Author Topic: Cell phone will do texts but not phone calls  (Read 1182 times)

secondcor521

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Cell phone will do texts but not phone calls
« on: December 11, 2020, 08:43:13 PM »
Help.

I had a Samsung A11 phone that was working just fine with Page Plus Cellular, which is a Verizon MVNO.

Last week, I lost that cell phone in the Miami airport by accidentally leaving it in my rental car.  My bad.  I reported it lost to the rental car company, but I'm not optimistic that it will be found and returned to me.

I bought another brand new Samsung A11 from Best Buy and a brand new 4G LTE SIM card from Page Plus Cellular.  I gave Page Plus Cellular tech support the IMEI and SIM numbers.  After two days and four or five tech support people, the phone got to the point where it would send and receive texts but neither send nor receive voice calls.

It should not be this hard.

They of course had me run through all of the basic troubleshooting steps a bajillion times.  At the end they said that everything looked fine on their end and suggested it was either the phone or the sim card.  OK, fine.

So I got Best Buy to exchange the Samsung A11, and I ordered another SIM card from Page Plus Cellular.  After an hour on chat with tech support, this phone and this SIM card exhibit the same @#$(&# issue.

(And while I was waiting for this latest SIM card to arrive, I stuck the old sim card in the replacement phone.  Yup, same #$# problem.)

It should not be this hard.

Tomorrow I may call next level tech support.

Two questions:

1.  Anyone know how to fix this issue?
2.  I'm considering taking my new unlocked Samsung A11 to a different carrier.  I just need something cheap that does phone and text, either prepaid or ~$25 a month.  Preferably Verizon since they have the best coverage in my area.  Recommendations?

secondcor521

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Re: Cell phone will do texts but not phone calls
« Reply #1 on: December 11, 2020, 08:46:09 PM »
Additional comments:

Haven't done anything to the phones other than connect to my WiFi network (which works fine).
Signal strength varies between 2 and 4 bars.

Metta

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Re: Cell phone will do texts but not phone calls
« Reply #2 on: December 11, 2020, 08:59:11 PM »
Suggestion: ting.com They are reasonably cheap and they have phenomenal customer service to help you get the phone working. And their lines are Verizon. Though you may need a new SIM card.

Also, if you use my code (or anyone else’s) they give you $25 of Ting credit. But I don’t care if you use my code or someone else’s. I’m telling you about it because it has been wonderful for us. Their lowest priced “Flex” plan is $10 a month for unlimited data and text. You pay for the data you use. They have other plans that give you more data.

https://zanin51ii72.ting.com/
« Last Edit: December 11, 2020, 09:03:05 PM by Metta »

NotJen

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Re: Cell phone will do texts but not phone calls
« Reply #3 on: December 12, 2020, 04:48:15 AM »
Agree with the Ting suggestion.  Their customer service has been pretty good when I’ve used it.  They have access to the Verizon network now - I switched over this year (from their T-Mobile network), and my phone gets much better service.  You might have to ask when you sign up to get on the Verizon network, but they were very helpful when I asked to switch.

They just started their new rate plans, and the Flex plan should save me even more money (I rarely use data).  Plus, the sign-up bonus will get you a couple months free.

You would definitely need a new SIM card.  It looks like they sell A11s, so your phone should be supported.

Greystache

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Re: Cell phone will do texts but not phone calls
« Reply #4 on: December 12, 2020, 08:23:50 AM »
I had a similar  problem with Consumer Cellular. My old phone's battery was dying so I decided to get a new phone (with a new SIM card). The new phone would sometimes not be able to send text messages. I went through the troubleshooting dance with CC and still had the same problem. Finally, I suggested that I just use the SIM card from my old phone, and problem solved. What I learned was that although CC says they use ATT network, they also use other networks too. My new SIM card was for a different network which for whatever reason gave spotty performance in my neighborhood.

secondcor521

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Re: Cell phone will do texts but not phone calls
« Reply #5 on: December 12, 2020, 03:28:51 PM »
Thanks all for the suggestions.

I was finally able to get someone to get it to work.  The trick is that if you are "porting" an existing Page Plus phone number from one device to another, you have to ask to speak to a supervisor.  Apparently the front line CSRs typically can't handle that situation properly.  This seems like a glaring hole in their training since they're forcing everyone to switch to 4G LTE so lots of people will be in this situation as the end of the year approaches and they drop 3G support.

I'll keep Ting in mind as a backup if things go sideways in the future.

Daley

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Re: Cell phone will do texts but not phone calls
« Reply #6 on: December 12, 2020, 08:07:36 PM »
Two questions:

1.  Anyone know how to fix this issue?
2.  I'm considering taking my new unlocked Samsung A11 to a different carrier.  I just need something cheap that does phone and text, either prepaid or ~$25 a month.  Preferably Verizon since they have the best coverage in my area.  Recommendations?

Are the phones actually carrier unlocked or Verizon prepaid? If Verizon prepaid, that might be part of the problem. If actually carrier unlocked...

Another Verizon MVNO with potentially better customer support might be in order. There's US Mobile and Red Pocket, for example.



For those keeping score on Ting, since the T-Mobile/Sprint merger, Ting has been sold off by Tucows to Dish Network, along with Sprint divesting Boost Mobile to Dish as part of a "fourth mobile network" initiative given how much mobile phone spectrum Dish already owns. Take from that news what you will, and I suspect a lot of people who've used Dish in the past for television will take far more from this news than those who haven't.

Edit: Apologies for missing that you got the situation resolved.
« Last Edit: December 12, 2020, 08:36:48 PM by Daley »

Metta

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Re: Cell phone will do texts but not phone calls
« Reply #7 on: December 12, 2020, 08:32:02 PM »
Glad to hear you got things working!

secondcor521

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Re: Cell phone will do texts but not phone calls
« Reply #8 on: December 12, 2020, 10:02:56 PM »
Two questions:

1.  Anyone know how to fix this issue?
2.  I'm considering taking my new unlocked Samsung A11 to a different carrier.  I just need something cheap that does phone and text, either prepaid or ~$25 a month.  Preferably Verizon since they have the best coverage in my area.  Recommendations?

Are the phones actually carrier unlocked or Verizon prepaid? If Verizon prepaid, that might be part of the problem. If actually carrier unlocked...

Another Verizon MVNO with potentially better customer support might be in order. There's US Mobile and Red Pocket, for example.



For those keeping score on Ting, since the T-Mobile/Sprint merger, Ting has been sold off by Tucows to Dish Network, along with Sprint divesting Boost Mobile to Dish as part of a "fourth mobile network" initiative given how much mobile phone spectrum Dish already owns. Take from that news what you will, and I suspect a lot of people who've used Dish in the past for television will take far more from this news than those who haven't.

Edit: Apologies for missing that you got the situation resolved.

No worries, thanks for chiming in.  The phones were all Samsung A11s from Best Buy and were the "Unlocked (Activate Later)" variety.  So not prepaid I guess.

When I was considering switching, both Ting and Red Pocket looked good for my needs.  Of course every ad in my FB feed is now a cell service ad.