16 teachers have bad reception...

[verizon98]

We were loyal Tmobile customers for nearly 20 years, but switched to Verizon.  We immediately noticed that my wife's coverage at the school is horrible.  Inside the building or in the parking lot, a conversation can't be held, and texts come in the phone when she drives away from the area.  It's in a heavily inhabited suburban area.  There is a cell tower a couple of hundred yards away. 

Verizon sent a tech out to check it, supposedly, and said that we are in a low coverage area (can you hear me now?).  I had my wife send an email to the faculty of the school, and 15 others complained about Verizon coverage.  Except for #16, she swiched carriers because of the terrible coverage right there.

Verizon said we could get some kind of extender hardware for $250, but it needs an ethernet connection.  Forget that!!!  Verizon should be providing the coverage in the first place, it's shown as covered on the sales map.

Sooo.... What does one have to do to get Verizon to add coverage?  I don't know if that's re-aiming a transmitter, or adding a new one on the tower.  I'm about out of patience, as soon as Tmobile offers to cover contract cancellation fees, we're outa here.

[bizzareone]

No cellular carrier guarantees service inside any structure. If the tech put on the ticket that you were in a "marginal coverage area" then you can get out of the contract with out paying a ETF. The ticket is only good for the account that the ticket was filed under and only for 90 days.

[rcschnoor]

Verizon does not guarantee coverage in any specific area, whether inside a building or not. NO provider offers the best coverage in ALL locations. That includes Verizon(can you hear me now?). Their advertisements only claims the best coverage in the MOST locations. That does not mean another carrier wouldn't have better coverage in some locations.

A network extender WOULD NOT help with your situation in a school. It would help in the location where the network extender was plugged in, but does not have the capability to cover an entire school, unless it was an extremely small one, and  with 15 other teachers complaining, I assume it is not small enough for it to be useful.

Your best bet would be to look for another provider which offers better coverage in your location. Keep in mind, while another provider may have better coverage at the school, it may not have coverage as good as Verizon in other locations you would like to have coverage. That is the nature of cellular. It does not have coverage everywhere and is limited by the location of the towers and those locations are limited by the restrictions placed on cellular providers by local governments. A cellular provider cannot simply erect a tower because customers complain. They have to gain approval from local governments which can sometimes take years to receive.

As to your getting out of your contract due to "marginal coverage area", I doubt that will be a possibility. This type of exception is not given out very often and when it is, it is normally because your "residence", not your "workplace" is in a "marginal coverage area."

IF your wife needs coverage in her workplace, look for a provider which has it, but make sure you do not make things worse by getting inadequate coverage in other areas you need it. One would think being a school, IF you needed to get in touch with her, you could simply call the school in order to do so. I have the same problem with service in my workplace. People who NEED to get in touch with me know this and ALSO know to call my office phone to get in touch with me. Otherwise, they know I will get back to them when I leave work. Another option would be to utilize email or have her sign up for Verizon integrated messaging where she can get texts on her desktop.