Why bother with a landline?

[ChrisTobin]

Our Verizon landline has been without a dial tone for almost 24 hours now.  The online repair system promises that the situation will be resolved by next Tuesday evening, six days after the problem was reported!  We even pay a monthly fee for a wiring maintenance plan in case the outage is caused by wiring inside the home (which, after testing at the NID, we know it's not).

Thankfully, our household has Vonage and Comcast Voice, as well as wireless service.  Each of these vendors is able to diagnose and resolve problems within hours, not days or weeks.

I'm wondering why we - or anyone for that matter - would continue to maintain a Verizon landline when the cost is excessive and the service abysmal.  It suddenly makes sense that so many of our friends and neighbors have given up their expensive and redundant landlines!

[GaryDoug]

Good question. There are a few reasons for a landline. In my area cell phone signal strength is weak and unreliable. But I guess that will eventually change. My roof is covered with "tin", sheet steel really; and inside the house, all cell phone use is impossible. I don't know if a cell phone can accept a fax for printing, but I need that capability. The battery time is usually greater with a larger land-line cordless handset unit, and my wife is on the phone with relatives for hours at a time. But I guess she could just use a charger cord with an extension. I think eventually the plain old phone system (POTS) will become obsolete and impractical.

[Skyye]

Hey guys I just got a Digital video phone to use as my home phone and have a digital security system so that I do not continue to deal with the aggravation of lanline issues as well as being able to see my loved ones for less money!  This is Awesome!!!

[simonNJ]

I am completely with you.  My landline has not been working since July 8th.  Verizon came out on the 9th and said it would be working within 48 hours but it's been almost 2 weeks now and still no phone service.  I have used up almost all of my monthly cellphone minutes trying to get my phone working but to no avail.  It's really, really ridiculous that Verizon who is supposed to be a phone company cannot get my line working.  I never had issues with my landline when I was using Time Warner. 

I am so fed up with verizon that i am ready to cancel my services (FIOS triple play) and go back to Time Warner.  Since i am still under my 1 yr contract, would I be hit with the early termination fee b/c I cancel my account due to it not working?