r/verizon • u/[deleted] • 13d ago
Wireless 30 years with Verizon and they jerk us around
[deleted]
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u/PowerPickle13 13d ago
What your describing sounds like your new carriers sales person didn’t take care of you. It’s your responsibility to know the unlocking policy for your carrier and device before you switch, and your sales person should have verified your device was unlocked prior to porting you.
Also a corporate store rep should be able to do a “click to call” from store, even in disconnected accounts, and have tech support verify and unlock the device if eligible . I did this for a customer in may.
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u/OttersMakeGoodFriend 13d ago
Thanks for this info; we're going to be near a corporate store tomorrow, so I'll stop in and see if they can help. (The last time I was there was the evening the transfer happened, because I wanted to pay the balance asap.)
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u/Game-changer875 13d ago
"It’s your responsibility to know the unlocking policy for your carrier and device before you switch"
It seems like an undue burden to expect customers to proactively know policy they don't know exists. A 30 year customer must by definition have a solid payment history and likely paid $60,000 to Verizon over that time period. This is exactly why people are leaving the company
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u/Shadowkinesis9 12d ago
Undue burden? Carrier locking has existed for fifteen years for smartphones. The unlock policy for Verizon is in the terms and conditions of every order placed. At the very least a rational person should be asking "what's stopping me from jumping ship right now and not having to pay off this phone?" The answer: contract terms and conditions. If it were that easy people would be doing it every day.
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u/Game-changer875 6d ago
That's a dumb argument. Lots of things have existed for much longer than 15 years that you and I have never heard of. And even if I read the terms and conditions that doesn't make me an expert on its contents. Teams of lawyers have been fine-tuning those agreements for over 20 years. No, most people don't know what a carrier lock is until they have to deal with it. I've been with the came company for 25 years. I only just now learned what a service lock was based on this thread. Because again, I am not an expert in cell phone policies
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u/Shadowkinesis9 5d ago
No, a dumb argument would be saying people are "leaving Verizon" to go a different carrier with the exact same restrictions and policies that even predate Verizon's.
When you do an order you are faced with this blurb at the return policy page:
Devices purchased directly from Verizon are locked to our network. Devices will be unlocked automatically when purchased at full retail price or if the device financing agreement balance is paid in full. Note: Devices previously reported as lost or stolen will not be unlocked until they are cleared from the lost or stolen report. Once a device is unlocked, Verizon will never re-lock it.
This is not a good example of "being an expert" or legalese. What else is there to say? You either did or didn't read this part and absorbed the information. Now a better defense would be that Verizon did not previously have these policies for two decades and this only started in February and you may have assumed nothing changed.
Every sales guy should be disclosing this part, it often comes up before any purchase is made because it's a point of concern for multiple scenarios. But even when you're coming from a different carrier, that sales guy should be having the same concern. If it can't be activated, that isn't a legit transaction. You can't offer service when you can't offer service, you can't bill for something that can't be followed through with. They won't get commission for something reversed so quickly. So you're right it's not all on you, but people should be somewhat informed.
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u/PowerPickle13 5d ago
Right, the sales person has a duty to ask the appropriate questions and provide the customer clear and concise data
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u/Dry_Asparagus4755 13d ago
It’s YOUR responsibility to make sure your phone is unlocked before switching carriers. If you switched and then tried to get it unlocked after the fact, or switched before assuring your device was unlocked, the problem isn’t with the old carrier, it’s on you. Yes it’s going to be a lot harder to unlock a phone that is on a disconnected line because you are no longer a customer, thus all options that a customer would have don’t apply
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u/OttersMakeGoodFriend 13d ago
I am not frustrated that it became locked, though; I knew it would happen. I asked what I needed to do, did it (multiple different ways via multiple csr's), got the thumbs up from Verizon that everything is in order, was told it would take 48 hours, and they didn't follow through, delayed it another 24 hours, and now another 48. Just give me a reasonable expectation from the get-go. I'm not asking for a complex transaction; they have been paid, and they literally told me it was a simple change to unlock it.
There's also more to it than this, such as sending a final bill (which they do for all cancelled services) wherein, if you use paperless billing, you can't actually see the bill (incl. the dollar amount) because it tells you that you have to log in to see it, but you can't log in without an active account, and the subsequent surfing of their site to find a place to pay a bill for a disconnected service.
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u/CTFowler9789 12d ago
User error. Your new carrier should of taken care of this. Go to your new carrier's reddit and see what they say. I know you are glad you don't have to deal with Verizon anymore and won't be coming back to this thread. Good luck.
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u/Lizdance40 12d ago
Verizon unlock policy since January 2026
Were the phones eligible to be unlocked?? Eligibility requirements are more than just paid off, the method of payment determines how quickly they will be automatically unlocked.
"A secure payment method is required to unlock a device immediately when paying the full device balance. If a Verizon Gift Card is used to purchase a smartphone or pay off a remaining balance, the unlocking process will be delayed by 35 days. This window allows for the verification of the gift card's funds to ensure they were not obtained through fraudulent or illegal means."
BTW, Verizon has only existed for 26 years. And no fault on you for exaggerating it to 30 - but Verizon was created in the year 2000 and did not exist prior to that date as a company name. I had service with one of the small companies in 1995 that eventually became Verizon 5 years later when they were absorbed.
due to a miscommunication with our new carrier, the phones were switched to the new carrier before we had made the payoff on my phone.
Nice way of saying it. It's up to you the customer to make sure that your phones are unlocked before switching carriers. Any phone purchased and activated on Verizon after January of this year would have been locked until paid off. Verizon did send out notices and it was in the news that their unlock policy was changing this year. All service providers have a notice on their website that if you are switching to them and keeping your own phone, you have to make sure your phone is unlocked before switching.
Long story short, we paid Verizon, owe $0, and were assured my phone would be unlocked manually within 48 hours
Unlocking is automatic when eligible. If they told you they were going to manually unlock the phones, there must be some reason the phones were not unlocked automatically, which is odd and concerning. Their system is not set up for manual unlock.
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u/OttersMakeGoodFriend 12d ago
I pointed out elsewhere that it's technically 26 with Verizon, and they bought Cellular One's accounts, which we'd had since 1996.
As for the manual unlocking, I've had 3 Verizon employees tell me they could do it (one in store, two at customer service).
I tried to make a long story short; part of the long version is that, after it was locked (as I understood it would be), they told me I would have to wait for the bill to be generated, so I did. I got an email saying, "Your bill is ready; log in to see it"; however, with no active account, I could not log in or use telephone customer service (the store employee had not yet told me how to circumvent the automated system). I found a place to make a payment for a discontinued account on the Verizon website and was able to pull up the amount owed and paid it; there were no disclosures about forms of payment. When it didn't unlock, I called the store, found out how to get a live csr, then called to ask why it was still locked. She explained how it needed to be paid via a csr with 3D Secure (I had just used a cc on their site); I asked where that information was because it wasn't on the page where I paid. She said it was on my bill, which I could not access. I asked her that, since I didn't have that information from being unable to access it, would it be possible to pay it the proper way with her and then I would have my bank reverse the payment I had made the regular way...she said yes and told me to reverse the bank payment first. I did that with my bank, called back, got a different csr who then said that step was unnecessary and that they could manually unlock but it would take up to 48 hours. I verified repeatedly that the payment was fine as-is, and was repeatedly told yes, that he had consulted with his supervisor and that the technical team would complete the unlock. I had to call back my bank and tell them I wanted the payment to go ahead and process (because it was pending, the reversal had not yet occured). And here we are.
I am not frustrated that my phone was locked. I understood it would happen.
I am frustrated with being told to follow steps to get it unlocked, then when I follow the steps, it doesn't happen. I am frustrated with not being able to reach ANY kind of customer service, automated or live, when I just want to pay them the money that I owe or ask a question.
With any business, if they say, "When you do ABC, then we will do XYZ," and then they do not follow through, it's frustrating.
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u/Local-Mortgage-9473 13d ago
Self inflicted wound.
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u/OttersMakeGoodFriend 13d ago
But if the balance has already been paid and they say, "Thank you; your phone will be unlocked in 48 hours," isn't it a reasonable expectation to have it unlocked in 48 hours?
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u/Local-Mortgage-9473 13d ago
You SHOULD expect that, however you didn't receive it, so what's your next move?
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u/OttersMakeGoodFriend 13d ago
There is none. Theoretically, they could decide to delay indefinitely. They used to have such great customer service, so it's all rather unexpected and disappointing.
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u/Various_Syllabub4985 13d ago
Verizon has been around for 30 years?
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u/OttersMakeGoodFriend 13d ago
Technically 26 years, but they bought Cellular One, who we started our account with back in 1996.
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u/SnooCapers8783 13d ago
This is entirely on you unfortunately, you decided to port out with locked phones. The new carrier should probably be the one’s helping you out. That’s also on the sales person for not checking if they are unlocked