Just another day in Visible paradise - can't even ACTIVATE the phone on the new plan

[DavePinMinn]

Still working like a well-oiled machine……….    The astericks(*) are where the grammar police complained about a "bad" word...

There’s a lot of blather below about how incredibly Visible has screwed up what SHOULD BE the simplest possible process – activating a phone…

And since we’re getting close to 3 HOURS on yet another pointless chat, which I suspect will end with NOT fix...

DOES ANYBODY IN HERE HAVE AN ID*IOT-PROOF WAY OF GETTING A PHONE ACTIVATED?  YES, I followed the instructions (read the stuff below).  And YES, it “failed” with some gibberish message before the session died.

Since then, it’s been 2 chats, one “ticket”, supposedly “resolved”, and STILL NO ACTIVATED PHONE. 

At the 3:10 mark today we descended into:

“As we have followed all the troubleshooting steps from my end and your issue is still not resolved hence, I am escalating this case to our specialist team who have more resolving options and authority than mine, I will make sure to prioritize your issue and you will be receiving the best service as soon as possible. Once the case is escalated you will hear back from us with any update on your case within 4 hours from now. Rest assured we will make things work as soon as possible.”

Right… ANOTHER ticket going to the “escalated” specialist, who will be sure to get back to me within 4 hours…

SO, AGAIN – ANYBODY HAVE ANY RATIONAL IDEAS HOW TO GET THIS PHONE ACTIVATED?

Will switching to the second “new plan” SIM work?  Or did they just manage to turn a fully functional phone into a brick?

---------------------------------

Have Blade A7 Prime.  It’s the ONLY phone that’s still on Visible – they screwed up the “get new phones, go on new plan” so monumentally that we cancelled all the other phones.

All that’s left is this POS data phone – never gets phone calls, never gets messages.  All it does is sit, connected and doing data.

Since it’s “compatible”, I figure THIS SHOULD BE SIMPLE – get a new sim, activate on the new plan, easy peasy.  I forgot the “Visible” factor.

Ordered the SIM before Christmas.  The “overnight” shipping took ELEVEN day to get her.  When it did, on Tuesday (3 days ago), I found the instructions and attempted to activate.

I re-downloaded the Visible app in case it had been improved.

Went through whatever, it churned and eventually popped up “FAILURE” on the screen and the session went dead. 

Went on chat, and after wasting 2 hours, person says “I’m not getting a response from our system. I’ll have to create a “ticket” and send this to the technicians…  YOU’LL BE GETTING AN EMAIL WITHIN AN HOUR.” 

And dumps the chat.

Needless to say, I DIDN’T get an email in an hour.  Or 12.  Or 24.  But eventually I got one from “Mara”, telling me how HARD THEY’RE WORKING ON SOLVING THE PROBLEM.  And that I’ll get an email with a resolution in 4 to 24 hours.

And……  NOTHING. 

So, today, Friday, get on yet ANOTHER chat, and we’re currently at the 2:20 mark.  We’ve wasted much time doing the same things that were done last time.  But THIS time, he had me reset the network settings, then wait 10 minutes, and try a phone call.  And a whole bunch of other things that did NOTHING.

Finally, he has me do a factory reset ‘cause “THAT’S GUARANTEED TO FIX IT”. 

Phone is reset, and up, and it’s still a brick.  Has the NEW PLAN sim in it, won’t make a phone call.  NOW, according to the chat – “it will not work as there is some error showing in the activation and we are working on it”…  Took over 2 hours to get here – and ALL I WANTED WAS TO SHOVE THIS PHONE ON THE “NEW PLAN”.  Their phone, with THEIR SIM, and it won’t activate on THEIR network.

If this was a TV show it would have been cancelled because it’s too stu*pid and ludicrous for anyone to believe how badly Visible has screwed up these phones over the last month.

I HAVE a SECOND “new plan” SIM – it’s from the dead Pixel 6a (died at 5 days of age) I bought BEFORE Visible turned that whole process into a disaster (the chat monster told me to keep the SIM when the dead phone was returned).  I presume that won’t help.

Do I give up and cancel this last account, then in the spring when I need the data phone for traveling, try coming in as a new customer.  I don’t CARE what the phone number is, so I don’t need to port anything.  ALL I WANT is a working data phone…  Of course, considering it’s Visible I have ABSOLUTELY NO CONFIDENCE they won’t screw it up just as badly when I DO NEED THE PHONE.

SO, since Visible isn’t going to be any use, does ANYBODY in here have any idea HOW TO GET A SIMPLE PHONE ACTIVATED ON THEIR *&^%$#@ NETWORK?

[GreenSub]

Did support go over the APN settings?

[Anonymous]

Is it possible that since it took 11 days to get the SIM that somehow it locked itself so it couldn't be activated. I have only had a cell phone now for 18 months this technology on these devices is new to me. 

You already tried the only other suggestion I would have had and that was factory reset on phone. Sorry I don't have any other suggestions.

Sorry I don't have any other suggestions.

[DavePinMinn]

Nobody has mentioned anything about APN settings, but the phone has mobile data on, preferred network is LTE only, and the only network is Verizon.

As far as the SIM, I can't say whether they can do that or not.  It hasn't come up in the chats.

[bradburns]

Sorry for your trouble mate. Wish I could help. I was hoping this forum was filled with Tier two, at least ghosting. Looks like I'm in a similar boat. I don't know how a company like this can survive. Is it run by a handful of people? Seems like it.

Check out my post, "I've been without phone service for a week after porting to Visible." They are holding my phone number hostage.

[DavePinMinn]

Purely my opinion, but in the early days, they seemed BETTER at resolving some issues.  And, of course, the service was drastically better in that the bottom-of-the-barrel data Visible provides wasn't being overwhelmed by umpteen gazillion users.

And though pretty awful, since things were static with the "old" plan, we didn't need them very often - actually NEVER if possible.  With the "new" plan, the whole thing has composted and I suspect the number of people having problems has increased exponentially.

There are now websites and discussion groups out there that appear dedicated to trumpeting how dreadful Visible has become.

Having reasonably inexpensive bottom-of-the-barrel data is good when traveling, but cheap and not working isn't much of a bargain.

[Anonymous]

Here was a fix by one user. It might help you not sure.

https://community.visible.com/t5/Need-help/eSIM-FIXED-Please-read-if-you-re-having-issues/m-p/32148

[Anonymous]

This one mentions a hard reset but it's on an iPhone 14 Pro Max so not sure if it will help you.

https://community.visible.com/t5/Need-help/Oops-new-eSIM-order-won-t-work-on-this-device-iPhone-14-P...

As mentioned try a search for eSIM issues or eSIM fixes or something on that nature. 

Hope you get it figured out. Good luck!

[Anonymous]

I posted these two responses on the wrong thread. My bad. It was late. Sorry

[kcnewlife0077]

I tried all of these steps above:  

I hope that you've been able to activate your phone by now.  I had a similar issue, and after a month of trying, I was finally able to get my new iphone 11 activated.  I had had service with Visible for 2 yrs 3 months on my Google Pixel 4A  when I change/upgrade to an iPhone 11.  

As of last night, 1.7.2023, after a month of attempting to get my iphone 11 activated on Visible, I did one last ditch attempt. I first logged in to Visible and requested to port my number, which is what you have to do to move it. I was angry enough to move my service so that I could have a functioning phone if one more chat (after many hours & many chats) didn't get me someone who could fix my phone so I could use it! 

I was Customer #43 in Chat Line, so I thought, why not switch the SIM card from the old phone  to the new phone.  The old PSim was supposed to have been deactivated when they had me try an eSIM on the new iphone.  And it was! I wasn't even able to login to the app on phone or pc once I deleted that eSim, which wasn't working either!  So, I had to message them on FB Messenger to get help!

When I installed the old PSIM (deactivated) into the old phone, the Pixel lit up, I was able to login to Visible, and I say that it switched my device on my profile in my Visible app back to the Google Pixel.  I was able to text and call from the Pixel. 

So, then I switched that PSIM back to the iphone 11, and tested it there.  Just as my chat # came up (I'd been #43 when I began this last chat), I was able to get texts and make a call from the iphone.  This last chat person then did some work on the back end, and I'm in business.  She seemed surprised that this was an issue, so I told her to go look at Visible Forums or to tell her managers to look at it. 

So, the good news is:  I can now stay with Visible, as long as my phone can send/receive calls and texts.  The minute that changes, I'll have to move to AT&T, because I've missed so many business calls. Luckily, it was December, and I was out of the country for 10 days, but who knows how many other calls I missed.  So, Keep Trying! The Chat folks won't admit it (probably can't), but there is a serious issue with phone activations since they rolled out the new plans, and many people, even existing customers like me, are having issues with it.  Luckily for them, I had enough time to sit on the pc, and work on my phone this weekend, or I'd have had to port my number out. Even so, if you read these forums, there are many whose numbers are being held hostage when they try to port their numbers out.  

[DavePinMinn]

I don't imagine ANYBODY from Visible EVER comes in here to see what's going on - and CERTAINLY NOT to help.  Considering their appalling customer support, I'd be surprised.

I'll continue rummaging, but I suspect this has little or nothing to do with the SIM.  Even the chat robot at Visible said "some error" was happening on THEIR end.  And, of course, that I'd get an email within 4 hours letting me know what was going on...  Given the lack of quality of Visible's service, I don't think it'll surprise anybody that NO email was received in 4 hours...  Or ever so far.

In the past, when asked, I've always told people "Visible mostly works, most of the time, as long as you DON'T have to actually rely on it."  They've deteriorated a LOT from even THAT low bar.

[Anonymous]

Supposedly by what another user mentioned they monitor these forums but I highly doubt that. I joined Visible in July 2021 and I will say customer service response time was a lot less then at about 20 minutes and my issue got fixed. I would assume all the people migrating in since has added a lot of pressure to support but apparently Visible isn't smart enough to add more agents and it seems like the agents now have very little knowledge. It is only going to get worse with the new $15 a month for 12 months promo going on. The hour wait time on chat will likely hit two hours.

Not sure with the new SIM cards, since I am holding out on the old plan to save money, my APN setting are locked and assume they are locked by the SIM card. Maybe if it helps I saw a while back someone had asked CS for a re-provisioned SIM but I can't remember what that issue was for.

Those 4hr email response I read most never show up and when they do it is from a do-not-reply email address so if that doesn't fix the issue you have to start the chat process all over again.

I am definitely not looking forward to when they make us switch from the old plan as I expect I will be in the same boat with activation issues.

[DavePinMinn]

When we joined, response time was FAR better than now - I've sat on hold long enough that it was time to go to bed and never GOT to the "you're 50 on the list"...

And yes, "in the olden days", the people seemed better, but from day ONE, the chat thing sucked.  It ALWAYS sucked because it's ridiculously slow.  And now it's gotten immeasurably worse.

In THEORY, one of the early things they did with this phone was "reprovision" the SIM.  And PROBABLY did it again yesterday.  didn't work EITHER time.

I don't think too many of us who have HAD the experience of Visible providing an email response are du*mb (* grammar police again) enough to believe they'll actually do it after the 2nd or 3rd time.

I hadn't seen the $15/mo for a year thing.  If true, and applicable to me (it won't be, I suspect even coming in as a NEW customer), it's just ANOTHER good reason to just cancel the last account and try to rejoin when I need the data.

Visible must have a GIGANTIC user base to be so cavalier about all the people having problems and quitting.  OR, like a lot of businesses these days, they figure there's always another sucker out there to believe the lies, to replace you if you quit.

[Anonymous]

The last time I spent waiting on chat was 2 months ago and that was at least a 45 wait, I think 30 to get to the 50 countdown timer and at least another 15 to 20 minutes or more to get an agent. That was about my phone that I bought here in 2021 not being compatible and of course they had no solutions or could really explain why. I have tried Twitter and that was useless after 10 days waiting for a response on some questions about the plans shortly after the chat session. Best option for me seemed to be Facebook messenger because I sent it right before bedtime and got a response 45 minutes after I sent it. I replied with the information they needed, this was about 6 hours later and I was shocked I got a response within a few minutes, some questions answered but of course I couldn't get a better explanation about the compatibility issue on a phone they sold me that I know will work but who knows if I could activate it on the new plan. Not quite two weeks ago I had someone mention on my thread in the savings spot forum that my code so again I contacted through FB and surprised I had a response within 10 minutes but of course yet again they have absolutely no clue on how to fix it. 

It is unfortunate that Verizon allows this and not step in and fix it, they built it, they own it they should fix it. You would think they save enough on not having brick and mortar stores and paying employees to run that even though the discounted plan are cheap you would think they could afford to put more effort into the customer service. I guess I have just come to conclusion to put up with it because it would cost me roughly $100 a month for a plan in my area. Some of those other discount plans aren't even available here.

[DavePinMinn]

Yeah, I've used Facebook Messenger too...  It's the same people.  Faster?  Maybe once in a while, but it's no different, and the answers you get aren't any better.

As far as Verizon - it's absolute GENIUS...  They get to collect $30/mo from a gazillion people, never have to be concerned about how lousy their performance is because it's oversubscribed, get paid for the absolute bottom-of-the-barrel data that otherwise would just be wasted, and collect millions of dollars by having as little support structure as possible.  Use a robot to waste enough time so most people take whatever answer they get (if it's a good one, its by du*mb luck (grammar police again)), and a chat system that's so slow and frustrating most people that use it would rather eat ground glass than ever use it again. 

My guess is support is in some third-world country, little to no training, a lot of meaningless, time wasting responses - actually LOOK at most of the boilerplate, trite, non-responsive answers you get during the chats...

Genius- collect MILLIONS by selling scraps, and the vast majority of the customers don't do enough of anything to ever have a problem.  The one's that do are OK as long as things sort-of work, and when the system totally composts, tie them up with BS and slow responses and "creating a ticket" that eventually they leave. 

Verizon could NOT CARE LESS - if they did, they'd have fixed this BEFORE the grand new "plan" that's cause this incredible chaos!

For me - it mostly works, most of the time.  As long as you don't have to rely on it.  That was true for the 3 years BEFORE the new "plan".  At this point, it's completely turned to feces.   If I don't hear anything by Monday, I'll cancel the account, create another email address, try activating as a new customer for $15/mo.  I'm not porting a number - it's a data phone, I don't CARE what number they assign it, so we'll see.

[Anonymous]

Thanks for the chuckle and you are absolutely correct. What surprised me the latest promo they dished out. Even at $15 a month for a year I am sure it will draw in a lot more unknowing consumers and put a bigger strain on an already poor CS system. Hard to believe money can be made with deals like that but I guess when you don't have really any kind of customer service to speak of I guess the cash rolls in by the truck load. 

I guess my experience has been good other than the fiasco with having to buy another phone that is compatible with these new plans has been good except for CS. If it wasn't for this unlimited plan I still might not have a cell phone. I can't complain too much since I am on the old plan still with party pay and have 10 friends and family credits left and have been only paying $5 pretty much since I started here. The new promo will pretty much kill any chances of trying to get anymore of those credits anytime soon.

Also, to be eligible for that $15 promo you have to port in a number, you wouldn't be able to get a new number for that promo. I think Visible will find ways to not fulfil the promo like the posts I have seen where Visible has been reneging on those $200 device promos I am sure they will find ways to deny this promo once people port in. I think I already saw a thread someone started where they didn't get the credit on the first bill. I don't see that there is end date on the promo so who knows how long it will go for. 

Hopefully you get it figured out. BTW, like the ending of your user name, I am in the NW part of the state. Good luck!

[DavePinMinn]

We can either laugh at the absurdity, cry, or become homicidal... 

Yes - as long as you NEVER need to use the appallingly wretched customer service, you're fine.  If you do, you MAY be lucky once, maybe twice, but you'll quickly hit the platitudes, irrelevant responses, and pointless commiserations.  Shortly followed by wanting to throw the phone through your monitor and/or start screaming obscenities at the chat.  After which you'll go out looking for puppies to kick!  (OK, I'd NEVER actually hurt a puppy, but you get the drift)...

And, yes, I'm VERY confident they'll find some way to screw up the $15/mo thing.  Which is stu*pid since why WOULDN'T you want brand new people with their FIRST cell phone and no number to port to use it?  Think of all the pre-teens you could add...  And their BFFs!

But, it's STILL genius for Verizon...  Give as little as possible, strip out as much as possible of everything that costs money, get millions of low information, low usage customers (does anybody really CARE if the 12-year-old sending 200 texts a day take 10 seconds or 2 minutes to get there?), make those who have problems crazy so they go away, and rake in MILLIONS of dollars...  I'm jealous!

[kcnewlife0077]

Yep! The 4 hour response time is a myth, and when they finally responded, the answer was that it was apparently a problem with my brand new iphone 11, and I should try another new phone!  

[DavePinMinn]

OK!  You've now entered "new phone hades"!  Been there, done that.  DID NOT LIKE IT.

Bought Pixel 6a.  It died after 5 days.  Google SAID it was DEAD and it WASN'T COMING BACK.

Tried to get a replacement.  Was told "You CANNOT get a replacement 'til the old phone gets here."

Two days later, DIFFERENT chat person tells me "Oh, no, I can change <yada yada> and you can order the new phone right now.

Ordered.  Didn't go through.

Next day, another chat, another person, waste another 3 hours, order another phone.

Nothing shows up.

Next day REPEAT.  This time it goes to the phantom escalation people and they're telling the chat person to tell me to ORDER MORE PHONES.  At one point I had ordered a phone from two different computers, using two different browsers, and two different credit cards - they kept saying it was the bank...

I had SEVEN PHONES ON ORDER.  That went down to 5.  STILL no phone. 

ALL THEY HAD TO DO WAS TELL ME "Screw it, we're going to grab a phone, put it in a bag and send it."  Instead we did the 4 hours email, then 24 hours, then nothing over the weekend, and nothing on Monday, and then we cancelled BOTH our accounts, got port out codes, and went and got phones elsewhere.

Good luck - I HOPE they do better with yours than they did with ours.

[DavePinMinn]

Another DAY, another CHAT.......

This time "Chalone" didn't even TRY to do anything.  Just said he/she would "need to get the second team involved.  He/she is just the "first team"...

Then said he/she would "add a note to the existing ticket".  Nothing about ever hearing back. 

I figure 24 hours, and if there's no response with a fix, it's time to cancel the last phone.

[Anonymous]

I thought you gave up after your last reply. Man you like to be tortured! It is just frightful at how incompetent CS is here. My payment went through on the 5th still on the old plan so not sure when I get to test CS when they make us change plans. I am not looking forward to it.

Hope some better luck goes your way!

[DavePinMinn]

I did give up, but the domestic associate reminded me we've already PAID through the 28th, so with the "note" from the Visible person, they'll SURELY get back to me in MINUTES!

You may have noticed - their support is appallingly wretched, but they are absolutely WORLD CLASS at collecting your money...

Amazingly, they actually contacted me...  I JUST GOT an email that said:

We're reaching out regarding the issue you're experiencing with the Visible services. Thanks for your patience; we want to reassure you that we're still here and are currently investigating your case. We apologize for the inconvenience this may be causing you, and we greatly appreciate your patience while we work this out. We will keep you posted.

If you need assistance regarding any other issues, tweet @VisibleCare , tap Help in the app, chat in through the website, or send us a message on the Visible Facebook page . If you have anything to add to your current case, make sure you reference nnnnnnnn.

---------------

SO, more verbal pablum, completely content free...  And NO way to respond by email to the sender to find out if they're doing ANYTHING...

Anybody want to make a guess as to whether or not they'll let me know if they EVER get it fixed?

[Anonymous]

You have better patience than I have. I would have sent a message by FB messenger already saying to cancel account and request a refund for the full month within 24 hours. You know they will say know to that and I would then contest it through the credit card company for service not rendered. Any further chats you might want to be on a computer so you can copy and paste to word so you have a transcript.

I do applaud you in trying to get it to work. 

PS, I just checked to see if they fixed the website, since I can never get anywhere on the app, to see if they fixed the issue with being able to upgrade to a new plan and of course it still errors out. I did find away long way around it. At least they pro rate the difference for the month. 

[kcnewlife0077]

I hope that you've been able to activate your phone by now.  I had a similar issue, and after a month of trying, I was finally able to get my new iphone 11 activated.  I had had service with Visible for 2 yrs 3 months on my Google Pixel 4A  when I change/upgrade to an iPhone 11.  

As of last night, 1.7.2023, after a month of attempting to get my iphone 11 activated on Visible, I did one last ditch attempt. I first logged in to Visible and requested to port my number, which is what you have to do to move it. I was angry enough to move my service so that I could have a functioning phone if one more chat (after many hours & many chats) didn't get me someone who could fix my phone so I could use it! 

I was Customer #43 in Chat Line, so I thought, why not switch the SIM card from the old phone  to the new phone.  The old PSim was supposed to have been deactivated when they had me try an eSIM on the new iphone.  And it was! I wasn't even able to login to the app on phone or pc once I deleted that eSim, which wasn't working either!  So, I had to message them on FB Messenger to get help!

When I installed the old PSIM (deactivated) into the old phone, the Pixel lit up, I was able to login to Visible, and I say that it switched my device on my profile in my Visible app back to the Google Pixel.  I was able to text and call from the Pixel. 

So, then I switched that PSIM back to the iphone 11, and tested it there.  Just as my chat # came up (I'd been #43 when I began this last chat), I was able to get texts and make a call from the iphone.  This last chat person then did some work on the back end, and I'm in business.  She seemed surprised that this was an issue, so I told her to go look at Visible Forums or to tell her managers to look at it. 

So, the good news is:  I can now stay with Visible, as long as my phone can send/receive calls and texts.  The minute that changes, I'll have to move to AT&T, because I've missed so many business calls. Luckily, it was December, and I was out of the country for 10 days, but who knows how many other calls I missed.  So, Keep Trying! The Chat folks won't admit it (probably can't), but there is a serious issue with phone activations since they rolled out the new plans, and many people, even existing customers like me, are having issues with it.  Luckily for them, I had enough time to sit on the pc, and work on my phone this weekend, or I'd have had to port my number out. Even so, if you read these forums, there are many whose numbers are being held hostage when they try to port their numbers out.  

[Anonymous]

Here is another good one for you. I just thought I would notify them that their website would not allow me to order a SIM and it errors out when I select a plan. Of course I get an error on the website saying to contact care so I used FB messenger and surprisingly I had a response within 15 minutes. Of course they asked for my information which I had no intention of going any further but I obliged. Reply was to verify email address in the email they sent, of course they sent two so I verified email and responded to them, done. They reply that they did not get the verification and I responded and said well you sent 2 verification emails I will verify the other one but of course that errors out. Then they ask me what my Android system is my phone running... I replied I am not using my Android phone because the app never works for me, I am using an HP laptop running windows 10. Now they tell me I should download the app and when you are ready to switch to go through the app then you can uninstall it after. My reply, I have the app downloaded and it is up to date, I just checked and that errors out also, SO FIX IT. I also said conversation was over. Last response was of course the "let us know if we can help you with any else message". I had to get the last word in and say nope, just fix your app and website. They are supposedly going to work on it. I told them about this problem 2 to 3 months ago. 

I did find a longer way around this error so at least I know I can get a card when I need it. I did ask when the party pay plan was ending and if there was a deadline yet when we had to change. They didn't know of course. I am not looking forward to the switch, I can only pray when I do I have no issues with the SIM card.

[DavePinMinn]

I THOUGHT about using Facebook messenger yesterday, but I haven't done it in a while, and don't remember what Facebook page I need for the "fer real" Visible - there appear to be 3 or 4.  And, since I haven't used Facebook Messenger I don't remember WHO I'm supposed to send it to.  I probably need to spend some time relearning all that, but there are just SO MANY things I'd rather be doing than trying to figure out how to do this in Facebook to try to get around Visible's donkey dung support - things like clipping toenails, vacuuming, doing Wordle, ironing underwear (I never have, but can't think of any greater waste of time) - you know, OTHER complete wastes of time...

[Anonymous]

For Facebook just scroll down on this page to the bottom right corner and click the "f" FB icon and it will take you to the Visible FB page, on their page just click message and type away in the little box and hit enter. Go about your usual things and just check back whenever you have time. They will ask for full name and email address and I keep forgetting to put it in the first message. They will send a verification email to make sure it is you, like do they really get imposters that want to chat! You don't have to sit by and wait for replies like chat. A while back I sent a message before bedtime and checked 6 hours later, they had responded within 45 minutes or so of me sending it so I sent the usual info and was totally surprised that it being 6 hours later they responded within a few minutes. Apparently once you connect this way they must get notifications on when you reply. Last time they did take up to 10 minutes from the time I responded for a reply. For me it's the better alternative then sitting and waiting inline on chat and having to keep watching the progress and then pray you don't get disconnected. Bad thing is you still get the same incompetent agents that know nothing and will make you pull your hair out if you have any left.

This way you can get your underwear ironed, you could even take the time to build a snow man!

[DavePinMinn]

Cool!  

Had an exchange with Madalina...

Thank you for letting us know that you've received their update. As per their email to you, they are indeed working on the service issue as we speak. We've made sure to inform them you've reached us for updates, and someone from our advanced triage team will email you with an update or the final resolution as soon as possible. Please rest assured, your case is being prioritized and worked with a high sense of urgency.

When do they expect to have a "final resolution"?

We understand how frustrating the situation can be, and we are sorry to know that you are going through this. We do not have an ETA for the moment, but we are positive they will email you soon.

Oh...

Now I'm trying to decide - do I just delete the account now, or stick around and ask for updates daily?

[Anonymous]

Well, it reminds me of the battle I had at the beginning of October about my phone not being compatible, they were working hard at getting as many phones from the old list working with the new plans as possible. Three months later it still isn't compatible and highly doubt they were working on it. It makes me wonder exactly how much effort they are actually putting into your issue. I mean, come on, it shouldn't be that hard to get a phone working. I hope you hear some good news sometime soon.

[DavePinMinn]

I've concluded that support has a very flexible definition of accuracy when providing information.  They're great at the "we're working on it", but the follow through is lacking.  I find it hard to believe they were trying at all to add any phone models to the list of those that work on the "new" plan.  I believe they were very happy to sell a LOT of new phones.

[Anonymous]

Selling phones has to be a decent profit for them. In my case the incompatible phone I bought here when I started in 2021, a year old and it's not compatible. I know it will still work on the new plan but I don't know if I could activate a SIM card on it. Getting a SIM card is as easy as entering in a bogus IMEI number from an IMEI number generator from a Google search. I know they aren't working on it. I looked at my order history and it contains the IMEI number so hard would it be to put together a list of those numbers and add them in. It is not like they have to enter each one manually.

In your case it just seems odd that they are taking so long to fix your issue. I would guess they are bleeding out the time left on your billing cycle and would guess if they wait long enough there won't be anything to refund.

[DavePinMinn]

Probably, BUT, on the OTHER hand, I got ANOTHER update:

We're reaching out regarding the issue you're experiencing with the Visible services. Thanks for your patience; we want to reassure you that we're still here and are currently investigating your case. We apologize for the inconvenience this may be causing you, and we greatly appreciate your patience while we work this out. We will keep you posted.

If you need assistance regarding any other issues, tweet @VisibleCare , tap Help in the app, chat in through the website, or send us a message on the Visible Facebook page . If you have anything to add to your current case, make sure you reference nnnnnn.

I'd have to look back at the PREVIOUS "update", but I THINK they're word-for-word IDENTICAL...  So, not only worthless pablum, but automated...

Prior to the debacle with the Pixel 6a, I checked on Amazon to see what an unlocked one would cost - it was at LEAST a THIRD less, and if I recall, the renewed ones were about HALF what Visible charged.  The ONLY reason I went with the Visible phone was to prevent EXACTLY what happened anyway!

And yeah, in pretty short order I'll probably get tired of messing around and just cancel the last phone...

[Anonymous]

That was a waste of an update, sounds automated. 

I picked up a used Motorola G Power(2022) back in November that I got off eBay for $90 after taxes and shipping and it is like new, just a year newer model than what I have. It was sold by Visible sometime last year and the IMEI number is compatible so I am ready for the switch when we need to. I even keep checking it once a week to make sure they didn't black list it. I had thought about getting one of those cheap Blade phones just to activate the new SIM card and move it to the original phone I got. I made a mistake sticking with Motorola as I didn't realize they only have 1 update to Android and only 2 years of security updates, so this will be my last Motorola. Should have spent a little more and got a Pixel. Most of the phones, not all though, can be had cheaper straight from the manufacture. 

At the rate they're going it should be fixed the day before your next billing cycle. Then it would probably only work for one day after you pay!

[DavePinMinn]

On ANOTHER bright side, I GOT A RESOLUTION!

We're reaching out regarding the issue you're experiencing with Services. We have great news: your case is now resolved! Please power cycle your device and try to use services.

Thank you for your patience and understanding while we worked through this.

UNFORTUNATELY, it's for some ANCIENT case, as near as I can tell, having NOTHING to do with any of the continuous disasters in December and CERTAINLY nothing to do with being unable to activate THIS phone (I'm guessing it was TWO phones ago).  Whatever it was, though, they GOT it fixed.

[Anonymous]

Well that is certain good news. Now, are you planning on sticking it out with that phone you got working for the data part of it? 

After telling them about the errors in the app and website a few days ago and a few months ago they have not fixed that issue yet. I am still dreading the day the message comes saying you need to switch plans. 

[DavePinMinn]

Um, NO, that case had NOTHING to do with this phone...

MIGHT have, but today I chatted with Julia… 

First, she didn’t find ANY escalation ticket.  I gave her the number that’s on all the emails I get, but still couldn't seem to find ANYTHING…

Then, she wanted to walk through the activation again. We got to the new SIM in the phone part and she said…

“Well, if it worked on the old plan and it won’t ACTIVATE on the new one, it must be your phone.  You need a NEW phone.”

I just finished doing the port out, turning off Autopay, requested from ANOTHER chat a refund for the month, and have been told once the port out is done the account will cancel.

SO, all fixed.  In a few weeks I'll be a new person, get a SIM, see if it'll activate then.  As I understand it, they can't collect any money 'til it activates.

[Anonymous]

I misunderstood and now see what you meant by that last statement in the last post about it being fixed. I was thinking maybe they actually got you current phone working. 

They didn't mention anything about sending you a new phone. I know you had mentioned the Blade A7 and a dead Pixel 6a, but not sure i saw you mention if you gotten the 6a here or not. I see the Blade A7 is no longer on the phone page as an option, must have realized they were no longer compatible even though I thought I saw they were selling them back in December.

I am guessing they will fight you on the refund also. Or they will only prorate the refund on the remaining time of the billing cycle. 

I hope the port out went fine as I have saw a few posts about that nightmare. If you try again in the future hopefully it goes better. 

[DavePinMinn]

The original phones were Moto G Power.  They aren't compatible with the new plan.  To GET on the new plan I bought a Pixel 6a, which lived for FIVE days before it catastrophically failed.  Much stupidity with Visible - as in "No, you CANNOT order a replacement BEFORE THE DEAD PHONE GETS BACK TO VISIBLE AND WE CHECK IT."  So, FIVE extra days of no phone.

Then the disaster with GETTING a phone - the one where I have 5 and even at one point SEVEN phones on order 'cause support kept having me try.  That resulting in my wife saying "NO, I WILL NOT GET A NEW PHONE WITH THOSE PEOPLE", and we cancelled BOTH phones and went elsewhere.  The difference is little enough that the savings of NOT having to buy TWO Visible phones (somewhere between $550 and $700) PAYS the difference in monthly cost for Galaxy S22s that actually WORK...

The ONLY phone left at visible was the data phone - the Blade A7 Prime.  Which as of TUESDAY (2 days ago) STILL comes up as COMPATIBLE with the new plan.  If I'd had to buy a NEW phone, I'd have tossed the whole thing, but since it's compatible I figured put it on the new plan and continue to use it for data when traveling.

THAT's the phone that won't activate.

SO, a Visible phone, bought from them, that THEY SAYS IS COMPATIBLE, with a Visible SIM, on the Visible NETWORK, and it WON'T ACTIVATE.  And "Julia" says "It's the phone, you need a new one."  This is one of those times even I have to call bull feces.

No, Julie DEFINITELY DIDN'T offer to send me a new phone.  Near as I can tell, the NEVER handle THEIR mistakes by replacing their defective equipment.

As far as the refund, I requested from "Raul" a refund for the rest of the month AND the 11 days since I first installed the SIM and the phone died.  It worked for about 4 days.  I said it would be easier if Visible just did it as opposed to me contacting the credit card company and disputing the charge since the equipment only worked 10% of the month.  He said NO problem and that the refund would be in the account in about 3 business days...

Now, how MUCH that will be is a different question!

Port Out went OK, though I'm not sure it matters - it's only good for 7 days and I'm not planning to try to get back in the quickly.  I don't know HOW Visible will handle it if/when I go in from a new email with a different credit card.  I figure at the rate the LAST SIM took to get here, I wouldn't even have THAT within seven days if it was ALREADY ON ORDER.

So, I'll see if they're going to be standard rectums about it or extra-special FLAMING rectums when/if I try.

[Anonymous]

At least porting out went good. That is better than some threads I have read here about Visible basically locking it and making porting out difficult. 

Having to buy a new phone is just plain ridiculous just to be compatible with the new plans. They are just adding to the electronics waste. I know my G Power would work but I was uncertain that I would be able to activate the SIM on it. One person had posted they were able to activate in a compatible device and move to a noncompatible device and it worked. I am not into the high tech stuff and I can't justify spending $900 on a phone, I though $215 was too much when I signed on. I was hoping to get a couple more years out of it, the bad thing is the 2022 model I picked up cheap off of eBay will only get security updates through this year and that is done. Didn't know Motorola only allowed 2 years of security updates. Was thinking Pixel next time but makes me wonder since yours died. Not a fan of Apple, have an iPod Touch and it just doesn't seem very user friendly which is why I went with an Android device. I just know I am done with Motorola, I only went with that brand because they have been around the mobile seen since the old 2 way radio signal days in the 80's then the bag phones and such.

Might see you back here posting later this year when you try again. Good luck.

[YAN]

My phone is "compatible" and 3 family members got onto Visible, but I cannot! 10 days, 3 different family members, a dozen chat people and 3 sim cards later, I still am not connected to the server! What do I do?