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phone in SOS mode after porting

i have spent 7 hours today talking with about 12 agents. the process of porting my number from xfinity to verizon and adding a new number has been a disaster. i finally spoke to a helpful person in porting but now my phone is stuck in SOS mode and i cannot make any calls to try and figure out how to use my phone and how to activate the other line. i have small kids and my husband and i cannot be without phones in case of emergencies but i seriously have no idea who is even competent at verizon to help me.

Comments

Verizon_Support

Your time is valuable to us, and we'd love to help as soon as possible with activations and issues on your new phones. To better assist you, I'll be sending you a Private Note, please reply to it, so we can get started.

~Maria

Kaleb325

Did you get this resolved? Currently have a similar issue we also came from xfinity and my wife's new iPhone will not activate.

Verizon_Support

We're sorry to hear that you're having trouble getting your wife's phone activated, Kalem325. This isn't the ideal experince when switching from another provider, and we're here to help. Please be on the lookout for a private note from us, so we can better assist.

-Joseph

Varughese

I am in the EXACT same position. Came over from Xfinity mobile yesterday and immediately cellular shut off and I only have SOS. Did you find any solution? Been on the phone with multiple representatives for multiple hours…

Kerifulton2013

I am having this same issue and fuming at this point. Have you had any luck getting this corrected?

Kerifulton2013

Please contact me, so I can get this same issue resolved on my end.

Verizon_Support

Hello, Kerifulton2013, I'm sorry to hear you're seeing SOS on your phone after porting your number. So we can best assist, we will be reaching out via Private Note.

-Lauren

CoachMatt11

Hi, I need assistance as well as this entire port transfer has been extremely problematic. I recently switched from Spectrum to Verizon 3 days ago. The port transfer process finally happened tonight but I have the SOS message on my new Verizon phone. I depend on my phone for work calls on a daily basis. I would like to get in contact with a representative ASAP to solve this issue.
Thanks,

Matt

Smedwards

I have also spent hours trying to figure this out and have talked to so many people about it. It's been 13 hours since the port transfer was completed, and still nothing. I can't go another day without being reachable. Please help!!

Verizon_Support

Smedwards, we want to make sure you're able to use your phone without any problems. We're going to send you a Private Message so we can gather more details.

~Jesse

Kadamsinco

I am having the same issue. I am a first responder and in the military so I cannot not have cell service. I need this fixed asap, please. No one else has been able to help me with it.

CustomerServiceIsDead

I am in the process of porting four numbers. Two numbers are in to new phones provided by Verizon and two numbers are with phones I am bringing with me. I found that the page on Verizon's website that is supposed to tell the status of number transfers was both incomplete and inaccurate. Of the four numbers I am porting, only three appear on the page. There is no information at all about the fourth.

I spent 3.5 hours in online chat with customer service to resolve the issues. I'll describe the various solutions here in hopes of saving other people their time. My advice when porting in several numbers would be to simply start with one number and then add one at a time in subsequent orders. You would want to do this all within about a week so you receive all the multi-line discounts.

Here are the four different solutions you might try:

With one phone number on one of the new Verizon phones, I had relatively few problems.

With the second phone number on the new Verizon phone, my initial effort to port the number appears not to have initially worked. It immediately began sending calls and texts, but after 12 hours could not yet receive calls and texts. Verizon online customer service chat indicates that the original port did not work correctly, but that the phone will be fully ported within 24 hours from now.

On one of the phones I am porting over, the phone went into SOS mode. I had to get additional help from online customer service. We had to delete the eSIM and then reinstall a new one. This process worked quickly once we identified the problem. On the fourth phone, also one I am bringing with me, the online customer service rep indicated that no port request had been made with Verizon, despite the Verizon website indicating that it had.

One thing to watch for during this process is that additional charges were added to my account. During the initial order, my activation fees were waived. But during our effort to redo the process, the activation fees were reinstated and I had to ask them to be removed. My teacher discount also appears to have been lost.

For all of this hassle, Verizon offered me a $10 credit. After I asked for substantially more.

Verizon_Support

Hey CustomerServiceIsDead, I'm sorry to hear that getting your lines ported over wasn't the stellar experience you were expecting. All of your efforts working with us are greatly appreciated. I want to make sure your account is set up correctly and your teacher discount is intact. We'll be sending a Private Note so we can work with you in your account securely.

-Melissa

CustomerServiceIsDead

Hahahah!

This is what you told me when I contacted you via the Private Note: "Thank you for providing us with your full name and phone number. I searched the account, and found it. Thing is, we don't have a way to verify without that first link we sent out. Since this is a port issue, I recommend reaching out to the port team directly. You can reach them by calling 888-844-7095. I'm very sorry for the inconvenience."

SynthpopAddict

I was going to recommend calling the Porting Department directly (888-844-7095), as the one line stuck in SOS mode is probably a provisioning issue. Depending on who you ported out from, it can take a while for the process to complete and there's the possibility that the transfer PIN expired or got used too many times by accident if multiple lines were being ported at once. Have you contacted your old carrier as well, to make sure they released all the numbers in question?

csayre

I've recently had a horrific experience with no resolution in sight after ten hours + of time dealing with the issue online, by phone (back when it was working) and in person. Meanwhile I've been completely without phone service for 5 days. It began in Mar. when my phone started dropping out in the middle of calls. I went into a Verizon store. They gave me a new "free" IPhone 15 upgrade which they said should fix the problem because this phone has an esim card. But I had the same connectivity problems, only worse. I called Verizon and they said about 30 other people in my area were all having the same drop out problem and told me they'd get back to me. They never did. Or if they did, it was too late because I could no longer access my account. Being super frustrated, I tried to switch to Mint Mobile, but couldn't activate because Verizon had locked my device. I went back to the Verizon store and they told me my number was on hold because I needed to pay the balance on the Iphone 15, which, of course, never worked, Then my Verizon account had a "pending" on it, rendering it useless and Verizon told me they could no longer fix the problem. They recommended cancelling Mint, which I did. Now my Verizon account has a "suspended" tag on it, which I never requested. I'm asking for 4 very reasonable things from Verizon :1) refund me the 2 1/2 mo. charges when my phone was dropping out (not working,) 2) allow me to keep my same phone number 3) unlock my phone so I may switch carriers and 4) not charge me for the new IPhone 15 (which never worked.) Yeah, I get the policy of having to pay the whole balance on the phone if you switch carriers. But I don't believe in paying for something that never worked. The Verizon store wouldn't allow me to trade back to my old device (or that model) or turn in my new IPhone 15 without charging me the $850 balance. Meanwhile I can get no confirmation of my Mint cancellation because it's virtually impossible to get past a bot there. I just want a working phone again at this point. My son and daughter stayed on the Verizon account. That sure would have been easier had my phone been working... which is what started this whole nightmare in the first place. Can someone at Verizon please private message me at [email address removed per the Verizon Terms of Service] and help me ASAP?

Verizon_Support

We're sorry about the issues you've faced trying to get your service up and running properly. The last thing we want is for you to leave the Verizon family, and we're going to do everything we can to help you. Please be on the lookout for a Private Message.

~Jesse

csayre

My chat just timed out.. Can Jesse or someone else from Verizon please resend me a new chat link? Thanks,

csayre

My Verizon chat correspondent just disappeared. Still haven't resolved original problem and my daughter is standing by ready to authenticate my account (which has an SOS/suspended on it.) Please someone help me!

SynthpopAddict

I don't work for Verizon, but hang out here a lot, so hopefully this will save you some time with not having to go through the live chat again. About your inquiries:

1) It's stated elsewhere on Verizon's website that they don't do refunds because of service outages.

2a) You can port out your number at any time, but with your phone being under a phone deal...

2b) The phone deals aren't called a contract per se, but IMO they're a contract no matter what. You can leave before the 36 months are up, but it'll cost you money since you have to pay off your phone to leave. If you had reported the service problems within 30 days of signing up and asked if you could be let out then, there might have been a possibility of returning the phone if you paid a $50 restocking fee, but at 2.5 months you're past that window and the contract is the contract.

3) Verizon's unlocking policy says you have to activate and use the phone on Verizon's network for 60 days and then it will automatically unlock.

4) See 2a and 2b. The only thing I can think of to possibly get out of having to pay off the phone and leave, is to check out a certain competitor's promotion where they are paying up to a certain amount of money to essentially buy out your current phone. But you would then have to buy one of their phones in order to have a working device with them.

smcilroy

We need assistance as well. Phone were fine for a couple weeks after the port and all of a sudden went to SOS.

Verizon_Support

smcilroy, we're sorry to read about the service issues you and your family are experiencing, and we'd love to help right away. Please tell us, is this happening only in one location? Does this occur both indoors and outdoors?

~Izzy

clarar

I've been transferred to the whole online department after the port from Xfinity Mobile. I lost count of the times I got transferred without getting my phone to work.
The device sale was fast, but ... no one even completed my phone activation nor sent me an account number so I could try to set up my account correctly with you.
I've been 6 hours on the phone and chatting online. I repeated the same information time after time.
If I read this thread before, I would NEVER move my number to this company.

How can you work like this? This is just terrible...

Verizon_Support

We can definitely help you set up your phone and your account. I will be reaching out via private message to better assist you.

-Luis

Verizon_Support

Please let us know when you are available so we can help.

-Christopher

SynthpopAddict

If your new phone is showing SOS or No Service, your port is stuck in limbo or maybe never went through. I'd check with Xfinity first to make sure there aren't any issues with your account there and also that they released the number. Verizon's Porting Department can be reached at 888-844-7095. Sometimes they have to redo the port before things work, or manually activate an eSIM because the system can say it's active, but it's not.

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