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What is going on with Verizon Wireless lately???

Ok, I'm at a loss with trying to figure out what my phone and the verizon services are doing lately. Not only have we (my family are all on the same plan) been getting THE WORST data, 3G, 4G access lately but no one can really tell me WHY?? I have had a verizon phone and plan since cell phones came out, which has been years. I also live in the same area. So can someone explain to me why have we suddenly (over last 6 months or so) had more dropped calls, spotty service and inconsistent answers from service techs than EVER?? Really, what is going on?

We have 3 phones on our account and sometimes we can't even call each other!! My daughter has tried to reach me sometimes 4-5 times over 2 hours to call me. She says my phone will ring, then to voicemail but my phone NEVER rings and my husband's phone will disconnect from the network? I have contacted tech support numerous times. Now it seems I am unable to unblock phone numbers that have been blocked .

Verizon has sent new SIM cards, they have tried to "reset" our network, taken us through all of the troubleshooting steps and even "escalated it to the engineers to check the towers" and there is no explanation. Also, I have noticed lately that the content on the website changes and differs from the information that I am able to access on the "MY VERIZON app" on my phone. (payments, amount owed, etc) Just today I noticed that tech coach app is something they are charging for now. When did that happen?

I know my family isn't the only ones who are frustrated, I have heard fellow coworkers beginning to complain. So, I thought I would check out this forum to see if maybe there is an area wide issue.

What is really funny, after reading several posts I began to see that often times it is the verizon customers that actually know more about how to fix and solve issues, not the reps. :smileyhappy:

Comments

RLR9X20

Tell me about it. I have had verizon wireless since the first big bag phones. In the last few weeks network bandwidth has dropped to nothing and sometimes my 4G connection is 10 kb/s. They claim to have sent an engineer out to my local tower and he sent back sorry I just have a weak signal and nothing they can do. Like it just got weak all of a sudden and I don't call 3 bars of 4G a weak signal. Anyway the latest is the vzw rep said due to the weak signal causing servers to keep trying to complete a download and using up my data I should switch to the unlimited plan. As soon as I switched my data slowed even more and now I find out I am paying more for "unlimited" 10GB of data than I was for 12GB plan because they throttle data back at 10GB where before I got to use all 12GB at 4G speed for $10 less. I was told today by a salesperson at independent vzw store that he believes they did away with the 12GB plan and don't be surprised if I can't revert back. If so I will have to go to plan B which does not include verizon wireless lol.

rcschnoor

RLR9X20 wrote:
I was told today by a salesperson at independent vzw store that he believes they did away with the 12GB plan and don't be surprised if I can't revert back. If so I will have to go to plan B which does not include verizon wireless lol.

Verizon only advertises tiered plans online of up to 8 GB/month but if you call in or stop by a corporate Verizon store, you can get larger plans. They may not have the 12 GB plan, but they have a 16 GB and larger I believe.

IONA64

Correct. Their service is severely degraded in my area. I only show 1 dot signal strength most of the time (except if I am at a Verizon store), very rarely have 4G coverage in my area. The worst part is that the reception inside my home is almost none existent. If I get a call, many times the call will drop. If I make a call out, almost always people cannot understand me as my voice keeps cutting out. This has been going on for some time now. I called to report the problem and spoke with someone who transferred me to a higher level support. They created a support number and texted me the status of the investigation, which acknowledged a signal problem in my area. After several status texts, I received notification that the problem was resolved.

Unfortunately, it was no better. I am not alone as my daughters who both live within a 6 mile radius have the same problems. They have reported the problem also and have received the same canned reply. They suggest several options, none of which seem to work. I have a neighbor who has ATT and when he comes to my house, he has no problem whatsoever making or receiving a call. As soon as I go outside, the qualith of the call improves. It is obvious the signal problem still exists and as far as I can see, Verizon does not really care. As soon as 2 of the phones on my plan are paid off, I am switching back to ATT. I have never seen such poor service as I have seen from Verizon.

MRGREGORYTOMPKINS

Wow I'm struggling really bad in Yamhill County Oregon too. Their service has really gone in the toilet lately I've filed numerous trouble tickets and told the call center Im so fed up with them I want a technician to come out and actually fix the problem. So far I just get the call centers telling me according to their silly maps I'm in a good 4G LTE area but that is not the case. Calls dropping left and right and speed pathetically slow. Even text messages will often not send! I'm thinking time for a class action lawsuit against these guys! This is not "America's Best Network" its total garbage and they're expensive too!

sanydrn

Of those that have replied, do you have an Android phone or an Apple. I was complaining about the phone issues to a manager last week and she flat out said that I needed an apple phone. I have a fairly new Samsung android, so does my dtr and spouse. I am wondering what it may have to do with anything.

rcschnoor

It means she is a fan of iPhones, nothing else. There are people on these forums complaining about service issues all the time with both iPhones and android phones. There are others who don't have problems with their phones, both iPhones and android phones.

I have 2 android phones and 2 iPhones on my account. All 4 phones are working just fine.

RLR9X20

Just to be clear I am not an angry customer. I have been with vzw since they have been in business and it has always been reasonable service. Other than filing a fcc complaint after a Black Friday false advertisement I have never had an issue with service until a few weeks ago. The engineer saying basically "tough luck" turned me sour and the 4G 0.5 Mb/s connection with 50 kb/s ftp file transfer is not worth the charge being applied and no way am I going to continue to pay it. Then being told the "unlimited" plan they recommended for all my devices is actually a 10GB plan they just charge more for didn't sit right. If not fixed I will just drop back to the $45 plan and cancel all the rest.

rcschnoor

RLR9X20 wrote:
Then being told the "unlimited" plan they recommended for all my devices is actually a 10GB plan they just charge more for didn't sit right.

This is a bit misleading. A phone can use 22 GB of data before being re-prioritized. The hotspot on a phone along with any other hotspots/jetpacks/etc... you have on your plan would get their OWN 10 GB of data at 4G speeds. You have 5 phones with hotspots, that is 5 x 10 GB = 50 GB, not 10 GB just for the hotspots. Data actually used on the phone would not be subject to that 10 GB threshold, but a 22 GB threshold before POSSIBLY being re-prioritized.

The unlimited plan is not a "10 GB plan they charge more for" UNLESS you only have 1 device and that device is a jetpack. Otherwise, you would at a MINIMUM get X number of lines x 10 GB for your total data allowance ONLY for jetpacks/hotspots. Other data actually used on phones/tablets would of course be on top of that amount and still be at 4G speeds until AT LEAST the device had consumed a minimum of 22 GB.

Other than that, I can see how some may not like the new unlimited plan offered by Verizon. Problem is that people were asking Verizon to offer unlimited plans like the other providers were offering and Verizon's unlimited plan is patterned after the current plans offered by other providers with a limited amount of full speed data followed by data at speeds much lower than 4G speeds. Sometimes you get exactly what you ask for.

If you want a jetpack without any throttling, you may want to look into Unlimitedville.com which has an unlimited plan without any data throttling. They are much more expensive than those offered by the big 4 providers right now, though. For example, the plan utilizing Verizon's network is $250 for only 1 jetpack with unlimited data without any throttling.

Good luck.

RLR9X20

Thanks for your reply rcschnoor. Yes I have a jetpack. Yes it is my sole internet connection. Yes it is at 12GB of data already and has been throttled back. I didn't exactly ask for it. It was recommended as a solution to the poor 4G connection causing servers to timeout and restart downloads eating up my data. No one at the time mentioned that jetpacks have a 10GB cap on them. I was told by vzw it was 22GB. If it is throttled at 10GB then it is a 10Gb limit on it for all intent. The previous 10GB plan and subsequently the 12GB plan did not have a cap on it and cost less therefore it costs $10 more for 2GB less unlimited whether you wish to look at that way or not. I have been in IT since there was IT and have solved many router, switch and firewall problems and the initial problem is an obvious verizon network issue. I am glad your phones are working on your local tower. I wish I could say the same. On the bright side I have work orders in for site surveys by both land cable and satellite providers and may the best company win. Either option will be more expensive but at least I will be able to use the data I am paying for. With main data supplied by another provider a minimum smart phone plan will be fine. If it was a really big problem I would just let the FCC take care of it like they did the last time

Ann154

If it is on a plan by itself, there are tiered data only plans available for devices like the Jetpack.

MRGREGORYTOMPKINS

What really [removed] me off is when I call to complain they try to push me to buy their silly network expander! Well for one if they're saying I'm in a "marginal coverage area" then they should be giving me this [removed] thing for zero cost! Why should I as customer paying for their garbage service have to pay even more to overcome their "marginal" coverage. Omg I am so pissed I'm about to bail and go to AT&T as well. Verizon is totally [removed] carrier paying top rate to get MetroPCS like service. Unacceptable !

Profanity removed as required by the Verizon Wireless Terms of Service

Message edited by Verizon Moderator.

Kboykin2323

The service is dreadful...I have unlimited and I can barely browse the internet without being connected to wifi.

MRGREGORYTOMPKINS

Yes the service is indeed dreadful great word choice! And in my area is seems to be getting even worse! I already set the wheels in motion to move 5 of our business lines to AT&T as I am hearing from others they are not experiencing this terrible slowdown issue on their network! And if I see an improvement after switching then we are COMPLETELY bailing on Verizon! So much for their false marketing claim of being the network built for unlimited! They should be sued for false marketing !!!

MRGREGORYTOMPKINS

Personally I have an iPhone 6s+ factory unlocked fully paid for from Apple! Verizon recently tried to tell me it was my handset and if I upgraded to the 7 it would be much faster! BS it was just as slow! Maybe it takes better pictures and has a faster processor but it was slow too! And on my family's business account they have Android phones and all 10 lines on their account are also pathetically slow! I even went into the Verizon store in my town and complained about the speed issues I've been seeing and RIGHT in their own store I pulled ookla on several of their devices and so so slow! I even met with the county commissioner one day and mentioned to him the Verizon slowness and bad coverage in my county and in the coffee shop right on the main street IN TOWN I showed him the slow service and he showed me how fast his Consumer Cellular cheap plan blew my expensive Verizon out of the water! This is bad and getting worse Verizon either you are willfully ignorant of the problems on your network or completely incompetent !!

Verizon_Support

It’s important that you have a reliable connection and the right plan, RLR9X20. I regret hearing this has caused you to consider leaving. Let’s take a look and see what we can do about your plan and your connection. Please respond to the private message I have sent you.

JosephE_VZW

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!

DELSTE50

We, too, have experienced a serious decline in the quality of service since switching (coincidentally?) to the unlimited plan back in April 2017. I wish we had kept our old air card. The plans changed so instead of paying $10/month for air card with limited data, we upgraded to the MiFi with unlimited. Big mistake. For the first 2 weeks after switching to unlimited, we experienced faster data speeds and even were able to watch a movie on our Ipad and phone. Now we can barely access our e-mail and our calls are starting to drop. We have called Verizon at least 6 times to complain with no resolution. The rep tries to tell us that we may be using enough data that our speeds are being slowed down after 10 GB. We can barely use our internet, let alone use up to 10 GB during a billing cycle. One rep told us that apparently so many people have switched to unlimited that the towers can't handle all of the traffic. Not my problem. Many of our neighbors are also having the same issues.

Verizon has done SOMETHING to slow us all down and they are just not saying. We have been Verizon customers forever and are strongly considering trying another carrier. This is just unacceptable. We are paying full price for data and not able to use it. How can this continue to happen??

MRGREGORYTOMPKINS

We can't even play Pandora now. Seriously bail on Verizon folks! I can't wait until the next RootMetrics is out they've probably sunk to the bottom now!

MRGREGORYTOMPKINS

So far -- in my area -- I've come to the the conclusion speed is sub 1.0Mbps all day long. But it's OK between the 1AM and 6AM. And that is right here in town. The situation is FAR bleaker in the non city parts of the county. I filed an FCC complaint and Quanetta from "Executive Relations" got back to me and tried to give me this absurd answer of why Verizon is so slow and she said during the summer it's much worse because school is out and more people are flooding the tower! And we are a farming operation and this is our absolutely most critical time of year. We cannot have our service dropping calls left and right and service be totally worthless like this! Our entire farming association and canning cooperative which has several hundred members has some discount agreement with Verizon for members so I will definitely be bringing this up and Senator Wyden's and my county commissioner are looped in as well. Totally unacceptable Verizon you should be totally ashamed of letting your network deteriorate so badly like this! It's really nice that your tower is saturated to the point of unusable due to people's "fun and games" which hurts those needing it for critical service. Fortunately AT&T is coming to the rescue I'm getting about a few hundred lines off you guys next week for the various clients I also work with in addition to my family's business -- SO thanks for all the extra work for me now over your awful service:-(

FREELL46

Verizon has steadily went downhill in their service customer service and Uphill in their pricing. They will lie to you to get you to purchase whatever makes them money! If you check the Better Business Bureau you will see many many many complaints about Verizon and Verizon sales and service. Unfortunately because Verizon is the largest or one of the largest cell phone service carriers in the United States there isn't much that we as an individual can do.

VENADITO78

Apparently Verizon'a network can't handball the traffic for the unlimited plans! Glad my contract is up so I can switch! This article from Forbes might help you guys understand. Why Verizon Had To Rethink Its Unlimited Strategy

CRANBERY38

Not sure what is going on either, I am now having to leave my house and stand in the street, have an unlimited plan that is basically useless, multiple dropped calls every single day, about 17 today alone, one bar or none, I can do nothing with it, i dont have a contract so im going to bounce, had enough.

kathy65793

Did this just start or did it start after you received an update to your phone?

99silverthorn

I am in the same boat- except that I did not choose the new unlimited plan. Ever since they phased out my original truly unlimited plan, I have been on a tiered plan with the same excellent coverage and good speed even in rural areas of my county... until they rolled out the new unlimited. Now my 16 gig plan is getting the same dismal speeds that you guys are getting after reaching cap. And Verizon is giving me a canned response about being in a “marginal” coverage area and extra foliage.

Neither my marginal area nor the trees have changed- only the service is getting steadily worse since late last Spring.

Carolpu

Same here , we have had Verizon even before they bought out Alltel. We Bought the latest iPhones and our service is only 2 bars now and we can not use Bluetooth easily and apps do not work properly. I have been fighting with Verizon to actually apply all the incentives they promised us when we purchased new line and all new phones. After over 18 years of being a customer I am very disappointed now.

Predator7

Very simple. Verizon just can't keep up with Demand!!! Verizon didn't have enough Spectrum and Tower therefore slowing everything down! Verizon is greedy and put a Cap on all Unlimited Plans.

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