the San Francisco bay area. Also, I have driven down to southern California, and have not have any signal dead spots on the drive.
I agree with you that it is too bad that they don't have any BlueTooth phones, but it appears that there is no cell manufacturer that makes a BlueTooth CDMA phone. So, I use a USB cable to connect my Motorola T720 phone to my PowerBook for iSync.
I just saw that Motorola has a BlueTooth adapter for their phones. I don't know if this will allow my phone to be used with iSync.
http://bluetooth.com/products/prods.details.asp?CPID=1310&CAT=24
For choice of phone: You. Must. Get. Bluetooth.
I'm using T-Mobile. Customer service seems to be 50-50 between brilliant get stuff fixed/done/figured out in a hurry and totally incompetent hopeless taking forever outsourced guy in india saying "I'm sorry sir" a lot.
- ask
The reason they don't make that map generally available is fear. Fear of comparison to other vendors. Public interest groups in this space have been asking for such maps as part of a consumer bill of rights approach for several years but none of the carriers will agree to it. Among other things.
Well Verizon's coverage is rather good in Ohio until you reach the PA/OH border area. They claim to have coverage in spots where it just doesn't exist.
Also your sales guy experience can be translated into post-sales experience as well. My brother purchased a Verizon phone for use at school. Discovered that there was absolutely no coverage in the area (hence paragraph one), returned in within the grace period only to be billed for it a year and a 1/2 later. Apparently they put the contract "on hold" instead of canceling it. Trying to cancel it after the trial period just made a huge headache.
Outside of that, in the Baltimore region, some Verizon phones work upto 6,200 ft while my T-Mobile dies around 2,000 ft.
I have never seriously looked at Verizon because they carry the lamest phones. Bluetooth mattered to me so they pretty much knocked them out of the running.
When I had Sprint, I hated it. Coverage was lame. I switched to T-Mobile and have been happy ever since. Great coverage in the Denver/Boulder area. And ok speeds when I use my phone to connect to the internet via my Bluetooth Sony T610.
I recommend T-Mobile, for what it's worth. I have always had above average customer service the few times I have needed it.
And there are some decent phones out there for use with their equipment.
Paid ALOT of money to leave Verizon. Why?
CDMA is useless abroad - except North Korea, I believe.
Prerequisites for a phone/carrier: must be GSM and must have Bluetooth.
Simple.
Oh yes, and the Verizon customer service is nothing short of ghastly...
Jeremy,
You ought to check out AT&T or Cingular and see if they'll do what you need them to do... AT&T offers their GSM data service (with bluetooth phones that work with my powerbook) as a per-kilobyte or -megabyte option... I've been a customer of AT&T Wireless for 8+ years and have never been let-down by their service... In fact, at this point, I have a GSM-only phone, because now that they've been bought out by Cingular (or at least that's in the works) I can get a signal in just about every situation I need... I'd recommend them anyday.
Careful -- I have Verizon, and I hate them.
You're right that they have the best service coverage, and their plans are pretty sensible (if a little overpriced compared to other providers). However, as you no doubt noticed, their support staff is beyond aweful -- the experience you related above sounds *better* than any service I've ever had with them!
The first three months I had the service, they overbilled by $100 (they signed me up for the wrong plan), and each time it took over two hours on the phone to get them to reverse the charges. Each time they promised it wouldn't happen again, and it happened three times. The third time, I asked about 50 times weather they finally fixed the problem this time, as was rewarded by them charging me a $200 cancellation fee and a $100 "phone reactivation fee" for switching to a different plan. The call to fix that took over 3 hours.
Recently, their account website -- by far the worst website I've ever used -- has taken to billing me twice every time I pay online. I think it's a browser bug; when I use IE6, it doesn't happen, but in every other browser it does. Since I own a mac, I've taken to paying my bill in VirtualPC to avoid the phone call to reverse the double charge.
So, yeah -- their support staff is crazy bad; I'd be careful if I were you... Have you looked into AT&T? I've been told their coverage is almost as good as Verizon's...
I've always been happy with Verizon's network. If Bluetooth is important, the Motorola V710 is rumored to be coming to Verizon sometime soon (past due actually). Maybe overkill for your "optional" needs, but expected to be the first Bluetooth phone from Verizon.
http://www.motorola.com/mdirect/hellomoto/experience/v710/flash/default.shtml
Jeremy,
I'm in Rochester, NY and when I first moved here in the late 90s, I got Sprint PCS and stuck through their bad coverage till I decided to switch to T-Moble primarily for their newer phones and cheaper plans. However, early this year I finally got fed up with their abysmal coverage and their promise of adding another tower "soon" to alleviate this problem.
So I started looking for other providers to take my number to. Keep in mind that Verizon, Cingular, and Sprint give our employees 25% off so that is a big incentive. Coverage wise, my eyes first went to Verizon but I had a buy an ancient phone at full price and their plans started quite high here (close to $60 a month). Cingular had better phones but plans weren't exciting and phones were expensive.
With Cingular's purchase of AT&T Wireless, I thought I'll be offered the discount soon and AT&T Wireless' website had AMAZING instant discount on phones and really nice plans. The coverage map was actually bigger than Verizon's considering the Cingular's areas it includes now. I loved my SonyEricsson T68i with T-Mobile so I upgraded to another Bluetooth phone - the T616. Instead of going to the local AT&T Store because phone stores usually have dolts, I called their customer service number and they had all the information at the tip of their fingers.
So, I have a phone with a super coverage with no roaming no matter whose or what kind of network I use for only 39.99 a month. I am planning to tag on a data plan to connect thru bluetooth and apparently AT&T and T-Mobile are very close to offering broadband over their GPRS phone which should be heavenly. I would certainly ask you to evaluate AT&T Wireless. My experience with their service and pricing has been excellent.
There are some Bluetooth phones coming soon to Verizon:
What's with the limited choice of phones?
Generally here in the UK we can use whatever phone we want, and just get the SIM card from the provider.. though providers can place a "network lock" on the phone to prevent the use of other networks' SIMs.
However, this is easily removed at any mobile repair type shop for ~£10.
I recently investigated switching to a GSM provider (T-Mobile, AT&T Wireless/Cingular) but the coverage maps were lousy in comparison to Verizon (tri-mode in particular expands coverage options), espectially in central Maine, which is one place I really enjoy having coverage.
I realize that a you and a few posters here have anecdotal evidence of poor customer service, but Consumer Reports aggregate data appears shows Verizon as really the best in customer service and it has held that top position for some time now (not necessarily because V is great...but the others are that much worse).
Detailed coverage maps are there.
Support -> FAQS -> Coverage Locator
Oh, and recently made the switch to Verizon myself. As far as I'm concerned, the _only_ thing that matters is coverage. I can hold a call the 35 miles from work to home -- could never do that with AT&T. Was even able to get a digital signal at the top of Mauna Kea a couple weeks ago.
I've had Verizon for ages.. their customer service has always been excellent.
The express network used to be minutes-use-only.. do they not do that on new accounts anymore?
The "secret" with Verizon's data plan is to buy a phone with a camera, then you get 1xRTT ("144kbps" 2.5G) service as part of your regular plan. Just get the cable to hook it to your computer, and dial a PPP connection. It'll deduct minutes just like any voice call, which means nights and weekends are free.
Apparently right now Verizon doesn't (or can't) distinguish between your phone uploading pictures and being connected to the Internet.
This may not work forever. YMMV. If you end up with a huge bill because Verizon changed this, it's not my fault.
I prefer my carrier and plan. Any day, any time minutes are all charged the same. The coverage is the same everywhere. I never get junk calls of any kind. My phone never goes off in a movie theater or a restaurant and I never have to rush out of something because my phone is vibrating in my pocket. I get all this for probably at least $500/year less than anybody else. Perhaps if someone comes up with a plan that will pay me to carry an intrusion device around with me I would consider it, but to voluntarily carry a phone in my pocket and actually pay quite a bit for the "privilege"? I never understood that. Or maybe I am just anti-social.
Jeremy, give Cingular a try again. As of yesterday, I'm a happy customer once again with them.
I got my iBook and iPAQ on the GPRS network, bluetoothed over my Nokia 6600. It works great, and they offer an unlimited data plan for like, $20.
T-Mobile is another good cell provider to look into. A friend of mine switched over to them from AT&T and she too got online last night with their flat-fee GPRS ($20) from her PowerBook.
If you do end up getting one of the above, and need help setting up OS X to dial up GPRS, shoot me an email =D
I was happy with Verizon for several of years, but they couldn't sell me GSM and that was a deal breaker. I want my phone to work in western NV, but I also want it to work in London. I'm not sure GSM coverage actually extends to western NV (yet), but I'm sure CDMA doesn't extend to London.
I went with AT&T and I've been reasonably happy. I'm paying for 1mb of data a month and probably not often using all of it. I'd use more with a phone that had a thumboard, I think.
Actually, come to think of it, I still have the old Verizon phone because my wife is using it now.
You don't need a camera phone for low speed data access on the VZ network - and it's not a hack - it's a feature called Mobile Office and it offers 14.4 access using regular mintues.
http://www.verizonwireless.com/b2c/mobileoptions/mobileoffice/mobileoffice1.jsp
See this page for how to set it up from a mac:
I've had Cingular, Sprint, T-Mobile and now I have Verizon. I agree that they are all evil, and you just have to go with your gut on it. Mainly because, even if you have a good recommendation for T-Mobile from Joe in NYC, the customer service may be crap in Cali.
From my experience, Verizon is the best in Texas for coverage and customer service.
LG VX4400
It might be out of the stores by now, But I really like my 4400 no camera, but good battery life, and good call quality. My wife has the LG LX6000 camera phone, the camera is poor but it can play mp3 ringers. I think the 4400 is a better phone.
You can get data cables for both phone from Radio Shack, they are USB. Futuredial.com is the company, and they sell software to use the cables. But you may find some community developed software out there such as bitpim for toying with ringers, and contacts, etc. I have not tried to use the cable/phone as a modem yet.
On the issue of coverage maps; it seems to me that it would be a nice little project (if it hasn't already been implemented) to have a web site that is open to the public that would offer the same features that Verizon has internally. Cell users of any service could post their experiences with coverage in areas they are familiar with. After awhile I would imagine it would be a useful and handy tool for people who are in search of new service.
It's funny. I have VZWireless and I work for Verizon, Superpages.com. I am only 10 miles East of VZWireless' HQ... and I get really crappy signals at and around work. If I need to make a call I have to go out of the building and there is still a 20% chance I will lose the signal.
My experience has been (as I'm sure you've no doubt heard by now) that Verizon's coverage coast-to-coast is unbeatable. So, if that's waht you need, go for it. You _will_ pay for that gold-plated service, though. As for phones, I've just been informed that Verizon is finally offering the Treo 600. In the interest of full discolure I should also mention that I no longer use and have a pathological aversion to Verizon in all its forms (mobile and land.) My experience with Verizon has been that they will take every opportunity (above and beyond the other carriers' abysmal record in this regard) to fleece you.
If you buy a picture phone from Verizon, they open up data so that you can send the pictures over the data network. If you have a data kit, you can just get on the internet. You are using minutes though...
I just want it to be known that you can order a cdma bluetooth phone from Sprint from telesales visit www.sprintusers.com for mroe information.
It's the SE T608(mush like the T610 only it has a different mold and is cdma).
Also plenty of cdma phones with bluetooth exist in other countries. Unlike gsm you can't get the to work here without sprint or verizons approval.
I realise it doesn't help you much, but there are a few community driven pages out there.
eg.
http://www.geckobeach.com/cellular/default.asp
Lists cell-tower locations, and coverage (albiet in Canada), and discussions and comparisons between carriers.
Verizon is fantastic!
They cost a little more than the competition, but they ARE the premium wireless service. If you can afford the cost of service with them I would definitely sign up.
Verizon has great coverage, a decent website, really great customer service, and generally a no-BS approach to their service. I've been bounced around by AT&T and Cingular, lied to about plans, etc, but Verizon was very clear and straightforward about what they offer.
They don't have bluetooth phones (YET!), but they do have built in internet service. They don't like to advertise it, but since CDMA is a 3G technology, you can connect to the internet with faster-than-dialup speeds only using your minutes (which are hopefully unlimited nights and weekends).
If you're not going to be traveling, the lack of GSM means absolutely nothing. There are places in the world that are actively switching from GSM to CDMA, too, so even the claim that CDMA is not international is not the whole picture.
Just some thoughts. Verizon is fantastic.
Looks like you missed the Bluetooth phone by a month:
http://www.engadget.com/entry/8276385538449363/
-Russs
Verizon is the best. Go for the verizon. Don't forget to refer my phone number so i can get credit for that. Let me know and i will give you my cell phone. :)
- Hardik
VZW coverage in NW Ohio is quite good: excellent from BG up to the MI state line, and solid west on the turnpike until Wauseon or so. I switched to VZW from T-Mobile because their coverage in Redmond sucks, and not incidentally so I could get a Kyocera smartphone. I've been happy with them ever since.
They do offer Express Network as a no-fee plan, as a couple of other folks have mentioned. I had to ask for it, but my wife's new camera phone (which she got when she switched from TMobile) apparently includes it. One minute of data == one minute of voice.
I recently switched to VerizonWireless too. Although I'm happy with the service, you should know that CDMA phones have to be recharged much more frequently than TDMA or GSM. I have to charge my Motorola twice as often now as I did with AT&T, and the phone and batteries are virtually identical.
I have Verizon and about two years ago I had a Timeport Bluetooth phone for Verizon, so they are out there.... I didn't use the bluetooth so I Ebayed mine for more than I paid for it.... Check EBay and you might find something.... It had Bluetooth built right in -- not just the adaptor/module....
I live in DC and Verizon isn't bad -- I agree about the problems with a lack of flexible service plans though....
If coverage is your problem at home or work, the first thing I would
check is other people's Sprint phones in those places. Last time I saw
your phone, it was looking pretty sad. :-) I noticed a big difference
when I upgraded my phone. Sanyo models seem to be the best at holding
a stong signal.
The unlimited data option on sprint is pretty cheap and you can use
something like WirelessModem to hook up your laptop to it for an
internet connection.
One thing to note about Sprint's analog coverage is that it often uses
Verizon's network, so you're using Verizon already though you'll pay a
lot more.
Lastly, if you're going to get a phone on Verizon, I'd say the best way
to go is to get the Treo 600 which they finally started carrying, but
unfortunately it doesn't do analog. Bummer.
One more thing - check out this great resource about bay area cell
phone providers before you buy. http://sfbacell.com/
First off, you should know that I am an old fart who was pretty satisfied with an AT&T analog cell for years. (It's not that I don't know any better, I just don't have time to optimize everything in my life). I tried to upgrade to AT&T GSM service a few weeks ago and everything went completely to s*it. Signal strength at my home went to ZERO. On a regular basis the new phone just sat there like a log until I left my house started to drive onto the freeway. When I called to discuss this disimprovement in service I was basically reminded that I'd have to pay $175 to get out of my contract i.e. SHUD DA FUG UP!
Needless to say I cancelled on the spot and now write to their CEO about once a week!
Bottom line - all phone companies may be evil but AT&T is going the way of Xerox - stupid and evil!
I work for for verizon wireless and use another carrier's wireless service for my personal use. verizon will lie cheat and steal every chance they get. They are a company on the rocks. They use to not charge customer's an activation fee if the customer agreed to a 2yr contract. Now they do. They use to allow us to re-rate customer's on price plans (in other words, if a customer went over their allowance minutes, they would let use redo a bill as if a customer had been on another price plan, now they don't). Every credit over $5 has to be reviewed by a supervisor and approved.
The prior post from the verizon rep is completly possibly because he/she might of gottten fired. Every credit over $5 has to be approved????? I hope nobody beleived that.
I haved worked for every wireless company, and Verizon is definately #1. They focus so much of their resources to providing excellent customer service. No company is perfect, mistakes happen, but take into consideration the ratio of customer base to mistakes and that's where the big picture comes through.
Verizon Wireless is #1, if you disagree then Consumer Reports, JD Power and associates, and 40,000,000 customers are wrong.
The prior post from the verizon rep is completly negative possibly because he/she might of gotten fired. Every credit over $5 has to be approved????? I hope nobody beleived that.
I haved worked for every wireless company, and VerizonWS is definately #1. They focus so much of their resources to providing excellent customer service. No company is perfect, mistakes happen, but take into consideration the ratio of customer base to mistakes and that's where the big picture comes through.
Verizon Wireless is #1, if you disagree then Consumer Reports, JD Power and associates, and 40,000,000 customers are wrong.
Can a person buy a used Verizon phone and transfer all information to a new account? Someone wants me to buy one from them. It hasn't been used for about a year.
I think some of you are missing a very important piece...unlike some of these other features, Jeremy stated that tri-mode (which includes analog) is one of the most important requirements. It is for me too. Much more important if I get stuck out somewhere where there may not be digital services. Is Verizon the only tri-mode game in town? That's who I have but I would switch if I knew another provider offerred it. I would prefer a flip phone too. The bonuses are if its a smartphone made by motorola, but I guess you can't get everything...
As far as I am concerned, AT&T and Cingular are evil. I'm not sure if it was the merger or what but I had horrible service with them. I signed up in January, supposedly after the merger, but they gave me AT&T equipment and put me on that network and refused to migrate me for free (to Cingular, the company I *thought* I had signed up for!). I had many, many dropped calls and poor signal strength in inner-city San Diego. They wanted to charge me $36 per phone for migration and on top of that, they wanted me to pay for two new phones because the AT&T phones were "not compatible". I called bullshit and cancelled after being on the phone with about 8 different people, spending about 6 hours trying to fix my problems, and even trying to get them to unlock my phone at a local store. They wanted to charge me for that too!
When I cancelled I was within my grace period, but I still got charged $350 in early termination fees after not one, but TWO reps promised me that wouldn't happen.
My guess is that the company has gone completely downhill since the merger.
In the meantime, I switched to Verizon and I haven't had a dropped call since, even on a road trip to Vegas and back. I'm LOVING it. I even got an Audiovox camera phone for free!
I am about to change from AT&T/Cingular to someone else because Cingular is now requiring us to set our tri-mode phones to "GSM only". This reduces the coverage areas, especially in rural areas making the service totally unacceptable. I am currently trying to compare various provider coverage in certain areas - a very difficult task - because of overly optimistic assessment of the vendors signal strength.
I am trying to get "loaner phones" from several vendors and take then to some of the problematic areas, but this is not very well received. They all suggest a 15 day return policy, but I don't really want to go through the hassle of having to return and discontinue service on several phones that didn't work out.
Does anyone have a better way to evaluate coverage?
Okay I am wondering... I am looking at a new phone with verizon or cingular GSM (though am peeved with cingular after getting screwed with att conversion :( ) I need
-iSync
-bluetooth
-would love analog if any have bluetooth and analog available though i would die (i love the analogue on my old tdma att phone but service is getting crappy)
-vibrate
-voice dial
-caller group ring tones
-small phone
-good battery life preferably LIon battery
any suggestions?
I am columbus area ohio btw
Next to microsoft ...Verizon Wirless is possibly the worst run company for the consumer of all time.They continually screw up my bill.The kids they have working in the stores know less than the robot operators you get when you call to straighten out their mistakes.They also have the worst selection of phones purley because they are a virtual monopoly run by a union.If they did not have slightly better service I would drop them .....ect ect ect
Verizon does have the best coverage, but the worst phones and customer service. I think I found the solution, however. I kept going back to Verizon after experimenting with other carriers because of Verizon's superior coverage. I was originally with Nynex/bellatlantic/verizon for about 8 years, then switched to sprint for about 6 years. Sprint had great coverage in the city and the voice quality was better, but the service did not work even in the close suburbs. I also tried t-mobile and cingular - both of which had very limited service. I kept going back to Verizon, but their customer service was horrible. I am now with Earthlink, which resells Verizon service, but which has a very decent and committed customer service. The best of both worlds.
Having read most of the above, I would say different strokes for different folks. I think its clear to say that depending upon where you live, different phone Companies work better or worse depending on your Zip Code. For example, in my area, (Baltimore) T Mobile is the absolute worst coverage. I have Verizon cell service. I previously had Sprint service. We left Sprint after being with them for many years. My group was unhappy because some new phones did not work at all. Their stores were terrible. At the time, I asked them if we were under contract. They said no. I called Sprint, and was told that we were not under contract. They are outright liars. As soon as we switched to Verizon, they were quick to send us a bill for $600.00 (early termination for 4 phones. I called there, went there to fight this. The first thing they ask you is "What is your cell phone numbers? As soon as they type it into their system, they see that we cancelled their service, and then they will not do anything to help us. Period. After fighting with them and not getting anywhere, I went to the FCC Website and filled a complaint against Sprint. I heard nothing for 3 months. Then I got an email from the FCC that we won! I was so happy. God bless the FCC. I had been vindicated and did not have to pay the $600.00. Overall, we have been mostly happy with Verizon, with a few exceptions. Frankly, I don't care about a phone with cameras, PDA's GPS, ring tones, Bluetooth, Games, and on and on. In fact, I don't care if the phone looks like an ugly toad; as long as it works. Yet, here are some problems with Verizon. My son has a SamSung A670 phone, and after only about 8 months of service, it developed a problem. The display on the outside of the phone became unreadable due to some dust or something that seems to be blocking the display. The phone is still under Warranty. My son went to the store, and after explaining everything to them, they would not do anything. I could not imagine why, so I went to the store with him. I was hell bent on getting this resolved. The Verizon guy says its under warranty, but it will cost us $50.00 to replace it. I argued with him for some time. He said its a cosmetic problem, so the $50.00 fee applies. That is insanity. I said a cosmetic problem is if there is a scratch on the phone. However, when you cannot see the display, that is not a cosmetic problem. I asked for the manager. I guy said he was the manager. He lied. It turns out he is the asst. Manager. I fought with them an they would not do anything. Then he told me I should call Samsung. He gave me the 800 number, and I called Samsung from the store. They said that the phone is in warranty, and if I return it to them (in Texas), they would repair it. How long would that take? He said 2 - 3 weeks. I said, OK, but what do we uses for phone service for that 2 - 3 weeks? He said they could do nothing, but I should ask the Verizon manager for a loaner phone. The Verizon manager says, sorry, we don't loan phones. I said you have to be kidding, you have about 8 million phones in this store. They wouldn't do anything! My son won't do without cell phone service for 2- 3 weeks. I hate the Verizon Stores! Also, some of the phones they sell are garbage. My wife had an Audiovox phone, and my daughter had a LG phone. Neither one of these phones worked for shit. I told them to take them back and get a better brand. They both got Motorola phones and are completely happy with them. Audiovox is cheap junk. LG stands for Lousy Garbage. Actually it stands for Lucky Goldstar. If any of you remember the name Goldstar, infamous for terrible TV's & VCR's. The name was so bad, they had to change their name. In conclusion, Verizon has very good service, some lousy phones, lousy customer support, slightly overpriced plans, no loaners, many mean & nasty employees & they lie!
I work for verizon wireless and to say the least GSM sucks thats why we are CDMA. GSM takes 15 towers to compare to one of our towers. Also now most of our phones are bluetooth and infrared compatiable. Also we have EV-DO in the bigger cities which is Broadband speed internet for cell phones/ PDA. We use any type of cell tower except nextel. So if our coverage sucks so does everyone elese. Dont ever get the cheap phone.. you get what you pay for. I have 8100 and I have only lost signal once and thats between 2 mountains so I was not to worried. T-Mobile, Cingular and Cell One are horrible in ohio. Tin cans and strings work better. Phase 1 in ohio is to have no dead spots, phase 2 is to get EVDO to other areas, phase 3 is to work in west virginia. Verizon wireless is also in works of buying alltel, and they already have bought all of sprints towers. Also the guy who invented nextel now works for verizon... Its simple our company will have a monolpoly in about 5 years so switch now!!
My husband and I have had service with just about every major cell phone company. T-mobile seems have the best customer service and had the cheapest plans and phones. Verizon gives you great coverage, but there phones are a little over priced. We got free phones with our plan but the phones suck. My husband and I have both been having the same problems with our phones so we took the to a verizon store, and they told us that our phones were abused so the warranty wouldn't cover them. We are so careful with our phones, i hardly even use mine. We were going to buy new phones but the cheapest that they had were 175.00. thats a little much. The thing that makes me so mad was they didnt care.
If you see the ads in the World Jounal or Xingdao newspaper (chinese Newpaper) , don't belive the Skybell Wireless :
461 Saratoga Av. San Jose , CA 95129
If seems that you will get very good free cell phone deal with blue tooth, it is not true. After I used the service for almost two months, I never get the blue tooth. I went there almost everyday.
The manager of the cell phone store would told you the day the blue tooth comes, but I tried 2 times, first time, I went there 1 day late, he said that they were all given out.
Second time, I went there the right day he told me , he said that it did not arrive, then next day, there was no blue tooth.
Another problem is if you got free Treo cell phone, be sure you get the right model, you would not see the Model number on the cell phone for Treo600 or Treo 650, I do not belive that it was a small mistake, that after 10 days of using Treo 650, I found my phone is 600 in the 650 box.
Then he told me that Treo 650 is discontinued, and he would try to order. After few weeks, he asked you to buy an insurance $10/month and $40 for copy, and said that insurance company would give you Treo 700 the next day.
The truth is you would never get the right cell phone, he may use your insurance playing his claiming games. Almost all the time, when you went into the store, you would hear he was talking with insurance company that he just lost phone, or accidently broke the phone....
If you have the same experience like me, please let me know, and also if you know how to claim or report the cell phone store, please teach me.....
I tried to call Verizon Customer Sercives , several time, but did not help, they just asked me next time go directly to the Verizon service... I also tried the insuracne company, they said they did not care the false lost or broken...
just trying to find the best service provider with reasonable prices and the most current phones in the bay area. was with verizon and they had great coverage but phones expensive, customer service reps punctilious, service pricing plans slightly ridiculous. switched to t-moble, very very happy, but live in So Cal and looking for phone for my sister who lives in Oakland-any advice? - i want her to have the blackberry 8700 (which i have and it rocks)and all the features - IM and stuff.
Ive had verizon for a while now. Im considering switching. However, it has its up and downs. The ups is it gets very good signal all around. The bads are the contracts and plans. Once you are in a contract and you wanna upgrade your phone you have to wait out the contract ( which is usually 2 years ) or pay like 200.00 a phone, which is insane when you have a family plan which consist of 5 people.
Also as stated above by a few people. Yes, their phone's are terrible and break easily. My phone's top screen just stopped working one day, and they wont fix it for me and it also just randomly cuts off sometimes, the battery dies very very quickly as it has on all my verzion phones. You can charge it all night, wake up and go about your day and in about 2 hours its telling you that your battery is low. However, i have about 2 more months until I upgrade and I cant wait, I would have done it earlier but I cant bring myself to paying full retail price for a phone...like that worst ones are like 200.00 retail..its insane...but it does beat cingular, the phone with the MOST dropped calls and it doesnt get signal anywhere around here.
I'd like to "start up" service again with Verizon - using a "used" Verizon phone purchased on ebay. When I called Verizon - they said they require a one year contract with this scenario. The ebay sellers of these phones tell me no contract is required. That they sell thousands of these. Well I am going to try more reps at Verizon - but I always get worried when I get inconsistent info and nothing in writing. I really prefer NOT to have a contract.
I have had Verizon Wireless for 8 years. They were very good - the more they advertise the worse they get. Right now we need new phones and it will cost more to stay with Verizon than to just change everything. The support depends entirely on who you get. Don't like them or what they're telling you hangup and call again. Eventually you get someone who gives a damn.
What I'm running into is something like Cindy except we have three phones and have been a customer since 01.
I rec. AT&T and warn u against TMobile. T-Mobile has cool phones and all bout their outta party service (aka calling ppl outside the t mobile network) is terrible. T-Mobile to T-Mobile is crystal clear, but T-Mobile to lets say AT&T and or SprintPCS sounds like ur talking with the phone in ur pocket. (Speaks from experience)
