Another unhappy Verizon Customer. Porting number has been lost.

[Pangborn]

On August 22nd, I attempted to place an order for 2 new lines, and to port 2 numbers from Visible, a Verizon subsidiary. The web site would not accept the order for various reasons. One of the reasons was "The number was not portable".  I also tried to place an order without porting that number, but after completing the numerous, repetitive questions about the trade-in device, credit checks, reviewing the 3 terms of sales/agreements/etc documents, at the very last "submit" button, I received a message similar to "Something went wrong, please call and we will help complete your order", and the 'cart' was now invalid. This was the 3rd time I had filled that cart out. The cart included a $500 "switch and bring your phone rebate", and $800 for trading in an phone

So, on Monday, the 23rd, I called into Verizon, and spoke with the agent. The agent said that he could port the number, that he would not have the problem, and that it would not take 4 hours.

After about an hour, he had completed the order, which was 2 new lines, 1 trade-in, and 2 port requests for 2 additional lines. 

On Wednesday the 25th, I received the order. The new lines were no problem at all. They activated without a problem. There was no trade-in credit, but Verizon made the process to apply for that relatively friendly, if you can find it in the confusing menu on the verizon portal.  

Next, we activated the 1st visible line, and that also worked, with no problem. 

Last, we attempted to activate the 2nd visible line, and that's where the nightmare began. This number was my wife's number for over 20 years. IT was ported from AT&T to Visible, 2 years ago.

(1) We called into customer service, and was transferred between tele sales, customer service, and porting, each one trying to do what they thought was necessary. Over 4 hours, with the final suggestion being, you will need to wait from 2 to 24 hours for the process to complete.  

At this time, the line wasn't active, but the Visible service was no longer working either. 

(2) On Thursday,  I called Verizon again, and after another 4 hours of the repeated passing back and forth between departments, signing numerous agreements for a new line, the final out come was the same. I still did not the original number, nor service. That night, I logged into the portal, and was able to see the temporary line that was added, and decided to try self-activation again. When the site asked for the SIM card #, I received a message that stated this SIM could not be used on The Verizon network. This was the SIM that Verizon sent to me. So, I happened to have another Verizon sim handy, placed that into the phone, and the phone activated, with the temporary number. I tried to change/port the number, but as expected, the number was listed as "portable", but would not port due to "unpaid device" message. (The device was purchased from AT&T and paid in full)

(3) On Friday, I called verizon again, and after a few hours of several department transfers, and e few technical disconnects (OOpsie?), I gave up.  

(4) on Saturday, I realized the $500 rebate originally offered was now only $350. Why? Because the $500 was only eligible if you placed the order on the web site, and switched carriers. Since I did not place the order myself due to Verizon's technical difficulty, I only qualified for the $350.. I called verizon, and the agent agreed that was the case, but would open a case with billing, who respond next week. (As of a week later, they have not)  

(5) on Sunday, he rested

(6) Repeated attempts to call Verizon, with the the same outcome as above.

(7) Repeated attempts to call Verizon, with the the same outcome as above.

(8) Repeated attempts to call Verizon, with the the same outcome as above.

(9) Repeated attempts to call Verizon, this time I received a "Verizon Veteran with 20 years experience" , who said "You need to go to a Verizon owned store. We will not be able to help you over the phone". So, my wife and I drove an hour to closest Verizon owned store. When we walked in, the agent said to us "There is nothing we can do for you here, other than call the same number you called. They have the power, we don't, but we will do what we can" That was 4PM. The call center repeated the same steps as above, including hanging up on us. The Verizon representative was stunned. He was able to get us to a level 3 support person, who as of today, is still trying to figure out how to resolve the problem. 

Visible confirmed that Verizon "migrated" the number on August 23rd, the same day we placed the order, and for that reason, all porting information that I have is no invalid. 

The only comments that most Verizon reps gave was "Your number is gone. You will need to get a new number, there is nothing we can do." 

Very unhappy new Verizon customer.

[vzw_customer_support]

We are happy to have you and I can reassure you this is not the experience we want for a new number. I recognize the value of a number that you've had for a long time and I'm happy to help. As your most recent port request was invalid, were you provided any reasons for the port being turned down? -Lorenzo

[Pangborn]

The only reason we are given is the porting information is not valid. Visible confirmed all the porting  information we had was correct. If the porting information was invalid, the Visible line would still be working, which it is not.  Verizon also confirmed, that since this is Visible, there is no porting. It is a migration, as the porting does not get involved with Visible to Verizon migrations. Porting is only involved when the number is owned by a non-Verizon owned carrier. 

We also tried to re-active the visible line, but visible states we cannot do that, as Verizon has ported the line on August 23rd, and Visible would need to port the number back, which again, I do not have the 'Verizon' information for.   

So sad that Verizon and Visible cannot 'talk' to confirm that information.