Held Hostage

[Olive]

I bought a used iPhone 11 through Visible last week and began set up the evening of October 1. It’s now 10:30 PM on October 3, and I still don’t have my phone set up. They got my number ported about 8:45 PM on October 1 which meant I no longer have cell service with my old carrier. Over 48 hours later and numerous live chats and a call last night from a supervisor who “promised” it would be set up by midnight my time zone that day, I still have nothing.

One agent said the phone I bought is locked for 60 days, so I couldn’t take it to another carrier. I don’t have a 4 digit pin established because I can’t set up the account. I can’t log into the app on my phone because it says there an error with the SIM. If I were to just chalk up the loss of $288 for the phone, I’d lose my phone number because I can’t port it since there’s no pin.

Everyone at Visible keeps saying they are so sorry and would be frustrated too. One agent asked if I was trying to use a locked phone. No, not unless that’s what Visible sells. I went with the eSIM and I said to one agent that must have been my mistake. I should have gotten a regular one. He said it would not have mattered, it’s their service.

I have no idea what is happening or know when to expect a resolution. Yesterday morning and this morning I received emails saying they are working on it and to expect to hear back on 4 to 24 hours. 

I’m being held hostage. If I walk away, I lose. If I stay, I lose.

Does anyone have a recommendation on how to solve this dilemma? This is the absolute worst experience!

[RyanBlakeIT]

Hi @Olive - I know this is over a week ago, but I wanted to see if you were able to get your issue resolved?  I agree, this is awful service and, I think I can speak for the broader community that all of us would be frustrated, being stuck in a Catch-22.

[Olive]

My number ported on 10/1/24. It’s now 10/13/24, and I still don’t have cell service. Yesterday, I received an email from Visible stating, “We will contact you within 3-5 business days to provide an update or the final resolution.” So, it will push over 2 weeks at minimum. 

I don’t recommend this service! I don’t know how to solve the problem but I have filed a complaint with the BBB and FCC.

[RyanBlakeIT]

Hi @Olive - I think involving the BBB and FCC should get more visibility on the issue. For what it's worth, I also internally escalated this issue (I'm not an employee, they just let us volunteers do this). Please keep us posted.

[Olive]

Supposedly it is escalated. I’m thinking they sold me a locked phone. The live agents aren’t permitted to tell me what the problem is. I requested to speak to a supervisor this week and that’s been ignored. Two weeks ago when this started, they offered to send me a return label to ship the phone back to them but then I’ll lose my phone number that I’ve had for over 25 years.

I asked in a local Facebook group if anyone has had this problem and someone said it’s a known problem when you buy a used phone through Visible. This should not be allowed and they should be ashamed of themselves.

I spoke to a supervisor by phone a few days after my number ported but service was not activated. He apologized for this going on for a couple of weeks. It had only been a couple of days at that point but apparently he was used to saying a couple of weeks. He “promised” he was going to have it activated by midnight that night in my time zone. I’m still waiting.