No Access to Verizon Network locally

[lisamir]

This is Verizon's last chance to fix this. I'm fed up.

I bought my iPhone 13 Mini in December and had it activated by Apple using eSim. I have had no issues since then until now. My iPhone 13 Mini lost connection to the Verizon network OVER A WEEK ago. It just suddenly stopped working - I noticed at work when I stopped receiving emails. I called Verizon and spoke to two techs - it appeared to be an eSim issue - but they could not get the eSim working again despite numerous reboots of the phone and resetting network settings. They advised me to go to a Verizon store to get a physical sim card. I went to the Verizon store and got a physical sim but they could NOT get the phone to connect to the Verizon network. They tested the sim in another phone and it worked fine. My phone recognizes the card but indicates the network is not available. Note that while at the Verizon store I also totally reset the phone as if new to no avail. I even called Apple - they remoted into my phone but could not see an issue with the phone itself. They set me up with an appointment to go to the Apple store an hour and a half away in Jacksonville, FL.

I went to the Apple store...and found I was connected to the Verizon network there - using the physical sim card. Apple went ahead and ran diagnostics on my phone but found no issues. Meanwhile, I have connectivity to the Verizon network that I haven't had in a week. We talk some more to Apple and they suggested going over to a Verizon store nearby to talk to them. 

The Verizon person we spoke with in that store indicated that Verizon had had issues with iPhone activation that had morphed into activation issues with all phones. We asked them to reactivate using the eSim - he suggested that we wait to do that and just use the physical sim for a week or two. We indicated that when home in Gainesville we hadn't been able to connect to the network on this phone. He felt confident that the problem was solved and we would be good.

We left, hopeful, that our problem was solved. We get home to Gainesville, FL and the phone, once again, cannot connect to the Verizon network. Yesterday, we drove an hour south to Ocala, FL to visit family and while there this phone connected to the Verizon network and worked great. But as soon as we got home to Gainesville, it wasn't able to connect.

My experience with Verizon support has been abysmal. Yesterday, I was talking to a tech named Ivan who disconnected the call. He sent a text apologizing for disconnecting and that he would call back momentarily. That call back never came. Three times I was on a chat with different technicians and EVERY TIME the chat booted me out - and this is after telling my story multiple times, providing IMEI and ICCID numbers...a lot of time and effort on my part totally wasted. Twice I called and received a message that they were closed when their hours indicated they should have been open. On one part of the Verizon web site they gave a phone number to call to activate an eSim. I called that number twice to make sure I dialed correctly because it was an attorney's office not Verizon.

This is my final ask. Is there anyone out there who can explain why this one phone - and we have six on the account - cannot connect to the local Verizon network? No other phones on my account have this problem.