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Verizon Wireless Service Returns After 5 Days Of Dropped Calls
October 21, 2010
After five days of dropped calls, Verizon wireless customers in the North Escambia area should now be able to make and receive calls on their cell phones as usual.
“In Davisville, the calls are dropping or not connecting,” one NorthEscambia.com reader posted on our Facebook page. “It took 19 tries to complete a five minute conversation on Monday evening from Walnut Hill,” another reader posted.
The service disruptions in North Escambia were the result of Verizon’s purchase of Alltel Communications and the integration of Verizon and Alltel equipment, according to Gretchen LeJeune, a media relations manager for Verizon Wireless.
The $28 billion deal closed in September 2009, but the equipment changes in the local Mobile-Pensacola Verizon market are being completed this month.
“The problems were the result of a database error that impacted the towers in your area,” LeJeune said. The database upgrade problem created customer problems in North Escambia beginning Friday and lasting through midday Wednesday.
She said none of the Verizon towers in the area were actually down during the period, but they were not properly processing calls.
Hundreds of NorthEscambia.com readers contacted us by email or on our Facebook page expressing their frustrations with the company. “They told me it was just me and my phone,” one reader wrote. “They said I was the only one having any problems.”
NorthEscambia.com experienced the same difficulties in making and receiving calls during the period on our multiple Verizon phones. We were told by multiple customer service representatives in regards to our account that there was no known issue in the North Escambia area. In fact, when we first contacted LeJeune Wednesday morning, she said Verizon was unaware of any problem.
“According to our system, everything is working perfectly,” she said Wednesday morning. But by Wednesday afternoon, LeJuene said the database problem had been isolated and corrected after our phone call.
“It’s a huge undertaking integrating the two networks,” she said. “Mistakes happen, and we are sorry for any inconvenience. Verizon Wireless still has the most reliable network.”
Pictured above: A Verizon Blackberry displays “Call Was Lost” while attempting to dial Verizon’s customer service number Tuesday. Verizon’s Walnut Hill tower can be seen in the background. NorthEscambia.com photo, click to enlarge.
Comments
29 Responses to “Verizon Wireless Service Returns After 5 Days Of Dropped Calls”
we switched to verizon from AT&T when we got tired of only being able to make or recieve calls in one corner of our living room. with AT&T we could never count on our bill being near the same amount every month, we werent going over our minutes because we accumilated nearly 4,000 rollover minutes, all 3 of our lines had unlimited data packages for web browsing, email, etc. and our bills never had an average….it would jump from around $165.00 one month to around $200.00 the next month. a few times it reached $300.00. AT&T would and could not offer an explanation for the bills jumping so much, but would offer $25 credit for 3 months. Verizon works in every room in our house and everywhere we use it at period. I am happy to say in almost 2 years our bill is ALWAYS within a $1 of the same amount. I can actually budget around my verizon bill. Verizon is also adding 4G to their network. thats the reason for the tower upgrade.
Terri
I have a lot of phones and phone equipment I may have one but their in storage in pensacola.
I’ll check next week when I get over this flu and let you know if thats soon enough
for you.
How about trying a pre paid or pay as you go no contract service? If you aren’t happy…go find another carrier! I say test it out before you commit to a contract, if you feel like you HAVE to sign a contract. many good alternatives out there..straight talk uses both verizon and at&t towers, depending on what band phone you get…cheaper..but if you have to call customer service you better know a foreign language. but still better than being a slave to a contract if you are unhappy with the service.
I dialed a number today in Century,didn’t get an answer,hour later I pushed redial and got a totally different company,but since I have a contract with Verizon,I will stick with them and if anyone out there has a plain verizon phone they want to get rid of please let me know..nothing fancy just calls and texts bumpkin@erec.net
Does anyone know how well Cellular South works in the Davisville area?
REGARDING:
“now that person I tried to talk to is mad at me”
Look at it this way: now you can hang up on whomever you wish and blame Verizon as well as point to this to calm that one down.
Life is good
TROUBLE didn’t start friday. I have had this problem the whole time I have been a verizon customer . I would not recomend verizon to anyone! They need to do some improvements.
I got Verizon wireless internet a couple of months ago . It never did pick up in the area and if it picked a signal up , it was dropped in a minuter or two . I was told to bring it back to the Atmore verizon store and when I took it back , I didn’t get a refund for my 105 dollars that I paid . But instead the lady or salesperson wanted 35 more dollars to put it back on display…So needless to say…I am under contract with another verizon phone purchased there . But as soon as the contract is up, VERIZON WILL BE DROPPED AT MY HOUSEHOLD COMPLETELY…they are getting a little to big for their pritchers ….lol
I tried to make a 2 minute call on Saturday…..
I NEVER GOT FINISHED WITH IT…. now that person I tried to talk to is mad at me….. GOSH VERIZON!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
REGARDING:
“Why should they charge for a cancellation fee…..
Why should we let them?”
Because they can.
Because those first signing up agreed to pay it.
Because the government has the power to enforce contracts.
When our contract term expired, we just went elsewhere. They informed us we still had to pay either the monthly rate or the cancellation fee. We pointed out we were not under contract and they were free to go after us but not to get their hopes up. They finally zeroed out our bill.
Really, they would prefer to have happy customers because happy customers bring in more customers and pay much money over the years. Sometimes happiness is not in the cards.
David for happiness
Why should they charge for a cancellation fee…..
Why should we let them?
They don’t provide what we bargain for and we are still suppose to pay….
bull…..
Old customer….signed a contract for the same reason I did….she thought
she was going to get a service……grrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr
nothing but rip off artists.
We dropped Verizon a few years back. I had good coverage in Pensacola but Number One Wife had poooooor coverage in Century. Her poor phone kept dying searching for a signal, same phone could go a couple of days in Pensacola because it could find a signal down there. When Verizon tried to talk us into keeping our service, we mentioned poor reception around home, they looked at coverage map and agreed we should drop them. Since then the only problems we have had is that AT$T phones aren’t waterproof as discovered during canoeing and kayaking expiditions. Go figure !! ?? !!
David for 50 meter cell phones like my watch
REGARDING:
“i can talk much faster circles around the at&t people”
Quite likely, I talk slowly so my mouth doesn’t get ahead of my brain.
David for running at capacity
Geeze,
Every wireless carrier has to upgrade their towers now and again.
Same way gas stations have to replace their old tanks.
Or how websites like Facebook have to update their servers, which cause the website to go down a few hours every now and again.
Verizon was doing this to make sure WE have BETTER SERVICE in this area!
Old customer, every carrier charges a cancellation fee. If you didn’t want their service anymore then why did you sign a contract?
just goes to show you our government has given them a license to steal.
They don’t even have to furnish you with the promised service to make you
keep on paying…….
Cancelled Verizon last April, and they continued to bill me for May, and June.
Then _THEY_ sent me notice that they were cancelling _MY_ service for non-payment.
Some companies just can’t handle rejection….
Wonder what ATT’s problem is, the service is just not there, and billing errors…how do they manage billing errors on a flat rate??
These companies say anything they want to you because its never there fault. When u spend two hundred dollars a month on phone, internet, and internet for your home the last think you want to hear are excuses. There too quick to blame you for there problems but when you go buy there product it works everywhere and there are no problems. No such thing as customer service anymore. I think they should be held more accountable for the load of bull they tell you.
I have a great reception for the past few days. Only one dropped call.
I have never had a problem with Verizon in this area. It’s way better than AT&T which my father had before he switched to Verizon.
i’m still dropping calls.
really sick of it.
I have verizon now but am still in a 2 year contract with ATT that I have not
bothered to use the phones for 10 months now. You can’t use them
at my home so what good are they.
Yes I would use them mobile….but mostly from my home.
When I complained they said they don’t gaurantee coverage.
SO MY PROBLEM. So I have to pay for 2 phones sitting in desk drawers.
I also have to pay for my two verizons.
yeah not only is my verizon signal much better now that they have changed the tower, i can talk much faster circles around the at&t people.
This is exactly the reason I cancelled my service with alltel/verizon and they wanna try and charge me a cancellation fee. Yea right
>Facebook page? I didn’t know you had a FB page.
http://www.facebook.com/northescambia
Facebook page? I didn’t know you had a FB page. I will go look for it as I am certainly a fan. North Escambia.com = LIKE
So I SHOULDN’T hae smashed my phone in the wall?
Just joking, I have AT&T
Thanks William for the explanation! At the EWMS football game, I couldn’t figure out why I couldn’t make a call: I had signal bars, but “No Service”.
Another of life’s mysteries explained on northescambia.com! Well done.
Thanks! You saved me a phone ~ call and a possible visit today!! After three days of horrible service, I was going to try to find out if it was my phone or their service. I am so glad I don’t have to sit on hold, only to be told it’s me not them
)
At least they are working on it. Nextel told us a 300 phone we bought 3 or4 years ago would pick up any where. I work all over U. S. I can home to the Bratt area right under a tower was told then oh well if towers are not up graded work. To make matters worst when wanted to go back to old phone that had coverage in this area Nextel said I would have to pay more per month because My old plan did not ex any more. After 10 years I changed to Verizon very happy so far. Nextel let us get out of contract but we had to send a address that I was staying at they looked up on map showed no coverage i explain to them that I would be at this location for at least a year. I am in a very rural area at this moment in the northerns states verizon is working fine.