This is the saga of "The Activation of a Verizon Wireless Card I Didn't Want
but Got Anyway Because it Came Builtin and Would Have Cost More to Take it
Out".
It's only relevant to Treo users as a cautionary tale about the apparent, if
anecdotal, ineptitude of the majority of Verizon's customer service and
support personnel.
It is very similar to experiences I've had as I've dabbled in the past few
years with the service of Verizon, AT&T/Cingular, and Sprint, and reinforces
why I'm still a T-Mobile customer after being with them since 1997.
T-Mobile is far from perfect, and I wish there were a better option, but I
very rarely find a nice-but-stupid or nice-but-scripted person at T-Mobile.
They seem to permeate the staff at Cingular, Sprint and Verizon. Sorry if
that offends anyone. I'm sure there are amazing people at each of those
places. I just didn't talk to a lot of them today, or really ever. I will
certainly NOT try a Verizon Treo 700, and will DEFINITELY wait for an
unlocked one that works with T-Mobile.
That said . . .
The email that follows is long. Too long to read, really. Mind-numbing in
its length and detail. You don't need to read it. I typed it because I
didn't have anything else to do while on hold. Just browse its length and
consider how mind-numbing it was to experience in person.
I'm going to send this email and then try hard not to remember that these
were two hours and 15 minutes of my life I will never get back, and 135
minutes of cellular air time that I wasted. While I did get it to work,
finally, at $15/day or $80/month I'm going back to Bluetooth via T-Mobile
for most of my quick internet access needs. EDGE speed is still better than
wireless "broadband" after spending 2+ hours on the phone to make it work.
I could have tolerated a lot of minutes of EDGE speeds for the 2.25 hours I
just wasted.
I talked to a large number of Verizon Wireless employees, from customer
service, to technical support to management. They were all friendly, but
talking to almost all of them was very much like talking to a script. They
had been given things to say and knew not one thing beyond that. That's not
a bad thing, per se, as long as the walking, breathing scripts know who to
call if something goes wrong. All but the third to last person didn't. The
second to last person knew what was going on, and the last person actually
completed the work at his direction.
BTW, in Lakewood, Colorado, where I was visiting and hoped to do some online
work for the past two+ hours, "broadband" speeds on this Sierra wireless
card means:
110 up / 465 down
55 up / 471 down
94 up / 456 down
Hardly broadband as I expect broadband to be, but certainly faster than
EDGE. Since I suppose (though was never told, since what they had to do to
activate me required an exception) that I have 30 days to try this out, I
might report other Colorado location speeds, for the interest of anyone
interested.
Anyway, no need to read more unless you're a glutton for punishment, or wish
to share (or mock) my pain. Remember, this is only tangentially relevant to
Treo users. I assume the "broadband" network to which I'm now connected is
the same one to which a 700p (or w) would connect. It would be the same
people, with the exception of PERSON 7, below you'd work with for Treo
service..
"It's been lovely, but I have to scream now!"
The Saga:
I bought a wonderful Thinkpad x60s - amazing dual core laptop. Got with
EVDO WAN card because it would have cost more not to.
For $15/day, I ecided to try it out
Ran the software that came preloaded and was taken - wirelessly at pretty
good speed!! - to quickaccess.verizonwireless.com to complete the activation
process. The birds were singing and the sun was shining, but not for long.
Was taken to a plan page which offered 2-year, $80/month plan or a 30 day
free trial. Pricing information FAQ told about the $15/day plan, which is
what I wanted, but didn't offer that choice. 30 day free trial sounded
good, so I went there.
Chose 30 day free trial, filled in name, address, credit card number.
Did Checkout, and was taken to this page:
We are unable to complete your order online. Please contact Customer Service
at 800-786-8419 and provide them the following information to complete your
order.
Pending order number: xxxx
Location Code: xxxxxxx
Xxxx's were actual numbers; removed to protect the innocent.
0:00:00 - Called that number and was told I had to give them a Social
Security Number to run a credit check. Told them that the web site didn't
ask for it, and I don't give it to anyone over the phone. All I really
wanted was to pay $15 for 24 hours. PERSON 1
0:05:00 - Transferred to customer service - gave pending order number and
location code. PERSON 2
0:07:00 - They asked if I'd signed up through "your company's web site." I
told them I don't know what that means. I'm just following instructions
given by their web site to which I was taken by their software.
0:10:00 - They went to check to see what department that came in through.
0:16:00 - back from hold - I had to go through the whole story again.
0:18:00 - back on hold.
0:23:00 - back from hold; "what information are you trying to find out?"
Took her through the story again; she said I was approved and it should
work; but it doesn't work - no internet; no browsing; no email. What do I
do now?
0:25:00 - back on hold.
0:27:00 - Told me that I have been activated and credit department says I've
been activated for the free trial and so everything should be OK. I told
her I can't get to the internet or do email or anything. Told me that what
I can do is limited during the free trial. I asked if by limited she meant
that I couldn't get to the internet. "You got transferred to the wrong
department and I don't know the answer". Told me I have to go to a Verizon
store, since I got transferred to wrong department. What is the right dept?
Tech support.
0:29:00 - back on hold for technical support. Their voice response unit
wanted my 10 digit phone number. I don't have one. 0 for customer service.
PERSON 3
0:31:00 - She wanted my ssn, tax id, or account number to get to tech
support. Have to go to a store otherwise. Gave pending order number and
location code - said "we'll try". Can't find anything in the credit
department. Can I talk to tech support? "I am tech support - I'm trained
in both".
0:34:00 - back on hold.
0:36:00 - Couldn't look it up by order number and location code. Need ssn,
account number or full name; gave full name.
0:37:00 - back on hold.
0:39:00 - unable to find any access information - take to a store or call
IBM and have them tell you something. What would a salesman at a Verizon
store or IBM tech support person tell me that you need to know? "I don't'
know". Do you mean to tell me that IBM passes out Verizon phone number when
machines are manufactured? "Absolutely". I went through the entire story
again and expressed my dismay at this.
0:48:00 - back on hold; I note that I've been "connected" for 1 hour and 5
minutes now. I'll transfer you to a supervisor to help.
0:55:00 - Supervisor. Went through the whole story again, twice. Searching
by full name. Called that same 800 number from way back at the beginning
but stayed on the line with me? Hold music. PERSON 4
1:11:00 - back from hold. Need paperwork from Lenovo to get electronic
serial number. Need to call that original phone number again. I'll do it
for you. Need to find account.
1:15:00 - back on hold. Been connected to VZW for 1:28:00 now.
1:19:00 - Need ESN from the back of the card. Explained that it's a built
in card - no back that I'm aware of. Explained the whole story again. Said
"you just need to go to the activation people" PERSON 5
1:21:00 - back on hold.
1:22:00 - do you have a cellular number?? Not the right person, but will
try to help. Went through the whole story again. Gave the order number and
location code and she responded with my name!! Eureka!! She's going to
transfer me to the aircard specialist to complete the process. PERSON 6
1:25:00 - back on hold. Now been connected to VZA for 01:38:00 now.
1:29:00 - Had to tell the whole story again. Help, About, and the ESN is
there!!!!! But the phone number indicates the activation wasn't completed.
No kidding!! However, this guy knows something! Problem is that no phone
number was assigned. Now that we have the ESN, we can complete the process.
Conference previous person in to complete the process. PERSON 7
1:38:00 - back on hold.
1:40:00 - still on hold, but he touched base.
1:42:00 - still on hold, but he touched base.
1:44:00 - some new person (PERSON 8) came on and asked for my cellular
number. Person 7 quickly grabbed the call back and put me back on hold.
Immediately came back.
1:44:00 - PERSON 9 - Told me I'd have to run credit check and sign up for 1
or 2 year plan. AAAARRRRGGGGGHHHHHHHH!!!!!! I explained that I don't want
a 1 or two year plan, I don't want a credit check, and I don't want to give
my ssn over the phone. All I really wanted, almost two hours ago, was to
pay $15 for 24 hours of broadband access. OK, will see what I can do.
1:46:00 - back on hold.
1:49:00 - question: did you select 30-day free trial? Yes.
1:51:00 - question: where are you located right now? Shopping mall in
Lakewood, CO.
1:52:00 - back; will get it set up
1:53:00 - back on hold - still working with PERSON 7 and PERSON 9.
1:55:00 - on hold music - you have reached the wireless data support team.
2:00:00 - back from hold; entering the ESN in the system.
Typing.typing.typing. Was told for the 8th time that typically the store
would do the setup. I commented for the 8th time that the Verizon
software said I could do it over the air, and I'm not in a store, and what
could a salesman in a store do that they couldn't? Could be this problem
is a signal problem (turned out not to be the case)
2:03:00 - back on hold and off. "Will" is still working on this.
2:07:00 - Will is still working on it. Symantec Client Firewall could be
the problem (turned out not to be the case).
2:16:00 - finally got it working after deleting the network connection and
creating, and starting the Verizon software again!!
Final note: I now know my phone number and how to connect. I don't really
know what service I have or anything, since what they did appeared to be an
exception to the regular process, as they did not ever get my SSN nor,
therefore, run a credit check. I assume I'll get some communication from
them at some point. If they try to charge my credit card, I'll protest and
we'll have some fun again.
Enough. Time to get some work done, assuming I can remember what I set out
to do way back when.
Wow.
Cheers,
Don
[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
SPONSORED LINKS
| Palm os | Handspring treo | Palm os bible software |
| Palm os development | Palm os program | Palm os programming |
YAHOO! GROUPS LINKS
- Visit your group "treo" on the web.
- To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to:
[EMAIL PROTECTED]
- Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to the Yahoo! Terms of Service.
