Why am I paying for no service in my area?

[HAFKHA43]

vzw_customer_support

Dear Verizon representatives - I have had horrible service (1 bar, constant fade-outs where the other person can't hear me at all or "in the tunnel" effect where they can barely hear me when they can hear me) on my iPhone 7 Plus since the first day I got it and purchased Verizon service.

Until now, I thought it was the iPhone 7+ but today I tried a Verizon compatible iPhone SE and had the same terrible calling experience. I live on Ingersoll Terrace in Fremont, California 94538 (the spot marked by the red pin in the first screenshot).

These screenshots are from an independent third-party and represent 4G Verizon coverage (purple) as well as 2G-3G Verizon coverage (green) in my area. As you can see, there is no coverage on my street or the adjacent streets. Why would Verizon sell me a phone and a service plan which costs significantly more than Sprint, T-Mobile, MetroPCS, etc. when YOU HAVE NO COVERAGE on my street?

I have tried to "make do" by using the Wi-Fi Calling feature on my iPhone 7+ since I have a 100 Mb connection through Comcast. But as you're no doubt aware, the iPhone 7 keeps dropping Wi-Fi calls on Verizon because your company (Verizon) chose to disable the feature which forces the iPhone to stick to WiFi calling and thus the iPhone constantly goes back and forth between bad coverage and WiFi calling. AT&T and T-Mobile allow the customer to have control over their iPhone's connection mode, but not you guys.

Anyhow, I'm hoping for a resolution to this matter at your earliest convenience. I should add that I've already spent an hour talking to your Tier 1 and Tier 2 support folks whose ignorance about technology was only exceeded by their hostility and lack of listening/comprehension skills.

I should also add that I have a sports blog with a large following, as well as a LinkedIn account which is in the top 1% for "most viewed profiles", and if I am left with no other means of recourse, I will post my experience on those as well as other social media outlets.

Thank you for your time.

[vzw_customer_support]

HAFKHA43 we know how frustrating it is to not have service at your home. We want to make sure that we go through all of our options with you. We would like to go into private to discuss this manner further. Would you be willing to continue working with us in private?

YeseniaV_VZW

Follow us on TWITTER @VZWSupport If my response answered your question please click the Correct Answer button under my response. This ensures others can benefit from our conversation. Thanks in advance for your help with this!

[sprmankalel]

You could turn the phone into airplane mode when you're home and then connect to your WiFi with WiFi calling enabled. That way the phone won't try to connect to the mobile network. That should help with the call loss.

Also, be aware that no carrier has any say on the features of the iPhone. If you notice, ALL iPhones across carriers have exactly the same features. None of them have apps pre-installed by the carrier. When iPhone was first being developed, Verizon turned it down because Apple wanted carte blanche on the development with no carrier input and Verizon didn't want that. That is why it was only on AT&T for a while. AT&T's exclusivity ran out and other carriers agreed to Apple's terms and then were able to sell the phone. Verizon does not dictate how the WiFi calling works. It is, after all, a mobile phone and is designed to be used on the mobile network. It will default to that network but currently there is no seamless switch between WiFi calling an network calling. Also, there is a good possibility that your phone is trying to use the LTE network for the call and since you aren't able to connect to it in your home this is another reason that the call drops.

You're better off going into airplane mode and connecting to WiFi.

[rcschnoor]

HAFKHA43 wrote:

These screenshots are from an independent third-party and represent 4G Verizon coverage (purple) as well as 2G-3G Verizon coverage (green) in my area. As you can see, there is no coverage on my street or the adjacent streets. Why would Verizon sell me a phone and a service plan which costs significantly more than Sprint, T-Mobile, MetroPCS, etc. when YOU HAVE NO COVERAGE on my street?

You do realize that these screenshots represent user data who have that "independent third-party's" app on their phone and have reported this connectivity data back to that "independent third-party"???

That those maps show no service on your street simply means that no one with the app on their phone has driven down your street in order to report data for that location. Cellular signals don't follow streets. Cars follow streets which is EXACTLY what these maps show. Install the app for that "independent third-party" on your phone, use it for a couple of weeks, have the app report the data back and the map will be updated with your user information on those maps.

I would suspect these maps are from Sensorly or some other similar company and should have an app for your phone. I know I have had this app on my phone in the past, seen streets without ANY coverage and shortly after using the app and reporting data, those same streets miraculously had service coverage on the maps. Of course, I am assuming my provider didn't follow my car around and just erect towers a few days after following me on my normal route. I suppose that could be another explanation of what happened, though. I know which explanation is more likely, though.