It's your phone, mane.

I would agree with, but its a brand new phone and the same thing happens to my wife's brand new phone.

"Can you hear me now?" Baaaaad.

Actually, it's not the phone. Its the antennas / satellites. Together a satellite in the sky, combined with cellular antennas on the ground, form a blanket of service in particular areas. Because a satellite is never stationary, the 'blanket' is never actually defined in terms of X Y or Z coordinates. So, at any given time you will experience strengths and weaknesses in your coverage area.

One can take a new phone, or an old phone, and actually watch the fluctuation in reception.

Other things such as metal conduits (i.e. - metal pillars in a dept. store's architecture) can reak havoc on reception.
There are many variables, and no absolutes.

Being a QWest survivor I can certainly identify with your pain. VoiceStream now T-Mobile has helped me to trust again in wireless communication. Hope your contract is not for more than a year but trust me . . . it will be a loooong year.

AT&T has always been the best for me...I've been appalled at the other wireless providers for even considering their product good enough to sell. AT&T has problems too, but in comparison I've been pleased with it's performance.

T-MOBILE BEATS THEM ALL!

I agree with Dan, T-Mobile all the way!!! Better Plans, Better Coverage, Better person to look at in commercials (Catherine Zeta-Jones)

I would like to event get the option of asking if some one can hear me now.
I find it funny that the "Can you hear me now" guy goes to all those remote places, and the other person can hear him. Maybe they should try coming to Tulsa, OK, because they don't even offer service in my area.

Problems are not limited to the East Coast. I'm in Sacramento, CA. Although I'm in my home area and have a strong signal, people will call and get my voice mail. This would not be a problem if Verizon delivered the voice mail messages in a reasonable time. Today, its been over 2 hours since my wife left me two messages. I called Verizon tech support. They basically said that the tower in my area is overtaxed. They "understand" how frustrating it is for me, but cannot help. Further, I was advised that Verizon had no intent on fixing their system to accomodate the business that they oversold. I think the FCC should investigate! Customers are not receiving the service that Verizon is advertising!

Please complain if you have billing problems with verizon wireless:

CONSUMER COMPLAINT ONLINE FORMS:

Better Business Bureau

http://www.bbb.org/bbbcomplaints/SelectComplaintLinkFrameSet.asp

FTC

https://rn.ftc.gov/dod/wsolcq$.startup?Z_ORG_CODE=PU01

Your Attorney General -
Mine is Michigan Attorney General"

https://www.ag.state.mi.us/cp_division/w3cp_c01_new.asp

Thank you!

I wish Verizon would get better coverage in pa.state game lands #90 in westcentral pa.My son has nextel and even the page works in my hunting cabin.Its been about 10 years since I obtained my 1st cell phone and coverage has not improved at this location.I wonder if the guy who says ''Can you hear me now'', hunts deer in pa.Just about a mile from our cabin is a antenna tower, that goes at least 500ft,its new about a year or so.I wonder what it would take for verizon to hang a cell antenna from it...

You guys are idiots..Set your phone network to AUTO so it will allways pick up your network..Not to difficult. I switched from cingular and I love verizon..I couldnt be happier.

Oh and so all you idiots know..T-MOBILE is cingular.. Go do your homework. Cingulr is rated the worst cell company.

I have Sprint. I used to have ATT, Verizon, and Qwest. I found that Verizon was the best of the 3, then ATT.....but Qwest was by far the worst of them all. Verizon in Portland Oregon, is pretty sketchy, so sketchy, that my best friends moved to ATT and Sprint, and some to T-Mobile. I love T-Mobile phones, and love that their plans are so simple, unfortunately, Sprint seemed to have more coverage, better WAP prices (Unlimited use) and other services I use more (Voice Command complete, with online phone book) and it seemed more important to me to have the capability to roam on analog if I needed it. T-Mobile (GSM) didnt. Cingular is just a rip off plan, but they are doing it like Sprint, give them 3 years, and they will be better then ATT or Verizon I think. For now, all I know, is that YES, the phone makes a difference, some are more sensative to fluctuating and weak signals, then others, based on first hand, second hand, and THIRD hand experience....oooohh...and cellular phones DO NOT use satellites, unless you specifically go with Inmarsat, or Globalstar Satellite phone. The prices for those are WELL over $1500-4000 and they charge per minute, there are no free included minutes. So whatever you are saying about satellites on cellular service is bogus. Its not possible on cellular phones, they would have to be the size of comparable sat.phones, and those are the sizes of bricks. How do I know? My grandfather built the satellites for communications, and HAS a satellite phone. Thanks for your input though, but try again!

Nick...T-Mobile is NOT Cingular. Cingular is a joint venture with SBC Communications West, Bell Atlantic, and Bell South, they HAVE roaming agreements with ATT and T-Mobile, and vice versa. T-Mobile was once Voicestream, which came from a local wireless company in the northwest area of the usa....Voicestream was then in negotiations with Cingular for purchase, but Cingular waited for Voicestream to go bankrupt, it didnt. Deütsch Telekom in Germany bought out various wireless companies, changed the name, and revamped the equiptment. T-Mobile is owned by Deütsch Telekom completely, so in essence, you are paying a European carrier for service. So, who needs to do his homework, certainly not I, since I have friends who work for Deütsch Telekom IN Germany, T-Mobile UK, T-Mobile US, and Cingular in Washington USA. Sorry, once again, TRY AGAIN!

Cellular phones work using basically radio waves. In case you havent noticed its difficult for the radio waves to penetrate concrete. I.E. Target..................

Read your contract, cellular service is not guarenteed in all areas. As far as voice mail goes, the voice mail is being left your just not getting the notification. Its all about signal and the area your trying to use your phone in.

I have had Cellular service with 5 out of the 6 major companies and I don't care what anyone says, Verizon Wireless is by far the best. Not only with the service, but with the customer service as well. Try to call any other service and have anything done with your account, they suck!!! And to all of you that complain because you don't have service on places like "Target," grow up!!! I would like to see how often you keep up with the upgrades on your phones. Try updating your software every once in a while!!! Contact your carrier to find out how!!

dfsdf

I would like to recommend that all you Verizon users that are getting poor call quality do two things number one UPGRADE your equipment, two, *228 send on your cellphone when your in a digital area getting 3 bars or more of signal strength, you will hear. press one to program your phone, press 2 to update your roaming..you will hear some lovely hold music, and your waiting for the confirmation that your phone was programed successfully. another thing READ CONSUMER REPORTS from november 2002, they are unbiased and did research on all cell service...hmmm who had the least percent of dropped calls?? The lagrest widest most advanced nationwide wireless network VERIZON!!!!! 4% dropped call rate...the lowest....and as said previously... cell service is not gauranteed everywhere..it is just radio waves... try text messaging while your in Target shopping, as long as you have enough digital signal for a bar. your text message will go through... and also they researched the life span of a cellphone, and its about 2 yrs.....go to verizonwireless.com, check out the new equipment and move on to updated, upgraded cell service with the NUMBER ONE WIRELESS PROVIDER VERIZON WIRELESS

If you have Verizon, make sure you dial *228 send, and select option 2 on a regular basis. The store doesn't do this for you and Verizon will charge you long distance and roaming. Verizon does not advertise this hidden feature.

For the most part, people have unrealistic expectations of wireless phones. Unfortunately they aren't going to work every where regardless of which carrier you have. Each market is different. The comparison in Comsumer Reports is great, but notice they do it by MARKET. Each market is different for each provider. Example: AT&T has the best coverage in CA while Alltel is gonna have the best coverage in The Carolinas. If you get wireless service most of the major providers have at least a 15 day out clause. Take the phone around and use it. Make sure it works in the places you will be 90% of the time (home, work, sig others, parents, etc). If you travel nationwide you need to go with a major carrier like Verizon or AT&T. If you travel internationally you need a GSM carrier like AT&T or T-Mobile. Last I checked, Verizon and Sprint were not moving to GSM which means their phones are not going to work globably...not a problem for most but still an issue to some. Bottomline, know what your rights are, take advantage of the trial periods and if you have questions, problems or suspect your phone is having issues ASK OR DO SOMETHING about it. While throwing a phone out the window or yelling at it may make you feel better, its not gonna solve your problem.

Thanks for the *288 info. Now everybody with 3 cubicles is asking "What't that sound!!!?"
It never made a noise like that before.
Seriously, thanks.
Also, I've noticed that with Verizon I will often get a beep notifying me that I have voice mail. The obvious question: Why didn't it just ring instead.

Hi, Scott:

I read with interest this mess of yours.

My wife and I had service with Verizon Wireless in Murray, KY for over a year. This was my first wireless experience.

Dropped calls every day. Terrible static. My brother refused to talk to me if I called him from my cell, because he couldn't understand most of what I was trying to say. If I was in a block building like Wal-Mart or CVS pharmacy, forget trying to call out -- no way that signal would get through.

I experienced the BEEP you mentioned, indicating that the phone had left a service area, half-a-dozen or more times every day, event though I, too, have a 10-hour/day desk job.

Worst of all, I missed 2 out of 3 phone calls. Instead of my phone ringing, the calls would simply go to voice mail, as if my phone was powered down.

Once, as a test, my wife called my phone from hers while we were both in the same car in the middle of town, very close to a tower. My phone never rang, and her call went straight to my voice mail.

I complained, and was blown off.

I complained a second time, and was told that I could have my (and my wife's phones checked). We did, but they checked out fine.

I complained a third time, and was told to keep a log of all calls, including calls I discovered that I missed later. I did this for a month, documented over 90 significant problems, submitted it to Verizon and . . . was finally told that Verizon couldn't find anything wrong.

Apparently, it was all in my head!

Then, I finally got a clue and switched to SunCom (recently purchased by AT&T).

Very few out-of-service instances. Even less static. Dropped calls are *incredibly* rare, perhaps two in the past nine months. I can make and receive calls from almost anywhere, including Wal-Mart and CVS. Best of all, NO MORE MISSED CALLS!

I be happy now. :)

I don't doubt that, nationally, Verizon is "the best," but it really does depend on your service area. So, I'm not saying that switching will work for you, but at least in Murray, KY, it all seems to have had to do with the service provider: Suncom good; Verizon, very very bad.

I hope you find a solution.

Best Regards,

Jason M. Purcell

pantek

I am in love with the can you hear me now guy? The hottest guy on tv, hands down! Those glasses make me swoon!

Can you hear me n.......oh my god someone shot the verizon idiot

One thing all of you need to keep in mind is what may be great for me may not be great for you. I sell wireless service and have for almost 13 years now. I sell two different services. Both have "nationwide service" available. Nationwide does not mean everywhere in the nation, it only means that somewhere in every state they have a place the phone will work. But they can't say that in the commercial its not good advertising. (you wouldn't go out and drive vehicle the way they do on some of those commercials and not expect somthing to fail).
I am between two metro cities one about 120 mi. away the other about 140 mi. away. Both of these metro areas offer Verizon service, which I can't offer. The main thing I point out to every customer is a Cellular Phones will NOT and can not work in every location they are in. And when a customer says they were trying to use their phone and it would not work but yet they were right next to a tower, so what, was that tower there carriers tower or one they leased or was it just another tower. Carriers have to install towers to get coverage and at a cost on average of $250,000 dollars each they have to have good reason to have a tower there.The number of complaints I get daily on the other carriers is amazing. Every area is different no carrier can cover everywhere and charge one "fair" rate. ATT says they can but you pay for your roaming up front in you monthly charge, SPRINT has roaming charges but if you sit down and do the math it is cheaper that ATT in "most cases" again it may be different for me that it would be for you. YOU NEED TO DO SOME HOME WORK BEFORE BUYING ANY CELLULAR PHONE. They are not an inpulse purchase

You know what? You are all complete idiots. And it has nothing to do with your cell phone, Verizon or the Can you hear me now guy. I seriously doubt anyone would be too concerned about missing a call from any of you. Get a life.

I have worked for Nextel, owned a cingular phone, owned an AT&T wireless phone and currently work for Verizon Wireless. I can tell you that both from a user and an an employee point of view, verizon
Is in my opinion and professional experience the best wireless carrier. I honestly don't understand why more people don't switch. Their call quality (audio)is the best I've heard and the drop call rate is in my area (Florida) almost zero. To top it off,the customer service is excellent especially if you use a local dealer and not a mall or corporate store. A good local exclusive dealer can be your best liason between you and the carrier so your relationship with such a dealership can really help you when billing or customer service issues arise. They usually go out of their way to help customers who sign up in their stores and have access to internal customer support teams that can get things done much easier and smoother than the customer can on their own.
I suggest you interview your potential dealer of wireless services. Ask the "what If's" and guage their responses. Try to deal with the owner of the store when possible. Your wireless service is a very important product. Make sure you have someone in your corner.

I think you all have a screw loose!! I own a satellite phone. We don't need no stinking towers! But not all people can afford a phone like that. I travel all over the world and I have never lost service.

Have you guys got nothing better to do on a Monday afternoon except b*%$# about cell phones? As if the Verizon people give a flying F*&% about your problems.

verizon, can you hear me now? I found out I can get better reception with two cans and a string than with you. I was told your sevice was the best for my area. Ha! Everytime I see you ad on TV I want your little hear me know man to come to my area on his donkey and try!!!!!!!!!!!

fhqwgads

Jesus - so try the service for 14 days and cancel with no termination fee like every other consumer out there (read the print before you sign, dummy.)

Ive always wanted to see him hanging by his left foot over a spweing valcano with a thunderstorm in the back and ask (can you hear me now?)

gads, shut the hell up.

You dont like your phone? Go back to landlines.

Dude, get a life. Publishing web pages that are only for making stupid comments about a cell phone is an activity that only losers engage in. Your phone must know that you are a complete loser, because I have a Verizon phone and it works a-ok

Ted, I think you're right. The only bigger loser I could think of would be someone who actually reads web pages that are only for making stupid comments about a cell phone.

Request:

I have 5 miniture dashounds at home and everyone is asking me if I seen your commercial - and I have not. I am dying to see it- could you e-mail it to me. I would be so grateful. I have a verison cell phone and love it.

Would all who wish to purchase a cellphone, PLEASE get educated before hand. I doubt any of you run out and buy a car on impulse!
If you understood the basics of how a cell phone works, AND you maintained a normal perspective about the need vs. want of cell phones in general, you'd be much happier consumers.
Go out and read Consumer Reports back issues at your local library or better yet, use your browser for what it was intended--find some information that will empower you to make a good decision.
Wireless is great, but it's still just a cell phone. Get over the idea of needing it to work on every square inch of the planet.
Last time I checked, the landline was still working great!

I'm with Verizon now, I used to be able to get all my calls all the time even when I was in the middle of Timbucktoo and yes even WALMART. But when they started putting that commercial out talkin bout, "Can you hear me now?" Now, I can't hear a -bleep- thing.

Here is the all time one !!!
I go to Radio Shack a few years ago and purchase a Spring Pcs Phone and plan. As i am inquiring about the phone and service I ask the guy with a pocket protector about how good is the service area? He tells me that it is great and there are some dead zones in remote areas. I say " Hummm, I don't go to remote areas, lets buy it !!!..
1 hour after I got the phone up and running I hop in the car and go to Atlantic City to pour some more money down the drain. I get somewhere in the city and decide to make a call and I got that famous Icon of a phone with an X over it, telling me that there is no service. I think Hmmmm is Atlanic City ( gambling meca that it is) a remote area?..
I call the guy at Radio Shack when I got home and told him that the phone did not work in Atlantic City and he tells me
" Yeah that is one of those areas I was telling you about..
He has since had two rectal surgerys to attemp to remove the phone that I nicely returned to them.

Hi. It is just a commercial to get people to recongize Verizon Wireless. Obviously, IT WORKED! You bought it, didn't you? I happen to work for Verizon Wireless and we did our job to be noticed. "Can you hear me now?," is the most known advertisement today. Cell phones are not guarenteed to work inside a house, store, mall or any other building for that matter. There is also no guarentee that your cell phone will not drop any calls. Your phone does have a one year warranty for manufacturer's defects. You can take the phone into any of the retail stores to see what is wrong with it. By the way, there are groups of people that test out the service everyday.

Verizon ANYTHING sucks.....Verizon Wireless, been to that movie, not going to the sequel. Verizon phone, and DSL leave something to be desired (especially if you're in the Verizon area formerly known as GTE. I rest my case!

You guys suck. Verizon Wireless is not only the best service on paper, but I have been to 35 different states and get service in every one of them!!

We also have problems in Target, as well as inside our home. Don't know about WalMart ....we haven't tried to use it there. We had AT&T before, and do not recall having the above problems. However, we won't switch for these reasons. We get great service everywhere else. The signal is very clear. We have used the phone in other areas of our state as well as in other states, and have had no problem at all except in areas where cell service is not readily available. And, best of all, we got in "under the wire" on a fantastic rate plan, and we have the lowest rate I have seen anywhere for all of the "bells & whistles" we have.
I'm satisfied! No service is going to be perfect!

I am not sure there is a cellular phone that works inside a target, there seems to be something about the construction of those buildings that interfere with all phones, but believe me sprint is worse, it won't even have a signal most of the time, so you wouldn't have even gotten one word in.

Back when Verizon was still Cellular One, my youngest daughter signed up for a 2-yr contract here in Kansas City, Missouri. Six months later, right after her boy friend got out of college, they got married and moved across the state to the Saint Louis area where he had received a terrific job offer. Good old Cellular One wouldn't transfer her contract to their new area. Consequently, the only non-roaming, non-long distance calls she could make were when they came back to K.C. for a visit. She had to continue paying her cell phone bill for the next 18 months though. I thought that was pretty Chickensh*t of them. They've changed their name but because of their past low-life, greedy business practices, I won't consider going with them. I hope they can hear me now.

Jeeeze, what a bunch of whiners... "I lost my wife in the store"... well go to the manager and have her paged. Bottom line, cell phones are the worst thing to happen to this country... everybody with a phone hanging off their ear. As far as I'm concerned every state in the union should ban their usage on sidewalks, streets and highways. Can you hear me now?

It's too bad that you don't understand how phones work. It's wireless, not cable. There going to be places with no service. If you don't understand this, then you are a moron.
I have Sprint right now and they are horrible. I have read up on Verizon Wireless a lot lately and tons of people I know have them. I have heard only good things about them.
I do know that they have the biggest most advanced network in the USA. If you are unhappy with their service, then there is no hope for you.
But then again you have the consumer view. If a product doesn't work perfectly, or something isn't given for free, the consumer wines and cries about it. Grow up and stop complaining. Life is perfect and neither is celluar service.

I have resisted buying a cell phone for a long time, because I know they only work about 50% of the time. I can only think of a few call to people with cell phones that didn't get dropped. I appreciate everyones coments, and I am sure that the most important thing about a new cell phone is the service area it will be used in. From all the information I have gathered it appears that Verizon will be the best for me in the Baltimore area. But I will let you know in a few weeks if it works for me or not. BTW I am an EE from Virginia Tech, and have spent 25 years designing data communication equipment.

this is the funniest thing i have read on the internet in a while.
i am upset i cannot get my ATT signal in by bomb shelter- i think i will cancel the service and demand a full refund plus punitive damages!!!

I have to say Verizon is one of the decent company out there as far as reception but their phones are really crappy and so are their customer services. You'll be lucky if you be out within 2 hours if you visit one of their service center. Read the fine prints...they do replace you with REFURBISED PHONES that's no better than the next. I'm still got 8 months to go with them and I'm moving in an area in Vegas where the reception is bad. My friend is using Nextel and they're better though you have to pay a little more. So where are those Nextel commercials? Don't believe the hype. You do get what you pay for.

What's this about Nazi Germany?

do drugs

Check out our spoof of the Verizon "Can you hear me now?" ad campaign...at www.paintboxproductions.com

If you're offended by foul language...don't open the file.

Paintbox, that is true to life. Hilarious!

My family has had Verizon for many years. The service used to be good, I had great reception pretty much everywhere. It doesnt matter much to me if I dont get good reception in Wal-Mart because I figured that the phones would suck in a huge closed in space such as that and It wouldnt bother me to just go outside to make a call. The service is good in South Carolina, until you travel two and a half hours to the border of Georgia in Savannah. My phone would always screw up. It would never go through. And then my parents back in SC were telling me that the same was happening with their service. It has gotten better the past few months but still a small percentage of the calls dont go through and it goes straight to my mailbox. My friend down here has a Nextel phone and he can never get service. So Im thankful for what I have, even though my family is going to switch providers whenever our contract runs out. Which sucks because I finally got this bad assed phone. But oh well.
Just be patient, dont get mad when the phone goes out of area, just give it a minute and then do what you gotta do.

I definetly think that Cingular is the worst cell phone company there is. Everytime I have a problem with there phone which is often. The customer service center says it is my fault. They say that it is water damage when it is not.

I am goiung to change cell phone companys soon. I live in San Diego California. If anybody can give me some advice on cell phone providers please do so.

I believe that Cingular does not like there customers to be happy. That is why so many people buy out their contract with them.

It is a combination of the phone and the service area. And that is in regards to both the wireless carrier and the surrounding areas, as well as the number of towers the carrier has. Not to mention the technology that the company puts into their network. Verizon has no problem in bettering the network in low or poor service areas. In Georgia they just purchased the cellular one areas in Savannah and southern georgia areas. Now the network and towers will be converted to Digital and the difference for the customers in those areas and traveling to or thru that area is going to be so much better. Wireless depends a lot on the phone and the reception it can get from the towers surrounding. That is every for every company and every cell phone. It is very different and very random. Every company is going to have good points and bad points. no company will be perfect. sorry to burst your bubble on that. the grass will never be greener on the other side and in the end it is a matter of opinion. thanks

So many opinions....Well, I know these guys do a great job at it! www.jdpower.com If you look under the wireless category they will give you the BEST RATED PROVIDER IN YOUR AREA. If you're in the Austin area ATT is for you. (and yes ATT works in wal-mart, target, and even the mall :)

I've just read through all of these lovely statements. My suggestion to those considering purchasing a cell phone know their return policy. Read the consumer reports guide, November 2002 edition, and go into the store with an open mind. I have used many different carriers and Verizon has proven to be the best.

Tmobile, cingular, ATT all are shitty providers. Any company switches to GSM inherits the outdated technology of GSM. CDMA are much better in terms of noise resistance and Verizon's lower carrier frequency allows it to penetrate wall better. I live in cali and I travel from LA to SF all the time. The best provider for me is Verizon. I have had Tmobile, cingular, ATT before I switched to Verizon. Verizon has a 15 day guarentee. You aren't locked into a contract for 2 weeks. If you didn't test out the phone for 2 weeks that's your really your fault.

You will have good and bad with every carrier. I have tried all the major companies and the best I have found, and I can't believe no one has mentioned them yet, is Nextel. My wife and I have used them for over a year now and it has been remarkable. Coverage is great. Customer service is great. The only problem is she can get a hold of me whenever she likes now with the nationwide walkie talkie feature.

cell phones only uses a wave signal to the tower from there it runs through fiberoptics tuss giveing you digtal communications.till it gets to the closest tower of the cell phone your calling then gose bak through the air . or is direacted to a land line through what ever service provider the person your calling is connected too.

u guys are on crack..i live in new york and travel all along the east cost from maine to south carolina ...i've had voicestream (t-mobile?) and it had more dead spots then anything....i've also had at&t , sprint , and cingular the only phone that i have no complaints about is verizon ...they have the largest calling area so just because it does not work in your little town does not mean its bad....go look at consumer reports , verizon wireless is the largesnet work ever...by far....so can you hear me now?.......gooooooooooooooooooooooood

Dont put AT&T on a pedestal. Central California is a absolute joke. They promoted the new GMRS/GMS phone. What a hunk of crap.
If you call they say, I'm sorry sir, but there is nothing I can do.
They recommend that you turn your phone on and off, take the battery out, the simm card you name it. Even turning off your service and turning it back on. Nextel has had the best reputation here thus far.

WAKE UP fools it’s a cellular phone!
No matter what type of services you get for a wireless connection you can be sure
they CAN’T hear you now.

Eyenovation You got the best points, but I will have to say, It Can Be the Phone.
Where do you get the idea that it isn’t the phone, the phone is the receiver if the phone
for some reason are another scrambles the incoming wave signals then you can be sure that they can’t hear you now.

As for Scott and his Target location:
Did you ever think that the reason is you can’t hear each other is because you are in a department store which varies with computer devices, infrared signals, microwave signals, and satellite signals.
These signals have an effect on these little crap phones, they collide with each other making the receiver receive not just the clear signal but the mixed signals.
That is why some stores you can hear them now and others you can’t.
In a hospital environment if they catch you using a cellular phone you can be sure they will warned you once, next time your out the door.
Why because of there sensitive devices that monitor patients heart beats, computer devices that monitor heat ect..
You can be sure that in most places
THEY CAN’T HEAR YOU NOW!
B.M

Some of you can't be serious... "GMRS/GMS"??? "Satellites move"??? "I own a satellite phone. I travel all over the world and never lose service." Ever go INSIDE???? Satellite phones only work outside, folks. No cellular carrier uses satellites for coverage. The satellite carriers are the only ones, and they MAKE SURE you know it!! How else can they justify $5.00++ a minute. Get out your pencils, you'll need to take some notes...

I want you all to think about something -- imagine a large warehouse/grocery store. Now walk in the building at mid-day and shut off the main power breaker. Pretend the light seaping through the few windows & cracks are your cellular service. Outside and by windows your service (light) is very bright. Sound familiar?? That's because radio signals at 800 & 1900 MHz behave very much like light. The higher the frequency, the more this is true. Yes, some will propagate through the construction materials, but it WILL be severely attenuated. Rain attenuation doesn't have a drastic affect until around 10 GHz -- just try watching DirecTV in a heavy rainstorm. Yep -- DirecTV is around 10.5 GHz. Ever try using a GPS receiver inside? Forget it. How about in your car? It gets pretty bad, doesn't it? It's between the two cellular bands at about 1575 MHz. Cars aren't all that great for a cell phone call either, albeit much better than the middle of a warehouse. One thing a lot of people don't realize is that many window treatments block RF, so the front windshield is sometimes the only way in. Remember the light analogy? Reflections can cause dropouts (very short), especially in downtown areas. Sometimes, there just isn't any room for your call on the next tower, or the surrounding towers. This is extreme, but it happens more than you might think. This is when your call will be dropped. All carriers' networks work roughly the same -- I don't care if they use CDMA or TDMA. GSM & Nextel use a TDMA radio interface, BTW. GSM is just a specific type, the "real" name for "TDMA" in the US is "NADC" or North American Digital Cellular. Didn't catch on with the Marketing folks because they wanted to sell it beyond North America. Cingular & T-Mobile do share the same network in a few locations, but certainly not all. GSM is WAY better than Nextel or "TDMA", but the reason has to do more with how the voice is encoded, not so much the radio link. Although it does have a distinct advantage because it uses shorter bursts at a higher power level. The average power is about the same, but the peak power is about 5 to 10 times stronger (it's just "on" for a shorter time), depending on the band. GSM uses a lot of "error correction" with the expense being capacity. You don't get something for nothing!!

How do I know this? I AM the Verizon guy -- a Field Test Engineer. I don't work for them, but I do work for a VERY big player in this business. I travel all over testing phones on various networks. Phones work **WAY** better than 50% of the time, but it isn't 100% either. All networks have their issues and some are better in one place than others. Try to find the one that works best for you.

You can put down your pencils now.

Joe

I would have to agree with you.
But tell your so called big player to tell idiot verizon
to stop flashing that stupid idiotic commercial that states:
CAN YOU HEAR ME NOW? GOOD!

TO

CAN YOU HEAR ME NOW? NO!
B.M

Thanks Joe, and others.

I am a sales rep, for Verizon, and I have learned a lot here. I have been selling Verizon, exclusively, for about two years now, and I have never told anyone that their phone will work EVERYWHERE, and in fact, I shy away from telling customers that their phone will work in any particular location. The cardinal rule in sales is always "undersell, and overdeliver." Experience has taught me that generally, people who are not happy with Verizon's service/coverage/reception are pretty much not going to be happy with ANY service, and usually are the type of people who just like to be pissed off about something ALL the time. I don't like selling to these people, because all I get out of it are used phones I have to mark down, and headaches. I have no problem telling customers that Verizon is the best cellular carrier there is, because I believe it is, and 90% of my customers agree with me. I do drop calls occasionally, and my phone doesn't always have full reception.....but it works well more often and in more places than anything else I have ever seen...and really doesn't cost much more than the competition.

I think there is a lot to be said for anger management...some of you really need to try some.

Anyone know what Verizon roaming charges are like? If you are switched to analog because you are out of digital range, are you always roaming or is it only if you are on certain carriers on analog? What experience have folks had with this?
Thanks.
Brian

I know how you people feel about cell phones, because i get to hear about it all the time . You see I am one of the people that build the towers for cell phones. You know, each and every one of the carries have thier own regs about how they need to be built but there are so many people that build towers that dont care how they do the job. Just so it is up and they get thier money that is all they care about. so they mess things up at work and go on. Did you know that it takes very little to mess up the stuff at a site? That is one reason that your coverage dropes so much, because some tower workers mess things up an go on, it looks bad on the rest of us who try to do a good job. I dont know who is the best carrier i have had most of them and they all work like the next. But next time you meet a tower worker please dont complane to him about your coverage. THANKS

Wow! That was quite a read. Sprint has been working for me, but was jealous on a summer trip when my friend's Verizon phone worked off in the boonies where mine didn't...
Any of you guys have advice how I can help a friend fried with a $5,000 cell phone bill from Cingular? When he asked how much it would cost to take his cell phone out of the country he was told $2.00 a minute. They didn't explain about roaming charges and whatever else bucked the bill up to sickening. English is his second language...even more reason to be sure the customer understand the rules.
Thanks.

Well after reading all the opinions and insults I can assure you that Verizon has the best nation-wide coverage and customer support in the nation. Instead of unrealistically expecting a mobile phone to work well within the many cells verizon has setup(while in a concrete and steel building) try at least going near glass windows to get within signal-sight of a tower. : )

believe me you do not want to get suncom,my husband has verizon
we've had no problem. I had alltel changed to suncom i did not
get package the saleman sold to me,which costed me 230.oo dollars
not the 129.00 so back to alltel.suncom told me to pay my bill
give my phones to someone else till my contract ran out.i've got
a list of names i talk to trying to get my account stright it
was like they were laughing at me you got a contract it's the law
you pay or else.its in the hands of a collector now,i know i must
pay but the customer should have some rights.if you don't think
just blowing 800.00 dollars out the window want work on your nerves try suncom,oh,the deal was so sweet i got each child a
phone which i also have with alltel.

Hey all,

I'm gonna tell you something about Sprint, which is what company I am with, and could never be happier - especially with the future in store.

Just wanted to inform you - Sprint is the only all digital network... Which means, unlike Verizon, they use their OWN towers...

Check out this quote from Verizon:
"Vehicles are equipped with computers that automatically make over 300,000 call attempts monthly on our network and the networks of other carriers."

Now you're wondering "vehicles?" Yea - They have Cell Site vehicles... They drive around to boost signals in some areas (thats when the FTC gets a complaint - Verizon is kind enough to drive a cell tower vehicle over to that location). I will say, they do stand behind their "we never stop working for you" slogan.

The second part of that quote couldn't have been better, 'other carriers'. "Can you hear me now?" Well with the help of Cingular, Sprint, AT&T, and other cellular companies we sure can! Verizon claims to have 22,000 cell sites - though, not all are owned by verizon.

Sprint has claimed to have 24,000 cell sites - 100% owned by Sprint. By the end of 2004, 2,000 new cell sites will have been added to their network, thanks to the 85,000 hours spent researching the weakest signal areas. They don't make 300,000 attempted calls, they use the most advanced technology which enables them to see where the signal drops.

Sanyo, a sprint exclusive company, has advanced their phones to create much better reception. I just purchased a video camera phone (Sanyo VM4500/5500) - it has the strongest signal I have ever seen in a phone (especially for Sprint). Sprint also offers the best in digital picture sharing, and now video sharing. Consumer reports claim that Sprint has the most easy to use picture/video mail sharing capabilities.

The new 'digital' ready link feature (walkie talkies in short) give customers the clearest communicaton, and if it can't provide it clearly - it will not send it to the receiving Sprint PCS phone, and inform you!

Now reaching over 300 million customers (only 60 million more than Verizon), Sprint plans to extend their coverage, digital services, and take back the title of 'largest network' in the nation.

Homework complete.

Oh, and just for a laugh - have you seen some of Verizons new towers? They have to hide them so they don't look tacky, because they have to many weak towers... See for yourself:
http://www.verizonwireless.com/images_b2c/about_us/image_gallery/tree.tif

George,

Sorry but you may want to do your homework before making such statements as "Sprint is the only all digital network" Not only are they not the only one, they are not even the biggest.

FYI: According to Nextel's Website-
"Nextel Communications, a Fortune 300 company based in Reston, VA, is a leading provider of fully integrated, wireless communications services and has built the largest guaranteed, all-digital, wireless network in the country"

I doubt they are lying.

I have been a Verizon customer for the last 4 years. Three of those years were in Atlanta where I have very little trouble with my service.

Ever since I moved to the Long Beach/Huntington Beach California area I have had nothing but trouble with my Verizon Wireless service.

At first it was mobile web issues. Not that much of a problem but still I was paying for it and it almost never worked. I was told that my AudioVox CDM-9000 phone was just too out of date to use mobile web. I said "it worked in Atlanta.", but ultimately I agreed to upgrade and in order to get a "free" phone I chose to go with a two-year contract. Worst decision I could have made.

I received a new LG VX3100L. It's a nice simple little phone. The trouble now is that people tend to tell me that they can only hear every other word I say!

I can always hear them clear a bell, but most calls I have to hang up as it becomes too frustrating to continue to ask "Can you hear me know?" Maybe that's what the commercials are trying to tell us...you're going to have to repeat that phrase a lot with Verizon Wireless.

Verizon support suggested that I get the phone replaced. I did at now charge to me but I had to get the same model phone. The problem still exists. I notice that it seems to be on the weekends, when I do most of my calling because I make a lot of calls to the East Coast and the minutes are free. Too bad the person on the other end can't hear me.

Funny how I have a lot less trouble during non-free minutes. Maybe it just seems that way because I deliberately make fewer calls during peak hours. Verizon also gives me free minutes after 9:00 PM Pacific time, which is Midnight east coast. I have far less trouble during weekdays after 9:00 PM and consistent trouble on weekends when my minutes are fee. It doesn't matter if I'm inside, outside at home or out of my neighborhood or not.

I'm going to return my new replacement phone after only a week at the suggestion of the Verizon Support supervisor who thinks I'm just unlucky enough to get two defective phones.

I think it is Verizon Wireless service and not my phone. I'm guessing that lots of other people are trying to take advantage of the unlimited weekend minutes and this some how adversely affects Verison’s ability to make a clear call. Verizon will not even consider this as a possiblity.

Put me down as a very unhappy Verizon Customer.

I have a CDM-9000 phone also. I've had it for years, it had so many features that any phone at the time did, like Web and SMS, even if it's only receive.

Anyways, just today for some reason, my phone went off digital mode and won't come back. It did once for one minute and then went back to analog. I've had problems with this phone for awhile, but I figured it was just the network.

Should I be upgrading my equipment now too? I'm afraid I'll get a crappy phone like so many other I know. The newer phones might look cool, but I need one that works consistently.

Any ideas on my no digital mode issue, let me know. I can't even dial *228 to update the roaming.

>> The only problem is that the service areas were never consistent. One spot work on Monday, but not on Tuesday. Are the towers moving?

>> Also, I would be sitting at my desk and the phone would suddenly notify me that it has left a service area. How? The phone hadn't moved for two hours. Did the phone leave the service area or did the service area leave my phone? Solve that riddle before you go to bed tonight.

This happens because CDMA cell sites experience what is known as "breathing". This occurs because channel utilization is never consistient in a CDMA cell. As more users make calls, the CDMA channels become more congested with packets and when the cell site is in less utilization, the channel is less congested and your phone experiences less packet loss, resulting in a better connection to the cell site.

Its too late at night to address all the rights and wrongs of this page. But Verizon Wireless is the best. Metro PCS is the worst. Everyone else falls some where in between.

Dial *22890 at least once a month to update your phone's without having to press any other numbers .. Auto-Update.

Most all of the Verizon Phones get the same reception but there are definately some very good performers out there..

Just remeber that when calling customer service (I dont work in CS but I deal with them everyday) They are actual real human people and you get more done with sugar than vinegar.. Be polite, professional and respectfull. If the rep does not meet/exceed the worry free guarantee then ask to speak with a supv.

CDMA is the Best
VZW is the Best and we are working to make it better everyday.

Scott Manning posted way back in Nov. 2002.. Scott I hope you are with us and enjoying VZW cell service..

Thank You from Verizon Wireless..

I have no complanint with the quality of the Verizon signal, but I hate their "roaming" charges. Example: I signed up for a "nationwide" coverage plan. I flew to Phoenix and had to stop at the Dallas airport for a few hours. I used my phone there, then when I got home Verizon had charged me $1.00 a minute roaming charge, because they they dont cover that area and I was using another carrier. This happens everytime I go anywhere on vacation these mysterious roaming charged appearing on my bill.

I was just looking up info on how bad verizon is and found this web page. I live in Northern Indiana and we have the same problems listed in the orginal thread. I did some undercover investigation and our problem here is casued by another companies cell tower which is causing verizons cell tower near my house to not work too well. I can not recieve phone calls when I am around my home and the surronding area. Also Verizon is claiming that it is not thier problem it is the other companies problems and they are currently in the 6th month of trying to figure out which company is going to adjust which cell tower and who is going to have to pay for it. Mean while Verizon tells me that they still expect full payment for the service, even though it only works %50 of the time. These idiots could barely handle local phone service and now we expect them to be this effecient high tech company. Please. They could care less about our problems. As long as thier executives and stock holders are making money we are all screwed.

"Can you hear me now," is such a farce. My husband and I were sold a 2-year contract for 2 cells phones 4 weeks ago. We live in Longmont, Colorado (suburb of Denver). We can use our cells phones only in selected locations. One of them is not in our home. My husband had unexpected open heart surgery and the 15-day trial period ended at this time.

When I was finally able to stop at the Verizon store that sold us our cell phones to complain that we cannot use our phones in our home, I was told that our entire subdivision is located in a "low reception" area and we have to pay $350 to end our contract. We were also told, "there is no plan to improve service in that area and we would just have to live with it," i.e. drive in our cars to another location to use our cell phones. Any suggestions?

Here's a site for you: http://www.verizoncanyouhearmenow.com

The wireless phone industry is not yet a perfected industry. Please remember it is still relatively a very new industry. Digital phones were introduced in the commercial markets to replace analog phones just less than eight years ago, while landline phones have been in the market for almost a hundred years. There is NO "best wireless carrier" in the market today. It all depends where you live and where you spend most of your time. Some carriers work perfectly in some areas, while poorly in some areas. GSM phones are perfect if you live in heavily populated areas while TDMA(non-GSM) phones work perfectly if you live in less populated or rural areas. If you use the wireless phone just for talking and text messages, use a TDMA phone. If you use the phone for talking, text messages, internet, data transfer and you travel a lot overseas, use a GSM phone. And please remember, the TDMA network infrastructure is only used in the United States, while GSM is used throughout Europe, the Middle East and Asia. So before choosing a wireless carrier, study everything first, where do you spend most of your time, do you travel a lot, how do you use the phones(do you use it all the time or not, do you use it just for talking or also for text, internet and data transfers). Pick the carrier that covers your NEEDS and if it works well in places where you spend most of your time in. ALL wireless carriers have very good rate plans and promotions, all you have to do is study each carefully compare it to your needs, usage and financial disposition. Good luck on your choice.

Oh, and another thing, there are four different types of wireless phone technologies, the Analog, the TDMA, the GSM, and the CDMA. The CDMA is the newest of the four, it's more commonly known as the 3G phone. Of course it's much more advanced than the other three, but please remember, it's still new so don't expect it to be running with very few problems. Thanks again.

Something strange started happening to me since this Monday. I have an LG VX6000 and it has been working great for me (VZW). All of a sudden I noticed that eventhough I had full bars on my phone (while being at the office) I couldn't make or recieve calls period. Not even the *228 or the Voice Mail. I called the VZW cust. support, they said that I may need to upgrade the software. So I did (in a local VZW store) only to find out that it didn't change anything. I called the support again, this time they said that it's the equipment itself. So I went back to the store and they replaced the phone for me with a brand new one (with no hassle about it). Alas, when I came back to the office the next day everything was the same for me again: I couldn't make or recieve any type of calls. I must also notice that I have 2 friends at the office who have the exact same phone also with VZW and have no problems whatsoever with the only difference (of course) that they have different phone numbers assigned to their phones... I called VZW support again and mentioned that to them, after which they re-routed my call to the technical support and Beth (from VZW tech. supp.) found a temporary number for me to replace my current number in my phone. She walked me thru the process of changing the number and voila! as soon as I did that the phone started to be able to do everything again. She offered me to change my number since it was a way to resolve the issue which I declined as I'd rather switch carriers and keep my old phone number then going thru hell of letting everyone know that I changed my cell number. Beth then said that she would have to open a "trouble ticket" for me after which she promised to give me a follow up call within the next 48 hours. On Friday, the situation is still the same and noone having called me back I called the cust. service myself only to find out that they went ahead and closed my "ticket" marking it "resolved"... I went nuts (up until now I remained very calm during calls with support), and told them that this is totally unecceptable and have to resolve the matters immediately by escalating the priority of the problem ticket... Basically, they still couldn't do anything and said that all they could do is reopen the ticket and then call me back....
Did anyone have a similar experience (with the cell phone being like "dead" while having full service bars) or, maybe, know someone who did? Please let me know if you have any suggestions.
Thanks!
Dimitri.

I want to be this verizon guy for halloween. Any idea where I can score his cool jacket?

I have been a Verizon Wireless customer for about three years. I had hoped that verizon would put a tower in our area. A tower finally went up on a hill near the town I live in. It was stated that the tower was a tower owned by verizon. Well the tower went up and the service never changed, no service. I called verizon wireless several times to see if they could assure me that we were going to get service to our area but no staight answer was given except, there is no tower in your area and none slated for your area in the near future. Well this past week the tower was activated and guess what, it is verizon. I turned my service off 4 months ago but after finding out that the tower was now fuctional my wife and I rejoined the service. Other than not getting a straight answer about the area and cell tower the service is still the best deal going in America today. Where can you get long distance calling included on any plan from anywhere in the US, Verizon. Long distance is included. You get caller id, call waiting, voicemail, call forwarding and more along with long distance and coverage in the whole US where there is coverage. I recommend Verizon Wireless.

I have Verizon. My husband and I have had them since they used to be Airtouch, that's old. We had Voicestream for about a month but since we traveled across Iowa a lot and we couldn't get more than 2 miles outside of the Des Moines city limit we returned the phones within in our 30 day waiting period. I had PMS when I turned in my phone. Dave Lapp who was our salesman is deathly afraid of me. I ran 3 of his customers out of his store in the Hubb Tower when I returned our phones. The others sale people went into hiding. We've had bad reception with Verizon but we've found since we've moved away from the Motorola phones and got the Kyoceras instead that Kyocera has a lot less dropped calls and clearing reception. We've had 3 Motorola's and 1 Kyocera. One night my husband was so frustrated with his Motorola while we were in the Walgreen's drive through, in front of the pharmacist he got out of the car and put the phone under my front tire. Haven't had a problem with the phone since. Can't use it but it doesn't give him any problems.

I am with Verizon ....recently I went on a road trip to North Dakota ..taking my trusty cell phone with me .it was a Motorola 120E....The area that I went to is a small farming community..called Ellendale.... while sitting on the front lawn ..I decided to call my daughter who lives in Lynnwood, Washington ..realizing of course that cell phones are limited because of the area I was at ...the signal was perfect and no dropped call ..on the way back out west ..my daughter decided to call me on her way to work ..no problem ..the signal was perfect until I went into a small dig ..lost her ..called her back ..still had a good signal after coming out of the dip ...where I talking to her was in Eastern Montana when I was traveling back to Lynnwood, Washington

Just recently, a phone number with verizon that worked for years will not work at my home. Verizon keeps saying it is the phone, but it has been changed 4 times now. The kicker is that two other phones, of the same model can sit side by side with the non working one and work fine. Any ideas?

Deborah Post

Do you get a dial tone from the phone ?.....try a different jack or rewire the one you are using....phones work on two conductors only..their could be a short somewhere or in the jack itself...I found out weather affected my phones ..it was all in the wiring ..I rerun the wire leading into the house and haven't had any trouble since...their is a terminal point where the wiring comes into the house ..Verizon is only responsible for that ..beyond that its is your problem..

All cell phones SUCK!

I f**king hate that "Can you hear me now" moron. I want to kick the TV evertime that annoying ass speaks. VERIZON WIRELESS STFU.
Just my opinion

It's all the cell phone companies. They just can't get their stuff in one sock and provide good service. Then when you tell them their service is unacceptable and you want to cancel they want to tell you you have to pay a cancelation fee. Look at the service map on their page. Then look at the CETA i think it's called. Suppose to be on their web site. Then tell them you aren't going to pay because they didn't provide the service. If 4,000,000 of their 40,000,000 customers would do this then service would get better. Also write your elected officials and ask them to regulate the cell phone companies. Tell them in letters the service sucks and the advertizing is false. If enough people are complaining and get organized this regulation will happen and it scares the crap out of the companies.

My last phone was with ATTW then cingular. They charged me for calls i didn't make and did all kinds of crap. Never got the order correct or any of that stuff. Was a Great big PITA. Finally i told them they had not conviced me they had given me credit for the calls that weren't mine(i went to canada ordered a plan that included canada and they never put it in place, then wanted $700 for calls when my phone only worked for about 10 days out of 40 i was in canada even though i was in places that the Map showed had service) After almost 40 calls to customer service in 6 months i tossed in the towel and canceled the service.

Cell phones are really radios ...they are not phones...they work on line of sight...much like FM radios and TV(FM To)....they only put out about 3 watts or less of power ...the tower output is a whole 3 watts and they are regulated......that is why you see so many of them...coverage is only about five miles...depending on terrain...I had a cell phone that could reach over a thousand miles.....from a small town in North Dakota to my home in Lynnwood,Washington....the sound was perfect, no static....considering their are two ranges of mountains between the two points....it did well....no roaming charges or any other hidden charges....I am with Verizon....T-Mobile would be my second choice

Maybe you should just get a Satellite, then you wouldn't have these problems.

Satellite Phone.

I'm the girl who posted that she loves the can you hear me know guy back in 2003..........I would just like to say that I have at last met him, so I can die happy! He's super gay, but what can you do?

Hi Guys... This IS part of my homework for Wireless Shopping 101. I have looked at all the websites and of course am just getting the sales pitches... I'm here because I want to hear it from the people who REALLY tell it like it is ! FYI we do have a landline at home, but hubby is a truck driver who absolutely relies on wireless. We are aware that there is no such thing as "complete" coverage but we do want the one that offers the MOST complete coverage. And also the most reliable band of phone. All informed opinions welcomed !! Thanks !!
PS Even I would rather look at Catherine Zeta-Jones thatn the Can You Hear Me Now Guy

Hey ermano... Sprint IS Nextel (have learned that so far)

Verizon now owns or will control MCI in the near future ....lets see now ...Qwest wireless and Virgin wireless use the Sprint network...Qwest tried to buy MCI but Verizon beat them out ...At&T wireless and Cingular merged....if your serious about staying in touch....go Satellite phone ..but they are very pricey..for Verizon IN customers you can have unlimited text and Picture text sending for $5.00 a month ..I use this a lot...plus Emailing....you can have music playing while someone is trying to call you and it costs .99 a month it will cost a $1.99 for downloads....

Catherine Zetta-Jones is one fine looking young woman ....but she does not come with the phones sold by T-Mobile and their service ...Cell phones are radios not phones ....FM radios ...towers are expensive to built .....like $250,000 or so I heard ...and they are only good for a five mile radius depending on the terrain...that is why you see so many of them ..they kick out a whooping three watts ...the reason for the low wattage is because of the interference with other services ... cell phones put out a watt and half ....Towers are regulated ... . If I did a lot of traveling, I would seriously think about investing in a satellite phone as pricey as they are...I am with Verizon Wireless

WEll,
First off, TMOBILE, SPRINT oR NEXTEl..do not work in any of the Targets in my area, and I have 3 Targets within a 10 mile radius of my home. I had Tmobile..THEY SUCK something major..if it wasnt for Parris and her sidekick..hmm..dont get me started//Cingular sucks..they just have att&t's customer base, which was the largest base EVER..but they still suck!! Lets not get started on Nextel....they have never heard of the words CDMA!! I must say when I update my PREFERRED ROAMING LOIST every 30 days from VERIZON WIRELESS PHONE like I am told to.. INEVER have any problems.. They have no roaming fees... best network ever...when I am underground on the subway/train....I AM THE ONLY ONE USING THE PHONE>>.whenever I am on the phone with someone using ANOTHER carriier...it is their call that drops not mines....

The "Can you hear me now guy" really DOES go around the world checking the connection and he now has an inoperable brain tumor on his right side. He won't die but he can't hear on that side now. Verizon calls it a "happy coincidence"

I have a few, OBVIOUS things to point out:
1. Only idiots buy cellular service and fail to read their contracts (i.e. read up on coverage NON-guarantees, the fact that if you lose your phone it's not their fault - you know, stuff NORMAL people would realize).

2. Only idiots get a service that "doesn't work" in their area and keep it, thinking that they will change things by calling up the company and complaining every other month. *Yawn.*

3. Apparently there are SOME learned people out there - they have to keep correcting you people in thinking that cellular phones work off satellites. *Sigh.*

4. Find something better to do! Write a d*mn letter for once!

Listen up moron's im going to educate you on the subject of Cell phones and Marketing.

First off there is no such thing as a perfectly reliable Cellular Network. If they had a guy on there saying can you hear me now,... how about now? would you buy the product? no you would not you would go over to some other company and guess what? it would work the same as your verizon phone.

Second off all you moron's got to start reading your manual. you got to keep your cell phone in a cool dry place all the time. Just to let you know this is all electronics. keep it out of food, sweat, ocean water, toilet water, and you know what your phone will work. >

what he said....

I left Verizon DSL 3 months ago because I moved and the service was not provided in my new area. I signed up with Comcast.
I STILL can not uninstall Verizon and Verizon says it is not "their fault" that my Internet Explorer browser is branded by their software.After several long and unfruitful conversaions with Verizon, I was told that since I am not longer their customer they don't have to deal with me!
I have delted all Verizon programs that I can find. Any suggestions on uninstalling this Verion Junk? It is interrupting 2 computer's internet functions, including wireless networking.

Some of these post have really made me lose faith in humanity...

It depends on where you live, and if you like the "Can You Hear Me Now" Elvis Costello looking dude. In my Verizon neighborhood - 25 west of Philly, I get one bar at home and no bars at work. I put up with 9 out of 10 dropped calls ONLY because I like the sound of Darth Vader's voice on the Verizon TV ad. I don't care about service, and I wouldn't get out of my contract even if the nice fuckers at Verizon would let me. In addition, I kind of like the way Verizon DSL dug up our entire neighborhood to install fiber optic lines because they have the right of way to compete with cable. Now every front yard has an in-ground, cement plot with Verizon's name on it. It kind of nostalgic though because everytime I run the lawnmower over it I think of Horned-rim Harry and Star Wars. Thanks Verizon.

Tammy

Have you ever thought about going to msconfig to find out if any of the Verizon material is their or go to Control Panel and their is a heading their called Add or Remove programs ..click on run on your welcome screen and write msconfig in the space provided ..click on the startup tab ...be careful what you click on as it could effect your computer operation

I have a daughter and her family who are living in Eureka, MT and its located at the foothills of the Rockies Mountains and the town is located north of Whitefish about an hours drive .away..its also close to the Canadian border .the only service that really works is Verizon Wireless ...they are living in this huge out building and in order for them to get cell service inside ...they have to roll up one of the three doors that they use to roll up to store stuff or install a cell antenna ...they went the antenna route........go outside of the building the service is just great ..in town spotty ..they live on a hill ....I was trying to convince them to get in contact with Verizon to place a cell tower on their property ..they will have nothing to do with that ...in the out laying areas..the service is dead...I have a signal seeking cell and it drove us crazy ...so I finally shut it off ..I am with Verizonwireless .... Jerry Y

It's funny to hear all you talk about wireless phones when you just have no idea. I've been in the wireless industy for many years, both selling, testing, working on phones, managing...on and on and on.

Please don't talk about things you have no idea of. For one everyone keeps talking about satellite phones. Ok if you say you have never dropped a call your not using it or you don't ever go anywhere with mountains trees or metal roof's. The sattelites move so if your in a valley you will drop calls like crazy.

2nd Verizon has been rated #1 year after year after year. The footprint of coverage is way bigger than any other competitor. Now, it's not perfect, like anyother carrier there is places it works and places it doesn't...wow this is weird! You mean to tell me it's not a landline that is connected to a wire? YES YOU MORNON!!!

I'm so glad you all know so much about cell phones. I've had all the carriers and know who is best. The test man is just a freakin commercial. all the commercials for all the carriers don't live up to what they say...does this surprise you? sure hope not hillbillies!

Oh and one more thing...Does anyone know how much it costs to build a new tower for all you who want towers and live in the middle of no where? Thats right $1,000,000+ depending on how much the land costs. Yes you read that right

$1,000,000 - and question #2, why is it so much more than a tower for another company, i.e. Sprint, T-Mobile etc.?

Because all the Verizon buildings have an 8x10 building with a generator and 2 extra batteries that is why the network never goes down randomly like other companies.

Spring/Nextel just sponsored a 49er's at Monster Park and did a txt message promotion, funny thing, their network went down...Imagine having a company like that! :-)

Yeah Yeah Yeah.. eveybody is an expert! "People are stupid" "You expect to much from your serice" "No matter what you think, You can't get service everywhere, read your contract" SHUT UP!!! and while your shutting up shut the "Can you hear me now guy up too! If you want truth! they should come up with a new solgan that say's "Our service is everywhere for you, accept here, here, here, there, over here, sometimes there and only on clear days with a full moom when Venus is in line with Mars"!

wow some of these postings are quite funny! Those who havent a clue what they are talking about should keep their assanine comments to themselves so as not to appear uneducated. Thank God stupid people exist in the world though, as it means job security for all of us in the communications/ customer service industry ! Thanks for being so dumb

Wow. Paul managed to put down everyone on this string for being uninformed but ended up being wrong himself. Verizon is the only one with backup generators and batteries? Funny. Did they also invent the internet? I guess he has a lot of their stock.

Verizon Customer Service, "Can you hear me now?"
Me, "No"
Verizon Customer Service, "May I call you back to your land line?"
Me, "No"
Verizon Customer Service. "But I can't hear you."
Me, "I know"
Verizon Customer Service, "What?"
Me, "Can you hear me now?"
Verizon Customer Service, "Could you repeat that?"
Me, "Now do you understand my problem with you?"
Verizon Customer Service, "May I call you back to your land line?"
Me, "No. I rather like having you share my daily regimen. Are you enjoying this conversation?"

THESE ARE EXCEPTS FROM AN ACTUAL CONVERSATION (SANS THE MANY "WHATS", "CAN YOU REPEAT THATS", "HUHS", AND ETC.......
THE BOTTOM LINE: I RECEIVED 2 MONTHS FOR FREE. THIS WAS A RESULT OF MY PERSISTANCE. OF COURSE, FIRST THEY MOVED ME TO WHAT I CALL "THE PLACIBO DEPARTMENT". THIS IS A TECHNIQUE USED BY MANY COMPANIES TODAY. THE IDEA IS TO "NICE" THE PERSON INTO SUBMISSION. ALL THEY WANT TO DO IS GET RID OF YOU WITHOUT DOING ANY THING.... THEY USE WORDS LIKE "I'M SORRY", "I UNDERSTAND", "I AM HERE TO HELP YOU"... THEN THEY GIVE YOU BUSY PLACIBO WORK TO DO LIKE "OPTIMIZE YOUR PHONE SYSTEM". THIS ONE IS A GREAT WAY TO GET RID OF YOU. FIRST, YOU HAVE TO HANG UP FROM CUSTOMER (NO) SERVICE TO DO IT. THEN YOU GO THROUGH A SERIES OF PROMPTS AND # PUSHING ON YOUR PHONE, AFTER THAT YOUR PHONE WILL MAGICALLY WORK BETTER.... BUT IT DOESN'T. BY THE TIME YOU FIND OUT YOU ARE NO BETTER OFF, YOU ARE BACK TO DEALING WITH LIFE AND MAKING UP FOR LOST TIME.... THEY (VERIZON) KNOWS THIS. YOU LOOSE...
WANT TO START THE PROCESS ALL OVER AGAIN WHILE YOU ARE DRIVING TO YOUR NEXT MEETING? MAYBE YOU WILL BE TALKING TO A CUSTOMER (NO) SERVICE REPRESENTATIVE BY THE TIME YOU HIT THE ELEVATOR. HOW DO YOU LIKE THAT? YOU'LL NOT CALL CUSTOMER SERVICE FOR A LONG TIME.

I LIKED THE OLD DAYS, WHEN CUSTOMER SERVICE PEOPLE WERE CALLED CLERKS..... THEY GOT THINGS DONE GOOD AND FAST.
HOW DO YOU LIKE ALL THE STORES WITH "SALES ASSOCIATES"?
WHAT THE HELL IS GOING ON? WHERE ARE ALL THE AMERICANS?
I JUST WANT REGULAR GUYS WITH REGULAR NAMES DO THE STUFF WE PAY THEM FOR.

WE A BEING PUMMELED INTO ACCEPTING INFERIOR EVERYTHING. ARE MY ASPIRATIONS FOR SOMETHING NORMAL BEING CONSIDERED HOSTILE AND RUDE.

I DON'T CARE.

I HAVE MUCH MORE TO SAY, BUT I HAVE WORK TO DO.

BILL LACHASSE

After many inquiries as to why, seeming only at my home, that I have issues with my Verizon Wireless service. At work, in a deep hole that even a.m. radio cannot reach, I get great clarity with one or two "bars". At home, with 3,4 or 5 bars, I get drops, poor clarity, more drops, what...you dropped out...argh!

Here is there response:

Thank you for contacting Verizon Wireless through our website. I apologize for your dissatisfaction regarding the use of wireless services indoors. My name is Valencia and I will be happy to address your concerns as I too experience the same problem.

I would not suggest purchasing a wireless phone for the sole purpose of using it indoors as wireless phones are primarily intended for use while being mobile, or out in open areas. Wireless signals travel through the air to the nearest transmitter, or wireless tower for a connection. A wireless tower can cover a specific radius, measured in miles.

A wireless tower can only receive a specific number of signals for processing calls. You may not receive a full signal inside of a building because the wireless signal is limited when traveling through brick, steel, or other material. These limitations apply to all wireless carriers. If you move near a window, you have a good chance of increasing your signal; however, this would depend on how many miles your phone is located from the nearest wireless tower. You can usually make a call with a minimal amount of signal strength; however, receiving a call requires approximately full signal strength.

The type of wireless phone you have will not change the signal strength, as all of our wireless phones use the same wattage. If you change your wireless phone and use it in the same location, more than likely you will experience the same problem.

The above information is also listed in your Customer Agreement under the section titled "How Service Works".

I hope I have provided you with a better understanding of the matter.
I encourage you to continue using a landline phone for reliable call quality inside your home, as wireless phones are not guaranteed for that purpose. Again, I apologize for any inconvenience this matter has caused.

Should you experience service issues while using your phone outdoors, I encourage you to contact us from a landline telephone to report the problems in question. We then pass this information on to our System Performance Team so that we may investigate and resolve the issue within our abilities. Also if the issue is reported within 72 hours of occurrence, we are able to issue one goodwill minute per lost call or a partial credit for the time without service.

To file a Trouble Ticket to be submitted for your area please call us from a landline phone at 800-922-0204 and have the following information available:

· Brief description of the problem
· Most recent date the problem occurred
· Approximate time the problem occurred
· Nearest cross street/intersection of where the problem occurred
· Recordings you hear

Please have your wireless phone fully charged and available when you call, for trouble shooting purposes.

Lastly, I have forwarded your inquiry regarding accessing our website to our Wireless Data Team for review. Please allow 24-48 hours for a response to be received. Your patience and cooperation is greatly appreciated.

I appreciate the time you have taken to contact us. As a valued customer of Verizon Wireless, we always look forward to hearing from you.

Sincerely,

Valencia
Verizon Wireless
Customer Service

"We never stop working for you!"

Verizon sucks

Whatever.. tight asses

i would totally disagree with this. i dont know maybe its where i live but i have Verizon and no matter where i go all over the state, i never loose my signal, i always get reception and in the past year i've prob had one dropped call. there is a special number verizon users can call to update their coverage area and it helps.

I see we have problems all over here. And I believe our cell phone providers know this too. Yet they in no big hurry to fix the problem. It does not matter as they have our bussiness already. We should be able to call each company without getting dropped calls though. They brought us this far, why not fix any problem that does comes their way?

I see we have problems all over here. And I believe our cell phone providers know this too. Yet they in no big hurry to fix the problem. It does not matter as they have our bussiness already. We should be able to call each company without getting dropped calls though. They brought us this far, why not fix any problem that does comes their way?

I have a VERIZON WIRELESS PHONE. I am extremely happy with it. I can take up to 100 pictures on it, I have never lost reception in Wal-Mart or TARGET and I was just in Target last night with my sister and we were both talking to each other on our phones-trying to find each other. I get all my missed calls and voice mails and have never experienced a problem. I get free long distance, roaming, 3-WAY, call waiting, and caller ID. I think everyone should end up getting verizon. Like every phone company, you can talk mobile to mobile free and I only know about 5 of my friends w/ verizon. Unlimited texts and pic messaging to verizon customers is only 5.00 a month. You get nights and weekends free just like many other companies as well. And as for the commercial guy, it's what he gets paid for, it's only annoying when you let him get to you. Like a couple people have posted, it IS...just to get you to "think verizon". It gets the name out and into your head. It's advertisement. AND IT WORKED HUH?
Also, when my phone is on it's last battery bar, it charges super quick, it takes me like 20 minutes to charge it completely.
Deanna.

It's not the phone. I have the same problem. I called them and was told "We do not guarantee service indoors. It's stated in your contract." So the "can you hear me now only" applies if you are standing outside. Not in your car, not in your living room near a big window, not under a any kind of shelter. You must be outside and away from large buildings.

And that's a bunch of crap because I can stand outside in the same spot and the bars go up and down then I lose the call. But they ALWAYS blame it on you. It is never their service -- never. I'd love to leave but they have me locked in a contract. Every time you make a change on your account they tack another 6 months to 2 years on. I think I'm stuck for life unless I pay their $175 hostage fee.

I THINK EVERY CELL PHONE HAS PROBLEMS AND WE ALREADY KNOW THERE IS FALSE ADVERTISING BECAUSE THATS JUST PLAINLY OBIVIOUS BUSSINESS ARE OUT TO GET MONEY I BELEIVE THEY WILL MEET YOU HALF WAY BUT GET REAL DID YOU REALLY BELEIVE THAT A PHONE WOULD COVER ALL AROUND THE UNITED STATES AND IN STORES THERE IS NO PERFECT HUMAN AND THERE IS NO PERFECT PHONE I JUST SAY YOU HAVE TO FIND OUT BELEIVE ME I FEEL YOUR PAIN IVE GONE THROUGH 5 DIFFERENT CELL PHONES IN FOUR YEARS AND IM ABOUT TO SWITCH AGAIN SO JUST FIND SOMETHING THAT WORKS FOR YOU

THATS WHY I WOULD NEVER BUY A PHONE THAT HAS A CONTRACT I WILL SUFFER WITH PAYING MORE MONEY TO KEEP MINE RUNNING THEN BE TRAPPED IN SOME KIND OF CONTRACT. WHY DO YOU THINK YOU HAVE TO SIGHN A CONTRACT OUR PARENTS ALWAYS TOLD US GROWING UP READ WHAT YOU SIGHN DONT JUST RIGHT DOWN YOUR NAME ITS COMMON SENSE AND HONESTLY PROBABLY JUST A LIFE LESSON THAT I LEARNED WHEN I WAS 13. I will always read what i sighn and so should you. No one can really give you good advise but even in court they will see that you are in a contract and you are bind so buddy do yourself a favor next time and dont go into a contract unless your willing to live with the consequences suck it up theres worse things in the world at least you can buy a cell phone

you will notice in my last note i wrote in small print read that very carefully those are the tricks

if you want my opinion take it for what its worth i think its a conspiracy with all bussiness just the same way a mechanic will mess up your care i beleieve bussinesses set there products up to fail cause that is the only way to insure you will keep buying bussiness love to make more and more money thats why they are there. There not your freind and you cant trust them cause if you could you wouldnt be weary and there wouldnt be so many complaints i think about this kind of stuff a lot and it makes sense

i have had cingular wireless for 2 years and handsdown they have been the best i have ever had with cell service, and there service is provided to me nationwide along with pr,haw and the vergin islands without roaming charges they have been great to me!!!!!

ok its not the phones and its not the kind of serivce, you dont have signal when you go into target because it is a concrete building and it has a metal roof! metal and concrete will kill every bit of service try it put ur phone in an empty coffee can at hom and in lees than a minute you will have no service at all!!

re: someone

Except my Cingular mobile phone works just fine in Target. Nice thought though.

I have Verizon wireless and I am happy with the service....it has flaws like every cell service....I get reception in Target,Fred Meyer,Wal Marts,underpasses,overpasses,tunnels,freeways,boon docks,where their are no towers in sight,where their are towers,simply dial #228 and follow the instructions for free roaming....customer service is good...if your not happy with the service....disconnect....using the cell sevice on a monthly basis far exceeds the disconnection fee...Verizon starting in the fall will pro-rate your monthly bill if you want to disconnect....I might add for new customers...good grief go somewhere else...quit whinning

cry more, babyface.