Re: 2G/3G being snuffed out 1 Jan 2020 to make way for 4G LTE causing many problems.
mhubbell42
Enthusiast - Level 2

Thanks Lynn,

I have already been through the escalation route to engineering.

The replacement phone is a moto E 2020.

The area of service is near Pahoa, 96778.

The nearest crossroad is Highway 130 and Upper Puna Road.

Engineering concluded it was weak signal strength. Not true. I was on the phone (a different phone) to Verizon for 1-1/2 hours at the same spot.

Re: 2G/3G being snuffed out 1 Jan 2020 to make way for 4G LTE causing many problems.
mama23dogs
Legend

@mhubbell42

Did you buy the Moto from Verizon?  Manufacturers didn't take 3g  bands off their phones. If it won't connect, it's another problem.  Like an incompatible phone.  

Did you check the IMEI online? 

 

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Re: 2G/3G being snuffed out 1 Jan 2020 to make way for 4G LTE causing many problems.
mhubbell42
Enthusiast - Level 2

Aloha senior leader,

The phone was bought from Motorola directly and the imei number was confirmed by Verizon.  It's a moto E 2020 unlock with global frequencies. Motorola confirmed that the phone can operate on Verizon cdma channels. Verizon sent and helped activate a new sim as that was thought to be the problem.

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Re: 2G/3G being snuffed out 1 Jan 2020 to make way for 4G LTE causing many problems.
Moreaggravated
Enthusiast - Level 1

I'm with you.  I have had a Samsung Gusto since 2011, I pay $100 a year and use it for emergencies.  I have $750 credit but will not be going with a smart phone to use that up but change to another carrier as even losing that credit it is cheaper over 2 years!

Re: 2G/3G being snuffed out 1 Jan 2020 to make way for 4G LTE causing many problems.
jacheter43
Enthusiast - Level 1

Still angry after a year because my favorite 3g flip phone can not be used on my contract. I will never forgive VZW and am looking at other options for 2021, if we still have a country after the election 

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Re: 2G/3G being snuffed out 1 Jan 2020 to make way for 4G LTE causing many problems.
mama23dogs
Legend

@jacheter43 wrote:

Still angry after a year because my favorite 3g flip phone can not be used on my contract.   Verizon has been no contract since 2014.  
I will never forgive VZW and am looking at other options for 2021, if we still have a country after the election 


You can buy another flip phone, but your old 3g phone won’t work anywhere in the USA.   Both AT&T and T-Mobile (Sprint is t-mobile now) have already stopped activations of 3G phones, and The only phones sold in the United States are LTE capable.   If you want to settle for a second rate carrier, go ahead and switch to a different one, but she will still have to choose from the current available LTE capable phones.  

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Re: 2G/3G being snuffed out 1 Jan 2020 to make way for 4G LTE causing many problems.
CommunityName20
Enthusiast - Level 2

I am a long-time post-paid customer, and just for your information, Verizon offers ZERO satisfactory phones to their post-paid customers.  The only flip-phone option offered runs on Android, so one will have all the vulnerabilities and privacy invasions but without any of the perks of the flat-glass form-factor phones.  Joy. 

The one flip-phone Verizon offers is SO bad, there's not a single 3, 4 or 5-star review.  Nearly ALL the reviews are 1-star, with a couple of gentler 2-star reviews which nevertheless pan the product and do not recommend it.

It appears that the partially-reconstructed Bell System (which is what Verizon is) has forgotten the lesson they *should* have learned regarding the 1968 Carterfone decision.  For those too young to recognize this reference, back then, the Bell System demanded that its customers use only equipment which had been approved by the Bell System (sound familiar, with Verizon's network-locking of cellphones?).  When companies (e.g. Carterfone) began offering much more aesthetically-pleasing equipment with much better features, people naturally wanted to upgrade to something more "modern" than the old, heavy, black phones.  When the Bell System took a hard line against individual liberty, those individuals banded together and appealed to the FCC against the entrenched telephone companies. 

Now here we are again.  Verizon is alienating its own customers in favor of ease of administration and conformity of equipment. 

I've been a customer of Verizon since before its pieces were rebranded as Verizon.  Post-paid all the while.  Now my ever-reliable Motorola flip-phone has been banned by Verizon's forgetful and unworthy policy-makers.  I am not satisfied with any of Verizon's overpriced and unworthy substitute phones.  It's likely that I will become a customer of a rival carrier, since I am no longer tethered by my equipment. 

I know I'm not the only one who has been thrust into this position by Verizon, and I predict a very significant and long-term loss.  The people they're chasing away were by and large the most loyal customers.  This is a big mistake, which will only show its full financial impact over years.

 

Re: 2G/3G being snuffed out 1 Jan 2020 to make way for 4G LTE causing many problems.
CommunityName20
Enthusiast - Level 2

I'll tell you one type of person who still uses a flip-phone - or more accurately, a "feature phone" - people who are technical enough to design, build and maintain the infrastructure which provides the service you're using with your "smart"phone.  We know the technical capabilities of various phone types, and know that radio-frequency performance was sacrificed in favor of computer software in the "smart"phones.  Those of us who need our mobile telephones to function as a mobile telephone often choose "feature phones" because they're optimized for voice.

Here's another type of person who still uses a flip-phone ("feature phone"):  People who value their privacy and don't want to spend all day reading up on the security patches and workarounds for the latest malware threat.  One such person is Warren Buffet, "the Oracle of Omaha." He's wealthy enough to always carry the latest iPhone release, but he chooses a secure flip-phone instead.  He has tech advisors who keep up with telephone tech, so it's not like he's making that choice based on ignorance or lack of technical expertise.

I'll offer another example of a type of person who still uses a flip-phone: People who don't want to risk "butt-dialing" anyone, and those who have had to replace a few glass screens before deciding that a flip-phone fits their lifestyle better.  There are other types of people who choose to remain flip-phone users, but I will not belabor the point.

As for your rather arrogant and off-putting demand that people just accept the lack of choice being forced down their throats, I'll hazard a guess that you're a collectivist who feels strongly that people must saunter with the herd rather than climbing their own peaks.

Re: 2G/3G being snuffed out 1 Jan 2020 to make way for 4G LTE causing many problems.
CommunityName20
Enthusiast - Level 2

This reply goes out to "znel52," who wrote, "Get a new flip phone or move to another carrier.  I'm sure Verizon doesn't care..."

I would say you're correct that Verizon doesn't care that it's losing its most loyal customers.  I would also say that you're unaware that the new flip-phones are based on the same software as the current crop of "smart" phones and therefore have all the same vulnerabilities without the same advantages.  It's a clear-cut case of forcing people into using "smart"phone technology whether they want it or not.

This is a gamble that the "23dogs" persona seems to endorse, based on his/her arrogant brush-offs of the many valid concerns that people are raising.  Even "eye-rolls."  How can a person who rolls his/her eyes at legitimate customer concerns even hold a job in customer service?

 

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Re: 2G/3G being snuffed out 1 Jan 2020 to make way for 4G LTE causing many problems.
mama23dogs
Legend

@CommunityName20

1.   I'm a customer, not a Verizon customer service person.   Unless the language is 'form' with lots of syrup, and clearly identified as support, it's not an employee. 

2.  Changing carriers won't help as all carriers are dealing with the same few manufacturers.  And most carriers are running on infrastructure built by major carriers. 

3.   Current flip phones do have a rudimentary version of Android operating system.  Kaios OS is what most use.  I'm not sure what you think is insecure about using a smartphone. The information on the smartphone is as secure as the operator makes it.   If you use email on a home computer, what makes you think that is any more secure than email on my Android phone? It's not. 

4.   I can assure you that  Warren Buffett no longer carries a flip phone.  He upgraded to an iPhone in February 2020.   You can look it up.  iOS is sandboxed operating system, and very hack proof.  

5.   Most of Verizon's long-term and loyal customers have moved along with the times and are using smartphones. The market for flip phones is extremely small which is why there are so few offered on the website as opposed 2 a couple of dozen different types of smartphones.  Isn't a cell phone carrier allowed to offer what sells?  That's how our American system works.  

96% of Americans own a cellphone, 81% (and dropping) are smartphones.  More than 50% of the American smartphone users own an iPhone.  

6.   Verizon (and other carriers) are shutting down the network your old phone was compatible with. The purpose is to offer better data services.  Unfortunately, it's what most of customers want. 

7.    I'm not sure why you think that software updates and security patches are that big a deal.   Most take 10 minutes to install, at night when you plug in to recharge.  They don't happen that often.   

8.   I have been using a smartphone for 9 years, and haven't butt dialed anyone.  Most return to 'home screen', and you can't butt dial from there.  The screen turns off when not in use. 

9.  Try Great call.  Great call sells the Jitterbug phones and great call runs on Verizon network. I am sure that great call's flip phone is also an Android based operating system.

10.  Many people run their businesses, do their banking, keep in touch with loved ones, all on a 6-inch screen. 40% of Americans have no other internet access other than a smartphone.  

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