Why do I have to now pay for Visual V-Mial when I had it for free on my iPhone?

[blayer]

I recently switched from an iPhone 4S to the HTC 8x WinPhone.  Now I have to subscribe to a voice mail service to get the same functionality I had on my iPhone??  Why?

[#2]

It is a perk only free on an iphone purchase from verizon as it was told to me when I bought mine.

Good Luck

PS: You could call *611 and ask customer service

[Jax_Omen]

Because Apple provides the voicemail service on iPhones, and they opted to provide a visual voicemail service at no extra charge.

On non-iPhones, the voicemail goes through the phone carrier, and VzW opts to monetize their visual voicemail service.

[vzw_customer_support]

Hi blayer,

Thanks for asking such a great question.  Visual Voicemail is the primary way to check your voicemail on iPhones. Apple's voicemail server is strictly off of data. The feature is free, although it does use data.  The Visual Voicemail Feature on other devices does come with a cost of $2.99 since this is still tied in with our voicemail platform.  I hope this helps.

Bobby_VZW
Please follow us on twitter @VZWSupport

[blayer]

Dear Verizon,

Thanks for the response.  Your reasoning still doesn’t make sense.  Are you saying that HTC uses your platform for messages and Apple does not?  I was told by HTC that it is up to the carrier (VZW in this case) whether or not to charge for visual vmail (see quote below). 

Dear Bryan,

I rely on my voicemail when I'm on the go and I will be glad to help out. The decision on whether a device will ship with visual voicemail and whether there is a charge is actually up to the carrier to make. Please accept my apologies for any misunderstanding, and thank you for being a part of the HTC community!

Let me know if I have successfully answered your question, please 

Sincerely,

Douglas

HTC

Are you saying you charge because there is data involved?  If so, I pay extra for a data plan so why hit me twice?  And, I’m not sure what visual voice mail does to incur data charges but it has to be miniscule and insignificant. 

I pay an ungodly amount to VZW now and you want to charge for a basic feature like visual voicemail.  It’s absurd and not very conducive to customer satisfaction.

>>Personal information removed<<

Message was edited by: Verizon Moderator

[Ann154]

There are other option to Verizon Wireless' Visual Voicemail.  The basic voicemail works well for some customers.  There is also Google Voice and YouMail available.

[Jax_Omen]

❤️ Google Voice, I refuse to use any other voicemail.

[vzw_customer_support]

@blayer,

I definitely want you to understand the reasoning behind the charge for the VZW visual voice mail and the iPhone visual voice mail. There is a charger for the VZW visual voice mail because it also offers other things that the iPhone visual voice mail does not.

Please visit http://vz.to/TDayy4 to view a comparison between the two.

I'm here if you have additional questions.


John_VZW
Please follow us on twitter @VZWSupport

[Marquitoz]

Thanks for the comparison.   Although your Visual Voicemail is a little better it is still insane that you charge for Voicemail when the Iphone users do not.   I am sorry but I have 6 lines and pay about 400.00 a month for service I do not wish to add another 2.99 a month for all non iphone users.  

Blayer I have been using Google Voice and its okay ....not great but it works.

Verizon don't penny pinch and give your customers basic Visual Voicemail free. 

Thanks!

[Ann154]

Marquitoz wrote:

Thanks for the comparison.   Although your Visual Voicemail is a little better it is still insane that you charge for Voicemail when the Iphone users do not.   I am sorry but I have 6 lines and pay about 400.00 a month for service I do not wish to add another 2.99 a month for all non iphone users.  

Blayer I have been using Google Voice and its okay ....not great but it works.

Verizon don't penny pinch and give your customers basic Visual Voicemail free. 

Thanks!

Apple was the one that included a Visual Voicemail in their features. They are the ones hosting the servers to handle the feature and storage of the voicemails. Verizon Wireless doesn't have anything to do with the voicemail on an iPhone.