Cell service down in El Segundo, CA (Los Angeles, next to LAX) at approx 17:00 PM 24 May 2014
I just had 30 minutes of the most surreal conversation with two Verizon employees. Cell service failed here to three different Verizon phones. Not one but THREE, all different accounts (therefore not payment issues or phone hardware problems). No inbound or outbound phone calls or text. But LTE Internet and email works perfectly. The phone displays the usual 4 or 5 bars of signal. Calls from PSTN (i.e. a wired AT&T phone) to all three phones go to Voice mail. No ringing in mobiles.
Drive 10 blocks away (presumably to a different cell site or booster) and cell calls and text work again. In fact 6 blocks away a pile of texts suddenly come in, some of them sent an hour earlier. That must be where it switches to a different cell. There are 3 cell towers on Imperial Highway (south side of LAX), presumably one is Verizon.
If you call 611 you get 15 minutes of IVR messages until you get a (presumably, although the jury is still out on that) human. After 5 minutes of patient explanation ("No, it's not my phone, we're talking on it!) I am finally routed to a second person who supposedly is in the correct repair department. But after 10 minutes of, "Yes my phone is working, because you and I are talking on it, but it won't work 10 blocks from here. Where there has for several years been perfect service!"
This service "person" wants to reboot the phone or send it an electronic raspberry. She can't comprehend that (a) the phone is indeed working because I called her... and (b) that Verizon's outside plant equipment could actually fail. Verizon needs to license that Hanna Barbera 10 pound animated sledge hammer that can operate through the phone to clunk this block head on the noggin. Clunk! (I'd pay a buck for that App!)
Eventually, before I say something stupid, I just say, "Look, gotta go. Have a great Memorial Day weekend!"
Further there is no link on (this) Verizon web site to report any service disruptions.
Missing a few phone calls is no big deal but you can't call 911, which is serious because lots of people these days have no landline phones.
I have a small cell booster at my house (in a Hollywood Hills canyon where there is zippo cell service) which is connected to the Internet. Works great! I should get one here in E.S. as an emergency backup!
Well, gotta go. Have a great Memorial Day weekend!
