Verizon or Verizon MVNO

[Hibernaculum]

Hi Folks- In the last few years, I've done a bit of bouncing around various cell phone service providers. I tried to sign up for Red Pocket in 2020, but wasted a LOT of time before I figured out that my then-Motorola cell phone was not compatible. Went with Total Wireless (now Total by Verizon). I was reasonably happy with the cell phone service, but when it came time to switch phones it always seemed to be a big production. My wife tends to break phones pretty frequently, alas, and just getting the service up and running on a new phone has been a real hassle each time. The previous time, which was last year I think, it took me about four hours on the phone with Total by Verizon, but they eventually did get everything all set up.

THIS time around, with Total by Verizon, I got what I consider by far the worst customer service I have ever experienced. My wife had dropped her Pixel 6 and purchased an unlocked Pixel 7. We spent many, many hours on the phone with Total by Verizon, over a period of about three weeks. Probably something in excess of 40 hours on the phone with them. The customer service seemed like it was a step down from Total Wireless times. The reps were obviously reading off a script, and if whatever they did didn't solve the problem, they counseled one of two things: give it some time (sometimes 30 minutes, sometimes 4 hours) to work through the system OR buy a new SIM card. We got hung up on a lot, too.

So, we switched to Google Fi. The switch went somewhat OK (needed another 3 hours on the phone to Total by Verizon to get the number released, since they had the wrong IMEI in their records), but I got my wife and myself switched to Fi.

And guess what? Where we live, Fi has a lot of dropped calls. More than daily. I was hoping their coverage would be better, but it seems like Verizon or one of their other MVNOs is the way to go where we live.

So, I'm looking for a better Verizon MVNO. Any of them have decent customer service/technical support? Or should we just go directly with Verizon? Any way to get better deals with that?

We'll have three phones, two PIxel 3 and one PIxel 7, all unlocked. I'm on one of the Pixel 3 phones, FIL is on the other Pixel 3. Wife and I have already transitioned to Google Fi; FIL is still with Total by Verizon. We've got a device warranty with Google on the Pixel 7 (my wife's), so I think we're covered on that. So, three lines, a moderate amount of data, and the ability to use the phone as a hotspot are what we need. Any suggestions?

[HipGnosis]

I've been with RedPocket for many years with many phones, on Verizon network and now AT&T.
Totally happy with their service and support. 
Sometimes (I haven't checked lately) their best deal is/are annual plans that are sold on ebay (but sometimes right on their website).

[BDWW]

The phone switch thing is odd to me, maybe reminiscent of a bygone era.  Every time I've got a new phone in the last ten years, I just switch the SIM and ... well that's it.  I don't think I've ever talked to my MVNO. I think my "profile" still lists my phone from 2 switches ago.

You should have just been able to pop the SIM out of the 6 and put it in the 7.  No support needed.

Anyways, to answer your question, I have no clue how the support is at my MVNO, because I've never needed it.

[secondcor521]

All I can tell you is I'm switching *to* Red Pocket Mobile and *from* Page Plus Cellular.

Page Plus customer support is not very good.  The straw that broke the camel's back earlier this week was when they failed to have their auto pay system work for my account, which resulted in my phone not working, which resulted in a call to customer support, where they seemed to want to charge me more to get the auto pay set back up again.  They were also not direct in answering my questions about what the extra charge would be, about accepting fault for their system error, and repeatedly telling me "not to worry" when I was irritated but not worried.

Waiting for the SIM card to arrive, but my one medium length interaction with Red Pocket Mobile online chat support was great.

[LD_TAndK]

USMobile was easy to switch numbers for me, a few years ago now. Their "Warp 5g" network is a verizon MVNO. They have a whole mess of plans that are all priced competitively. I personally use their shared data, $9 per line, unlimited talk & text plan, each gig of data is an additional $2.

[Hibernaculum]

The phone switch thing is odd to me, maybe reminiscent of a bygone era.  Every time I've got a new phone in the last ten years, I just switch the SIM and ... well that's it.  I don't think I've ever talked to my MVNO. I think my "profile" still lists my phone from 2 switches ago.

You should have just been able to pop the SIM out of the 6 and put it in the 7.  No support needed.

Anyways, to answer your question, I have no clue how the support is at my MVNO, because I've never needed it.

Yes, it SHOULD work that way, but this time around... it didn't. In which case one needs some level of support. Total by Verizon never could figure out why the 7 didn't get a cell signal. Ever.

[geekette]

While I like Red Pocket, and their customer service is responsive, they never could track down a data usage problem I had with their service.  I just switched to Visible ($15/month for a year, unlimited).  It's Verizon's own MVNO.  Customer service is available via chat 24/7, and they seem to be US based, judging by their use of language.  I was told the promo ends the end of January, though.

Service is via eSIM, which is both good and bad.  No waiting for the mail, but the process took a couple chats.  They may have physical SIMs as well, but since my phone doesn't accept them, I have to deal with eSIMs.

[RunningintoFI]

While I like Red Pocket, and their customer service is responsive, they never could track down a data usage problem I had with their service.  I just switched to Visible ($15/month for a year, unlimited).  It's Verizon's own MVNO.  Customer service is available via chat 24/7, and they seem to be US based, judging by their use of language.  I was told the promo ends the end of January, though.

Service is via eSIM, which is both good and bad.  No waiting for the mail, but the process took a couple chats.  They may have physical SIMs as well, but since my phone doesn't accept them, I have to deal with eSIMs.

I've been looking into Visible but have been a little hesitant cuz I'm worried about the entire SIM transfer process with no in-person support.  How was the transfer process for you geekette?  Is there any risk of losing the primary phone number?  It would be a real pain when it comes to 2FA..

[geekette]

I've been looking into Visible but have been a little hesitant cuz I'm worried about the entire SIM transfer process with no in-person support.  How was the transfer process for you geekette?  Is there any risk of losing the primary phone number?  It would be a real pain when it comes to 2FA..

In a word, convoluted.  I don't think you have to worry about losing your number, but be prepared for some glitches. 

The account set up and port request are all done on the Visible app.  First, I couldn't get the 15OFF12 code to apply.  It just kept reverting to blank.  So I got on chat (on another device) and was told to go through with it, that she would apply the code on her end.  I had all my info (account number and pin from Red Pocket) and started the port.  The app indicated that it might take 24 hours.

About 6 hours later, while I was out of the house, of course, my phone went into SOS mode, which means Red Pocket released the number (and it also meant I had no service).  I got on wifi and attempted to follow the app directions to install the eSIM.  First thing the app wanted to do was send me a text?!?  So chat it is.  They have to verify that it's really you, which means a text (nope) or an email (which arrived the next morning).  Finally the agent asked for the IMEI and I got verified.  Then he had to email me a QR code (that email arrived promptly), which I was supposed to scan with my phone's camera.  HAHAHAHA.  I had a friend take a pic of the email, I scanned the pic off her phone, and then it worked.  The app added the eSIM, and after about 15 minutes, I was back on with my old number.

As for the discount, that took another chat, but it's now on there for subsequent months.  Oddly, I was given a $15 credit originally (because I paid $30), but when the discount code finally showed up this morning, that $15 had been reduced to $10.  I definitely see that the discount will apply next month.  I'm frugal, but I'm not going to fight them for $5. Probably.

This certainly works, and unlimited means no worries about data usage, I will happily go back to Red Pocket if they ever get eSIMs for Verizon (and still have the cheaper service I was used to getting).