The True Cost of that Free Phone

July 27, 2022

I often hear it said that every project costs twice as much and takes twice as long as estimated. Sometimes that is an understatement. Recently I was tempted by a cell phone carrier advertising better coverage than my previous one. I was generally satisfied with my previous carrier, but calls dropped every time I passed Tarkiln Road. (They still do, it turns out). After salivating over the deals, rebates and extra perks on the website, my family and I decided to switch our six phones and one watch to Verizon.

As a sole parent working full-time and maintaining a household, time is scarce. I attempted to order the phones and lines through their website, which sounded convenient. Signing up online also would have saved us $245 in activation fees. For two days, I waded through their website. Each time, I ran into a dead end; it would not let me complete the order. I decided to pay the extra $245 to save my sanity and time. (Or so I thought.)

Caveat: this story is long. If you read my “Adventures of a Sole Parent: Online Dating” (Part One and Part Two), I will warn you that cell phone carriers are less laugh-out-loud funny than dating sites. Nevertheless, I bet that you can relate to this story. Most people have had a similar experience, but I’ve never seen anyone document the journey. As I logged my calls, I imagined myself halfway between an investigative journalist and a young(ish) Ralph Nader. If you are short on time, skim the call log and scroll down to my Consumerist Manifesto. 

Thus follows (drumroll please) The Verizon Saga. And like Star Wars, this saga has more episodes than originally intended.

5/31/2022 – Call 1: 

The exact phone records were lost in the switch, but I spent approximately 1.5 hours on the phone with an agent named Ben. Ben was friendly and promised to fix all of my problems. A friend and I touted Ben as a minor deity: “All faith in Ben.” 

I provided Ben with the models of phones we wanted, all of our trade-in information, our previous account numbers and port PINs. Ben had the same problems with his employer’s system as I had on their website. He eventually submitted a ticket to his supervisor. Ben promised to ship our phones next-day air to make up for the delay. He promised to waive activation fees. He promised to call me back at 8am to finish the process.

I felt relieved: “It’s in Ben’s hands now.”

6/1/ 2022 – Call 2: 

9:56am – 15 minutes 

Ben didn’t call this morning. Like a teenager, I hung close to my phone, hoping that he would. Two hours later, I reached another agent who offered to start the process over if I would provide all of the information again. I cringed at the thought and politely declined. I kept my hopes up. “All faith in Ben,” I repeated.

6/2/2022 – Call 3: 

3:47pm – 52 minutes 

Ben ghosted me. I’m now with Josh, who gave me his work cell phone number. He could not locate the tickets Ben said that he submitted. Josh reconstructed the order—at least part of it. He could not order all of the phones because they need to be shipped to two different locations. Josh promised to call me back. At least I have his number.

6/3/2022 – Calls 4-5: 

3:23pm – 28 minutes 

4:50pm – 21 minutes 

Josh is a more faithful sales rep than Ben. He calls as promised and we set up the order for the remaining phones.

6/8/2022 – Calls 6-8: 

4:07pm – 24 minutes

4:56pm – 34 minutes

4:33pm – 22 minutes 

I receive two phones and also an email notification that my order for the rest of the phones is cancelled. Verizon doesn’t believe that I am me. I repeatedly submit copies of my driver’s license and various other proof. My fraud prevention agent, Satin, finally declares me to be me but states that I need to reconstruct the entire order because it was cancelled.

6/9/2022 Calls 9-20:

I am being charged for watch cellular service and have ported my watch’s number but I still don’t have service on it. I am tossed from department to department because no one agrees on who can fix this:

11:26am – 19 minutes 

11:49am – 10 minutes

12:44pm – 30 minutes 

12:14pm – 5 minutes

1:15pm – 9 minutes

1:36pm – 12 minutes

1:30pm –  5 minutes

6:16pm –  30 minutes – This representative promises to set up Number Share between my phone and my watch.

6:39pm – I call Verizon because my phone no longer receives incoming calls. I can place calls but no one can call me. They tell me it should be resolved soon.

8:02, 8:03, 8:03pm – I know from phone records that an agent tried to call me back, but my phone would not accept incoming calls

6/10/2022 – Calls 21-29:

At the moment the agent started Number Share, my phone and watch stopped receiving incoming calls. Verizon Technical Support agents do not believe me. They tell me that the problem is my phone and send me to Apple. It takes me six hours to convince them otherwise.

8:24am – 6 minutes

8:30am – 1 minute

9:47am – 1 minute

9:48am – 11 minutes

11:14am – 19 minutes with an Apple agent who states that the phone is operating as designed.

11:45am – 45 minutes in the Verizon store. The representative replaces the SIM card on my phone, which doesn’t help. He tells me once again that it must be an Apple problem. I reiterate that my phone received calls until Verizon started the Number Share.

12:55pm – 1 hour 13 minutes – An agent finally believes me and turns off Number Share. Immediately, I can receive calls. He sends me to second-line tech support. That agent assigns my watch a different phone number because the number port caused problems. (The change of numbers seems innocuous now but becomes significant later.)

1:06pm – 4 minutes

2:22pm – 8 minutes – test calls

6/11/2022 – Call 30:

1:28pm – 18 minutes

The phones that were supposedly cancelled have now arrived. I am discussing this with my personal sales rep, Josh, when the call drops at the classic Tarkiln Road exit. So much for that “better coverage”….

6/12/2022 – Calls 31-32:

11:06am –  6 minutes

11:38am – 31 minutes 

During this conference call with my brother and a Verizon agent, we work on activating three phones. The agent tells us that these three phones were shipped early and were not set to be activated until the 14^th (at which point my brother and sister-in-law will be out of the continental US.)

6/14/2022:

This should be the big day! The phones still cannot be activated.

6/15/2022 – Calls 33-36:

9:48am – 7 minutes 

11:02am – 7 minutes

11:20am – 12 minutes

I can’t make changes on my own account. I am told I’m not an “authorized user,” even though my name is the only one on the account. Roushoune works to get me authorized.

3:21pm – 56 minutes 

My mom’s phone still can’t be activated and her number has not ported. I discover that four accounts were created under my name and three of the phones for my family members are not on my primary account. This keeps them from activating. Additionally, due to the number switch on my Apple Watch, they are charging me for activation fees and service on two Apple Watch lines instead of one. 

The representative assures me that the remaining three numbers are now on my account, I will only have one Apple Watch charge, and the number porting is in progress. (None of these things prove to be true). 

6/16/2022 – Call 37:

10:21am – 52 minutes

I still have four accounts under my social security number. I’m still being charged for a second, non-existent Apple Watch. Today Jasmine assures me that, though it didn’t happen yesterday, she has now removed the extra charges and has put the remaining three phones on my plan. The phones still don’t work.

6/23/2022 – Calls 38-39:

Almost a month into my Verizon journey, only two of the six lines function correctly. I’m exhausted. My family is shell-shocked. We are delaying calls to Verizon and hobbling along in order to avoid dealing with customer service. The bills keep piling up: one for $550 and an additional one for $125.55. Some charges look duplicated but I can’t make heads or tails of it. I’m getting charged higher Verizon rates because fewer lines are working and I’m not getting multi-line discounts. Due to the incremental activations, I’m also having to continue paying for my AT&T account.

2:13pm – My mom calls Verizon to fix her voicemail problem. They refer her to an automated system that doesn’t work, despite several calls.

2:42pm – 1 hour 25 minutes. 

I conference call a new agent, my mom and my brother and sister-in-law (from their vacation in Hawaii). This agent actually gets my mom’s voicemail working and my brother’s and sister-in-law’s numbers ported. I now have a request pending to get the rebate that I was promised on sign-up but am being denied because Verizon says I didn’t port my watch number. As you may recall, I ported it but they decided they to change it due to technical problems.

6/30/2022

I receive an email stating that they have lowered the value of my trade-in from $800 to $103. The explanation given is that instead of trading in an iPhone XR 64G in black, I actually traded in an iPhone XR 64G in black. (Hint: it’s the same phone). 

7/1/2022 – Call 40: 

11:15am – 1 hour, 21 minutes

The trade-in issue is the straw that breaks my back. A customer service agent tells me that the decision on the trade-in reduction is final.

I ask for a port-out PIN from Verizon and order labels to ship back all six phones.

I expect to feel relief, but instead I feel exhaustion. I can’t imagine the process of getting all of our lines out of Verizon and back to AT&T. We no longer have our old phones. 

I request one final time to speak to a supervisor. I have asked this many times over the previous 39 phone calls to Verizon. Each time I have been denied. After threatening to leave, I finally get a different answer: I can reach one if I’m willing to wait. 

And wait I do. Fifty-five minutes later, I have Harlan, a supervisor.

She tells me that the trade-in value is actually $800 but that their system sends these error messages to people all the time. (That seems like a problem Verizon should fix).

She finds the four accounts that the sales reps initially set up and eliminates the duplicate charges I am getting billed for. She says that I won’t be charged for having two watch accounts. 

I feel warm and gooey inside, but also think it’s too good to be true. Many Verizon agents have promised that they have fixed things before. Will she turn out to be the one who did? 

7/6/2022: 

My mom’s $200 rebate has been denied because Verizon says that the phone was disconnected (it is still active).

I receive my first bill and am still being charged $48.23 for the nonexistent second watch. 

7/8/2022 – Call 41:

11:13am – 1 hour, 48 minutes

The sixth phone still can’t be activated. Once again, I provide all of the information on that phone, its number and its port PIN. The agent says that he is adding it to the account and in two days we can call back and activate it. 

He then tries to transfer me to someone who can help with the charge for the non-existent second watch line and the denial of the rebate, but instead transfers me to Fraud Prevention. Eventually, the Fraud Prevention Agent realizes the mistake and transfers me again. I request a supervisor and am denied. 

The third Customer Service Agent says that she has eliminated the $48.23 for the non-existent second watch. She states that the $200 rebate was rejected because my mom’s number came from a Verizon account. I explain that the line came from my AT&T plan, but when four Verizon accounts were mistakenly created and then combined into one account, the system thought that the phone was coming from Verizon.

The reception cuts out and I cannot hear her. My cell phone provider can’t provide enough coverage for me to be able to call them. It dawns on me that I have to survive 35 more months with Verizon…..

7/10/2022:

Without notice, a new SIM card arrives in my mailbox. It is intended for the sixth phone, which is brand new and already has a Verizon SIM card. It is also in a different state with my brother. They didn’t ask me.

7/12/2022 – Call 42:

11:55am – 37 minutes

I overcome the sick feeling in my stomach and call Verizon again. My latest agent, Aisha sees that there is a problem with the port for the sixth phone. She gets the device information, phone number and port information again. She says that by 4:22pm, the sixth phone will be activated and ported.

7/13/2022 – Call 43

11:37am – 59 minutes

The phone did not activate. Once again I call, ask repeatedly for a supervisor, am denied, and give all of the same information I’ve given for days to two different agents. Jessica finally gets the last phone activated. 

I breathe a sigh of relief. Until…

7/24/2022 – Calls 44-45:

4:40pm – 9 minutes 

4:56pm – 10 minutes

At 5pm, I have a video call scheduled for my son to meet his birth brother for the first time. We will be out of the house, but with cell phones, that shouldn’t be a problem. At 3pm, my Verizon service cuts out. My watch and my dad’s phone don’t work either. I borrow my dad’s Wifi to call Verizon. I ask the agent if there is an outage in the area or a problem with my account. My son is screaming and having a meltdown in the background. The agent refuses to tell me if there is an outage in our area until I have reset all of my network carrier settings, which disconnects the call. The network carrier reset does not help and I’m never able to reach another Verizon agent. We miss the call with my son’s birth brother. I try Verizon on and off via chat until 11:30pm but am unable to reach an agent. 

I eventually discover that this was part of a three-state Verizon outage. My service was not restored until the next day.

I count that I have 34 months and 15 days left with Verizon. Which leads me to what I want from Verizon and other large companies.

Mom Flies Solo’s Consumerist Manifesto:

1. Value your Employees. Value them enough to train them. Train them well. They will pay you back by doing their jobs correctly the first time. 
2. Value your Customers. Value us by training employees do things correctly the first time and by getting your systems working. Value us enough to transfer us to a supervisor when we need one and request one. Value our time.
3. Own up to your mistakes. I am frightened to add up the total time in these 45 phone calls. And those were merely attempts to get the services and prices I was initially promised. I’m actually paying more than originally agreed because all six lines were not activated at the same time and therefore the cost per line is higher. Plus I had to keep my AT&T plan longer than anticipated due to the problems.
4. Make reparations. Verizon’s annual revenue for 2021 was $133,613,000,000. That is slightly more than my annual income. Offer some discount for the numerous hours of a customer’s time spent fixing mistakes of the company. A financial drop in the bucket for the company is a big help to an ordinary family. The goodwill generated helps keep customers. 

I’ll close with a parting thought from a friend’s recent text message. She meant to have closed with, “Stay Safe,” but we all know how easy it is to let a typo slip into a text message. It came out as an old-world parting blessing to the wise: Stay Sage.

Stay Sage, Dear Readers, Stay Sage.