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Verizon Wireless
- Thread starter zblaxberg
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savanahrose
macrumors 6502a
Actually, at my house is sucks. But it is different every where. I get great service less than a mile down the street from my house.
Customer Service is wonderful. They have them in the stores vs. AT&T that doesn't. My mother has Suncom and gets great service at my house.
My problem is that I live right next to a tower from Verizon and it goes OVER me instead of at me.
With Verizon you get a 15 days to decide if it is right for you.
Good Luck
Customer Service is wonderful. They have them in the stores vs. AT&T that doesn't. My mother has Suncom and gets great service at my house.
My problem is that I live right next to a tower from Verizon and it goes OVER me instead of at me.
With Verizon you get a 15 days to decide if it is right for you.
Good Luck
I have been pleased with verizon for the two+ years I have had it. I use a basic free phone and haven't had any problems other than a dead battery after about a year which they replaced for free at the verizon store.
mahashel
macrumors 6502
I've had Verizon for nearly 7 years.
Their coverage is actually quite good in my area (includes some fairly rural expanses).
Their phones are locked-down to the point of being virtually useless to a power-user type of customer. Since I use a phone to call people, nothing more - nothing less, the lock-down doesn't affect me a great deal.
The LG chocolate? I currently have one. I've not been happy with it. It has decent reception and fair battery life. The issue is that the call quality is hideous. Dialog is muted, whilst background noise is amplified. I can sit in my VW (which is a very quiet car inside) while idling, and whomever is on the other end of the line will ask if there's a hurricane currently blowing past.
The few fancy features the phone boasts are rendered virtually useless due to Verizon's lockdown. The features are available, but you have to buy "media expansion" accessory packs, or "computer connectivity" packs. Cha-ching!
To sum up, Verizon isn't that great. However, considering the available options in the USA (I've had rough experiences with several carriers), I'd have to say "Verizon sucks slightly less".
Personally, I may actually succumb to my inner fanboi and hop over to AT&T when the 3rd-party apps start officially rolling out for the iPhone. 😀
Their coverage is actually quite good in my area (includes some fairly rural expanses).
Their phones are locked-down to the point of being virtually useless to a power-user type of customer. Since I use a phone to call people, nothing more - nothing less, the lock-down doesn't affect me a great deal.
The LG chocolate? I currently have one. I've not been happy with it. It has decent reception and fair battery life. The issue is that the call quality is hideous. Dialog is muted, whilst background noise is amplified. I can sit in my VW (which is a very quiet car inside) while idling, and whomever is on the other end of the line will ask if there's a hurricane currently blowing past.
The few fancy features the phone boasts are rendered virtually useless due to Verizon's lockdown. The features are available, but you have to buy "media expansion" accessory packs, or "computer connectivity" packs. Cha-ching!
To sum up, Verizon isn't that great. However, considering the available options in the USA (I've had rough experiences with several carriers), I'd have to say "Verizon sucks slightly less".
Personally, I may actually succumb to my inner fanboi and hop over to AT&T when the 3rd-party apps start officially rolling out for the iPhone. 😀
question fear
macrumors 68020
Well, where do you live? That's going to make a huge diff regarding service.
Everyone I know with the Chocolate HATES it. DO NOT GET IT. I'd go with the enV if you do a lot of texting, or a normal flip phone.
yellow
Moderator emeritus
Frankly, I was a longtime Alltel user and I switched to Verizon in July.
I've found their claim that they have a superior network to be quite false. It seems more like they're thinking: If you get a single bar, that's good enough for us.
While the folks at the wireless store were very nice and friendly (unlike the used-car-salesman-like people at Alltel), I was basically lied to. My first bill was $241, not $41 like I was told in-store. Seems a rather large mistake.
Ultimately, I'm being nickel and dimed MORE by them for the same crappy coverage I got from Alltel.
I do like my Blackberry 8830 quite a bit though.
I've found their claim that they have a superior network to be quite false. It seems more like they're thinking: If you get a single bar, that's good enough for us.
While the folks at the wireless store were very nice and friendly (unlike the used-car-salesman-like people at Alltel), I was basically lied to. My first bill was $241, not $41 like I was told in-store. Seems a rather large mistake.
Ultimately, I'm being nickel and dimed MORE by them for the same crappy coverage I got from Alltel.
I do like my Blackberry 8830 quite a bit though.
Service wise in the US they have the best coverage.
Customer service wise they are pretty good, in store employees vary.
Here is what I hate
- They have this horrendous OS they put on all of their phones that usually has some notable flaws and with some phones causes it to freeze, etc (Razr V3c, I had 3 and they all froze and did random weird things, even with software updates)
- Very mercenary- every screen on the phone advertises GET IT NOW (pay for ringtones, pics, etc).
- Limited backgrounds and ringtones on some phones so it makes you want to buy them from GET IT NOW
- Disable Bluetooth file transfer so if your phone does not have removable memory, you cannot take files off the phone and put them back on
- At times a selection of undesirable phones
Other Good Things:
My dad has been a customer with Verizon since they were Nynex Mobile, even before they were Bell Atlantic Mobile. We are considered "VIP's", he gets a 10% discount because of his work, and we can usually let them give us new phones months before the contract is up.
Customer service wise they are pretty good, in store employees vary.
Here is what I hate
- They have this horrendous OS they put on all of their phones that usually has some notable flaws and with some phones causes it to freeze, etc (Razr V3c, I had 3 and they all froze and did random weird things, even with software updates)
- Very mercenary- every screen on the phone advertises GET IT NOW (pay for ringtones, pics, etc).
- Limited backgrounds and ringtones on some phones so it makes you want to buy them from GET IT NOW
- Disable Bluetooth file transfer so if your phone does not have removable memory, you cannot take files off the phone and put them back on
- At times a selection of undesirable phones
Other Good Things:
My dad has been a customer with Verizon since they were Nynex Mobile, even before they were Bell Atlantic Mobile. We are considered "VIP's", he gets a 10% discount because of his work, and we can usually let them give us new phones months before the contract is up.
Aperture
macrumors 68000
When we used to have Verizon, they let us do the same. I think it is pretty standard - they give you like a month or two to get a new phone before your contract is up. (Presumably to try and lock you into another 2 years)
I've found their customer service to be great and the coverage is decent. My only complaint is their phones. They usually aren't the first to get new phones and the phones they do have mostly have the crappy VZW OS. Even more, they're locked down from pretty much every angle.
I guess it depends which is more important to you. Though, I will say that I got AT&T for the iPhone and have been getting the same coverage as I had with Verizon. (if not better)
GfulDedFan
macrumors 65816
I've been with them about 8 years and I feel that Verizon + Motorola is the best. Good carrier/good phone.
I have the KRZR (white) and the only drawback is a small screen.
If you want to get inside a Verizon blocked phone...check out HowardForums
I have the KRZR (white) and the only drawback is a small screen.
If you want to get inside a Verizon blocked phone...check out HowardForums
question fear
macrumors 68020
Complaints I have heard are it's slow, not a great phone, the touch controls are finicky, the interface is terrible (some of that is verizon's craptacular interface).
I know 3 or 4 people with them and they all hate it to some degree, with a vehemence usually reserved for Razrs.
Just curious, why are you looking to switch?
I had Verizon for about eighteen months. I had this Samsung that looked cool, but was ancient. The hinge was prone to snapping off, which mine of course did, and the people at the store were great and empathetic but wouldn't even give me a refurbished phone.
I looked at the Chocolate and the Sidekick 3 while I used our family's spare Sprint phone, and I decided that Verizon didn't work for me because it didn't work internationally, was expensive (because I don't know a lot of people on Verizon), and had mediocre and overpriced phones, so I went with the Sidekick. (though my local T-Mobile tower is under repair, so I switched to an iPhone on att.)
This is just my experience. I feel that your money doesn't buy you a good phone with them, and if you want a reasonably good phone, prepare to pony up. The international was a big thing for me. Customer care is not bad, but not good. I really wished that they had given me a refurbished phone instead of having me choose between an ultra cheapie clunker and a $270 Chocolate. Also, I now know a lot more people on at&t, and our family's paying about half of what we used to pay to the other three.
I looked at the Chocolate and the Sidekick 3 while I used our family's spare Sprint phone, and I decided that Verizon didn't work for me because it didn't work internationally, was expensive (because I don't know a lot of people on Verizon), and had mediocre and overpriced phones, so I went with the Sidekick. (though my local T-Mobile tower is under repair, so I switched to an iPhone on att.)
This is just my experience. I feel that your money doesn't buy you a good phone with them, and if you want a reasonably good phone, prepare to pony up. The international was a big thing for me. Customer care is not bad, but not good. I really wished that they had given me a refurbished phone instead of having me choose between an ultra cheapie clunker and a $270 Chocolate. Also, I now know a lot more people on at&t, and our family's paying about half of what we used to pay to the other three.
Their coverage is great for the most part, and their customer service is decent enough, but the obscene data prices, phone crippling, and the horrendous hardware selection makes me hesitant to recommend them.
mgguy
macrumors 6502
I've had Verizon for a year and am very happy with it. A lot of people I know feel the same way. Service representatives are very responsive and knowledgeable and are eager to please you. I've never had a call cut off even driving in rural areas. I am using LG's VX8300 phone which is a real beauty and very functional for normal use. Contrary to what they tell you, you can put MP3 songs downloaded from iTunes from Mac onto the phone. I also love that I can call friends and family who also have Verizon and talk as long as I want without using up minutes. I only wish I could use an iPhone with this provider.
Rodimus Prime
macrumors G4
My mom uses them. I used them up until 4 years ago because it was worthless at where I went to college so I switch to sprint (then 2 years later to Cingular)
My biggest problem with Verizon was they lied to me a few years ago but really it because of the lack of a sim card. Same reason with sprint. I like the sim card in GSM phones because it makes it easier to transfer my numbers to a new phone and more importantly when my phone breaks I switch out the sim and be back up and running.
Currently my phone is not working right and having issues. My GF loan me her old phone and it took me all of 30 sec to have a phone again. Right now I am in the process of filing a claim to get a new phone mailed to me but at least I still have a phone with all my numbers. It was such a royal pain to reenter numbers every time my phone broke.
My biggest problem with Verizon was they lied to me a few years ago but really it because of the lack of a sim card. Same reason with sprint. I like the sim card in GSM phones because it makes it easier to transfer my numbers to a new phone and more importantly when my phone breaks I switch out the sim and be back up and running.
Currently my phone is not working right and having issues. My GF loan me her old phone and it took me all of 30 sec to have a phone again. Right now I am in the process of filing a claim to get a new phone mailed to me but at least I still have a phone with all my numbers. It was such a royal pain to reenter numbers every time my phone broke.
I'm looking to switch because after cingular has replaced my phone twice, I drop calls every day when I have five bars of service and the text messages come through garbled, the customer service really sucks, there are certain cingular stores that we refuse to go to now.
question fear
macrumors 68020
Wow sorry you had such a rough time.
Seriously though, just don't get a chocolate. it's pretty universally reviled.
You could always go for the LG Voyager when it comes out.
Prof.
macrumors 603
Here is my two cents...
DO NOT SWITCH TO VERIZON, THEY SUCK!!! STAY WITH CINGULAR.
I have verizon and the service is awful and the customer service is blah.
Prof.
Here is my two cents...
DO NOT SWITCH TO VERIZON, THEY SUCK!!! STAY WITH CINGULAR.
I have verizon and the service is awful and the customer service is blah.
Prof.
So it sounds like they're no worse than Cingular.
I recommend T-Mobile. The service and customer service are both awesome
