Help! No Voicemail service on prepaid account!

[owenw4rd]

I just switched to VW prepaid on an unlocked iPhone 7. I ported my number from Straight Talk. All call, text, and data services seem to work fine except for voicemail!  I've been on the phone with customer support a total of 3 hours now with no resolution! I've never had such a hard time switching carriers before. VW online customer support seems to favor their postpaid customers.

*86 returns this message: "You are not authorized to use that service. If you want permission to use that service please contact your service provider. Location 15085."

If I dial my number from another phone and decline the call, I get a busy signal instead of voicemail.

If I dial my own number from that phone I get a busy signal.

If I dial the voicemail access # 424-202-4800, I get this message: "Welcome to Verizon wireless. The wireless customer you called is not available at this time. Please try your call again later. Announcement 1480. Location 15085"

This is unacceptable service for any cellular network, especially one that claims to be the best.

My current service ticket # is INC0020317. Yesterday they said this would be resolved in 24 hours. I can't take another 2 hours listening to the VW hold music!

[owenw4rd]

FYI: I've already been through the usual troubleshooting tips such as *73 and reset network settings. The problem is on VW's side, not on the phone.

My voicemail needs to be reset or reactivated, but I can't get anyone on the phone who knows what they're doing. I've tried to get Tier 2 support, but prepaid customers seem to get low level support.

[vzw_customer_support]

We know how essential voice mail service is for all our customers, owenw4rd. We certainly want you to have access to that service and have a great experience with our network. We want you to get the assistance you deserve and get access to that service as soon as possible.

Since voice mail is a service that is related to the account itself, access to the account is needed. Contacting our Prepaid Department directly would be the only step available to get assistance with addressing that feature so it can be fixed for you. Please contact them by calling them at 888-294-6804.

StevenG_VZW
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If my response answered your question please click the �Correct Answer� button under my response. This ensures others can benefit from our conversation. Thanks in advance for your help with this!!

[owenw4rd]

I've already spent 3 hours on the phone with them and they can't fix it! Is that the best you can do for me?

[owenw4rd · Accepted solution]

Looks like they fixed it. I spent another hour on the phone yesterday with tier 2 tech support. They created a "smart" ticket which finally got it fixed. I now have visual voicemail on the iPhone. *86 works, despite people telling me it wouldn't work on prepaid. I was this close to switching to AT&T over this. The jury is still out since my coverage seems a bit flaky near home.