Had Enough: Finally Pulling VZW's Plug

As most of you in this newsgroup know, for the last year and a half I have
been a very loyal fan of VZW. As of the last couple months, service
quality has deteriorated to the point the service is virtually unusable
over 50% of the time here in the northern side of Richmond, VA. Dropped
calls, prolonged network outages, and data "blackouts" lasting days on
end. Calls to VZW have gotten me nowhere, and now I'm not even getting a
bill.

I have spun off one of my lines for my mom to use and will do a Transfer
of Liability on that line in a few weeks. My main line will go dark
tomorrow, or whenever I can get through to someone at VZW who's willing to
pull the plug.

I've been test-driving Sprint PCS on a third-party employee plan for
almost a month and have found the service to be a THOUSAND times better
than what VZW has been offering for the last six months. Sprint's customer
care has gotten to the point that they are more knowledgeable, more
helpful, and more responsive than VZW's reps. The services being offered
are priced far more affordably, coverage is comparable (around here, and,
if you look at Free & Clear America, nearly everywhere else).

Sprint PCS has better service offerings in the "enhanced services" arena
too. Vision is working reliably now (it wasn't a year ago when I dropped
Sprint PCS), and has great content, whereas VZW is still stuck in the
stone ages with WAP over CSD, provided by, of all sources, MSN. Sprint PCS
has made major improvements to their Picture Mail service, and, with the
release of the phone I switched to tonight, they have Video Mail. And
ReadyLink blows VZW's Push to Talk away. "Real" SMS launches soon,
probably the first part of January, which is a much-wanted addition to the
service lineup.

The handsets are far more advanced, and, when taken care of (as most SPCS
customers DO NOT) they perform just as well for just as long. I guess
having an exclusive agreement with Sanyo helps, as in my experience these
are the better PCS handsets.

Anyhow, alas, I say goodbye to VZW. I'll still be in the group though,
still dispensing knowledge or the occasional rant or rave. And, if VZW
gets their act together, I'd entertain the idea of coming back in a year
or two.

Steve

---

› See More: Had Enough: Finally Pulling VZW's Plug

Some people are just never happy.... Hopping here, hopping there, etc.

Have a good time with Sprint PCS now and rest assured that you'll not be
missed in the least!




Wishing you A Very Happy Holiday Season!

And God Bless America!

Bob the Printer


Our web pages are located at:
http://mywebpages.comcast.net/bdolson/

In alt.cellular.sprintpcs Bob the Printer <[email protected]> wrote:
> Some people are just never happy.... Hopping here, hopping there, etc.
>
> Have a good time with Sprint PCS now and rest assured that you'll not be
> missed in the least!

I really don't know what the hell *your* issue is. Steve has had *major*
problems with Verizon recently, and if you actually took the time to read
some of his posts you'd realize that.

Since he works for Rat Shack, he sells both Sprint and Verizon, so Sprint is
the obvious other choice for him, and it sounds like he's done some research.

There ARE some places where Sprint's service *is* better than Verizon's.

--
JustThe.net Internet & New Media Services
22674 Motnocab Road * Apple Valley, CA 92307-1950
Steve Sobol, Geek In Charge * 888.480.4NET (4638) * [email protected]

If you do not like what I post, then avoid reading said posts!

Yes Steve, the Free & Clear America plans are very appealing. Someone was
saying that the Sprint roaming partners aren't as extensive as Verizons so I
did some reasearch for my home state of Oregon. I decoded the 10014 PRL for
Oregon and found that Sprint users can roam on Verizon, AT&T, and US
Cellular. All of the US Cellular SID's are in that PRL as well. (I don't
have any other Sprint PRL's that are more current.)

In any event, for basic voice service, Sprint has everyone beat here in the
sense that you can get low cost pricing and single-rate style coverage.

The main holdup for me, is that Sprint's native footprint over at the Oregon
coast is almost non-existent. They can roam, but that won't help you if you
want data. Just the same, I'd seriously consider the same change, except
that
I'm in a contract until June.

Other questions, considerations:
- Do they still allow just uses minutes for slow circuit switched data? I
use this to avoid paying for the higher priced data packages that I don't
need it.
- Real SMS. I know, I know, but this would be nice.
- Minute usage estimates, including on family plans. Verizon does it both
from the web, and the handset broken down by calling period and for each
line of service even with family plans.
- Verizon has a really cool feature that enables ESN swaps online. I have
several Verizon cell phones and can swap between them depending on what
features I want. i.e. One of my phones hooks up to the external antenna on
my car, the other is a PDA phone without this capability. When I go on a
trip I swap the phones online so I can use the other for the trip.
- Verizon has truly free call forwarding (not even 15 cents per minute).
Forwarding does use minutes, but it's nice not to have to pay extra for
this.
- Verizon phones are all unlocked so you can futz with programming menus
etc.

-Dan






"Steve Crow" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:Pine.LNX.4.53.0312182329380.28826@www.stevecrow.net...
> As most of you in this newsgroup know, for the last year and a half I have
> been a very loyal fan of VZW. As of the last couple months, service
> quality has deteriorated to the point the service is virtually unusable
> over 50% of the time here in the northern side of Richmond, VA. Dropped
> calls, prolonged network outages, and data "blackouts" lasting days on
> end. Calls to VZW have gotten me nowhere, and now I'm not even getting a
> bill.
>
> I have spun off one of my lines for my mom to use and will do a Transfer
> of Liability on that line in a few weeks. My main line will go dark
> tomorrow, or whenever I can get through to someone at VZW who's willing to
> pull the plug.
>
> I've been test-driving Sprint PCS on a third-party employee plan for
> almost a month and have found the service to be a THOUSAND times better
> than what VZW has been offering for the last six months. Sprint's customer
> care has gotten to the point that they are more knowledgeable, more
> helpful, and more responsive than VZW's reps. The services being offered
> are priced far more affordably, coverage is comparable (around here, and,
> if you look at Free & Clear America, nearly everywhere else).
>
> Sprint PCS has better service offerings in the "enhanced services" arena
> too. Vision is working reliably now (it wasn't a year ago when I dropped
> Sprint PCS), and has great content, whereas VZW is still stuck in the
> stone ages with WAP over CSD, provided by, of all sources, MSN. Sprint PCS
> has made major improvements to their Picture Mail service, and, with the
> release of the phone I switched to tonight, they have Video Mail. And
> ReadyLink blows VZW's Push to Talk away. "Real" SMS launches soon,
> probably the first part of January, which is a much-wanted addition to the
> service lineup.
>
> The handsets are far more advanced, and, when taken care of (as most SPCS
> customers DO NOT) they perform just as well for just as long. I guess
> having an exclusive agreement with Sanyo helps, as in my experience these

> are the better PCS handsets.
>
> Anyhow, alas, I say goodbye to VZW. I'll still be in the group though,
> still dispensing knowledge or the occasional rant or rave. And, if VZW
> gets their act together, I'd entertain the idea of coming back in a year
> or two.
>
> Steve
>

> - Do they still allow just uses minutes for slow circuit switched data? I
> use this to avoid paying for the higher priced data packages that I don't
> need it.

Only if you have a Wireless Web (non-vision phone). The $5 WW add-on is
still available, as is the 39-cents/minute charge.


> - Real SMS. I know, I know, but this would be nice.

In testing -- will be coming.


> - Minute usage estimates, including on family plans. Verizon does it both
> from the web, and the handset broken down by calling period and for each
> line of service even with family plans.

OK, the family plans are STILL screwed up, after years of problems...


> - Verizon has a really cool feature that enables ESN swaps online. I have
> several Verizon cell phones and can swap between them depending on what
> features I want. i.e. One of my phones hooks up to the external antenna
on
> my car, the other is a PDA phone without this capability. When I go on a
> trip I swap the phones online so I can use the other for the trip.

I've done ESN swaps online with Sprint before with older phones -- don't
know if it still works. Used to be activate.sprintpcs.com


> - Verizon has truly free call forwarding (not even 15 cents per minute).
> Forwarding does use minutes, but it's nice not to have to pay extra for
> this.

Not sure.


> - Verizon phones are all unlocked so you can futz with programming menus
> etc.

I wish Sprint would allow non-Sprint-ESNs to be activated on-network.

Jeff

And if you don't like it here, go away you troll!



On Fri, 19 Dec 2003 00:45:18 -0500, "Bob the Printer"
<[email protected]> wrote:

>If you do not like what I post, then avoid reading said posts!
>
>
>

On Thu, 18 Dec 2003 23:40:17 -0500, Steve Crow <[email protected]>
wrote:

>As most of you in this newsgroup know, for the last year and a half I have
>been a very loyal fan of VZW. As of the last couple months, service
>quality has deteriorated to the point the service is virtually unusable
>over 50% of the time here in the northern side of Richmond, VA. Dropped
>calls, prolonged network outages, and data "blackouts" lasting days on
>end. Calls to VZW have gotten me nowhere, and now I'm not even getting a
>bill.
>
Oh, oh, churning. This isn't gonna set well at HQ.....

Best of luck to ya, Steve. Sprint works fine in SC within 2 mi of the
interstates and in the major cities, just like their coverage map
depicts. But, alas, I have to work in those vast areas in between and
offshore in the yacht.

Don't just abandon us. Let us know how it works from time to
time.....

Thanks for the AMPS bandwidth....(c;

Larry

(Well, we got rid of him. A few million more and we shouldn't get any
more busy signals. "We never did like him much, anyways.").....(c;


Larry W4CSC

NNNN

"Bob the Printer" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
> If you do not like what I post, then avoid reading said posts!

No, you might START READING posts before responding and showing your
ignorance. It is not that we do not like your post, it is just not based on
any realm of rational thought.

On a generalization VZW has better coverage than the other carriers. On
another generalization, there are many whiners who pop in from time to time
about unrealistic expectations.

However, this is a 'specific' case in a 'specific' area where verizon has
clearly dropped the ball. If someone has crappy service and VZW doesn't
solve the problems, they need to find an alternative.

Just because most of us feel that VZW has the best service for us and
probably for most people, doesn't mean in some percentage of the country
they are NOT the best choice.

Steven J Sobol wrote:
>
> There ARE some places where Sprint's service *is* better than
> Verizon's.

Minnesota is still one of those places!

Tom Veldhouse

Bob the Printer wrote:
> If you do not like what I post, then avoid reading said posts!

Or don't be a jerk and nobody would have trouble.

Tom Veldhouse

Larry W4CSC wrote:
> Oh, oh, churning. This isn't gonna set well at HQ.....
>
> Best of luck to ya, Steve. Sprint works fine in SC within 2 mi of the
> interstates and in the major cities, just like their coverage map
> depicts. But, alas, I have to work in those vast areas in between and
> offshore in the yacht.
>
> Don't just abandon us. Let us know how it works from time to
> time.....
>
> Thanks for the AMPS bandwidth....(c;
>
> Larry
>
> (Well, we got rid of him. A few million more and we shouldn't get any
> more busy signals. "We never did like him much, anyways.").....(c;
>


Larry, if he gets F&CA and is in a corporate market, he will have all the
same coverage (and more because of Sprint) for no additional rate ... as
long as he doesn't roam more than 50% of the time. Of course, he can't use
a bag phone, but I don't think many people bother with those unless they
have a yacht

Tom Veldhouse

> Larry, if he gets F&CA and is in a corporate market, he will have all the
> same coverage (and more because of Sprint) for no additional rate ... as
> long as he doesn't roam more than 50% of the time. Of course, he can't
use
> a bag phone, but I don't think many people bother with those unless they
> have a yacht
>
> Tom Veldhouse


Sprints Free and Clear doesn't include all Verizon systems apparently. Had
several SPCS customers in lately that are on it and couldn't use their phone
sitting here in the store. Not saying its not a good plan, as I am not that
familiar with SPCS's plans but I have seen people say on some forums that
the Free and Clear includes all of Verizon's systems, which is not true.



KC

_KC_ wrote:
>> Larry, if he gets F&CA and is in a corporate market, he will have
>> all the same coverage (and more because of Sprint) for no additional
>> rate ... as long as he doesn't roam more than 50% of the time. Of
>> course, he can't use a bag phone, but I don't think many people
>> bother with those unless they have a yacht
>>
>> Tom Veldhouse
>
>
> Sprints Free and Clear doesn't include all Verizon systems
> apparently. Had several SPCS customers in lately that are on it and
> couldn't use their phone sitting here in the store. Not saying its
> not a good plan, as I am not that familiar with SPCS's plans but I
> have seen people say on some forums that the Free and Clear includes
> all of Verizon's systems, which is not true.
>

That used to be the case. It wasn't so much that it wouldn't pick up a
signal, but rather it always chose the analog signal to roam on. I was one
of those unhappy people. The latest PRL (10021) gives digital roaming
priority in most markets. As far as no signal in your store ... they
probably had their phone sitting on PCS Only and for whatever reason Sprint
PCS does not cover your store ... where would that store be anyway?

Tom Veldhouse

Steve Crow <[email protected]> wrote in message news:<Pine.LNX.4.53.0312182329380.28826@www.stevecrow.net>...
> As most of you in this newsgroup know, for the last year and a half I have
> been a very loyal fan of VZW. As of the last couple months, service
> quality has deteriorated to the point the service is virtually unusable
> over 50% of the time here in the northern side of Richmond, VA. Dropped
> calls, prolonged network outages, and data "blackouts" lasting days on
> end. Calls to VZW have gotten me nowhere, and now I'm not even getting a
> bill.
>
> I have spun off one of my lines for my mom to use and will do a Transfer
> of Liability on that line in a few weeks. My main line will go dark
> tomorrow, or whenever I can get through to someone at VZW who's willing to
> pull the plug.
>

My only question is, if they are so bad, why are you giving it to your
mother to use!?!?!? My Mama's worth a lot more than the 175 ETF to
me=)