Visible Will Not Provide Call History as Promised - Anyone Else?

[Anonymous]

I am growing frustrated with Visible to the point where I feel legal action may be the only course of action I have.  I want to solve my issue.

I requested my Call History via the Visible website.  2 week later, Visible sent me a link and a message telling me my download was ready.  I could not access the download because of problems with their 2-step Verification... the code they send is immediately 'expired' or 'incorrect code'.  Even if I enter it 3 seconds after receiving it.  I tried a total 0f 18 times over the course of a week... and never got anything but these error messages.

The one or two times I did get in (by tricking it and using an old code), the Dowload Link (Blue Arrow next to the download file) was not clickable.  The download file size was "0Bytes" indicating the file was empty.  I tried three different browsers, I tried the app, nothing worked.  I chatted a total of six Visible representatives, none of who helped.  Some said they were escalating my case, but no one ever got back to me.  I did get one email from Support, but it was a scripted email instructing me how to request my call history.  Which of course I had done... how they Support agent didn't bother to read the case info is beyond me.  I mean, c'mon.

I am now 3 weeks past the download arriving... the download has expired and my account is marked as having used up one of my data requests for the year (you're allowed 2).  Today I was told I would absolutely receive a call from the Visible back end team to get this fixed... it's now end of day and nothing.

Visible is shirking its responsibilities to follow FCC regulations.  If a company cannot provide support to customers via email or chat, they MUST provide phone support.  They cannot just leave customers hanging and forget about them, or hope the problem goes away on its own.

I am at my wit's end.  I've never regretted taking on a company's service as much as I do Visible.  I was so excited when I first joined, the price was fantastic.  Now the service is terrible, and the customer support is non-existent.

[Anonymous · Accepted solution]

We don't know the reason that  OP's requesting the history - it could be due to a past legal matter that they are trying to resolve or another valid reason requiring documentation. It's best not to make assumptions... for example,I wonder what my reaction would be if I needed to prove my innocence in some matter and the only proof was a that I had made a series of phone calls in the past. Where were you on the night in question? I was at home texting my brother as we remotely virtually watched Monday Night Football together.

Regardless, Visible does provide the ability to request that information through the Data and Privacy Portal at:

https://www.visible.com/legal/data-and-privacy-portal

https://www.visible.com/help/where-can-i-learn-more-about-my-data-and-privacy-portal

Government regulations require collection of that data and consumers have a right to know it and how it has been disclosed. An FCC complaint may be more effective.

At the very least Visible should be able to honor those requests and it should be a straight forward non-stressful process for an all-digital carrier. Like so many other things appears to be one more broken Visible process. I'm sure the FBI could get hold of it with little effort 🙂

My advice to the OP... keep pounding away via Chat, Facebook or Twitter and request a case number for followup. Frustration in dealing with support is well-established here... personally I've found  Twitter to yield best results.

[MikeN]

Really, a Lawsuit?? Is it really that important to get a call log / history? Maybe just start writing down who you make calls to, the dates & how long you talked for. 

[Anonymous]

Yes, it is that important.  As BobT outlines below, this is for a court case.  My call history is essential in proving the case against a defendant.  Attorneys are $350/hr.  Do you really think it's fair that I should have to pay my attorney for 2-3 hours of time and delay my court case 3-4 months, because Visible cannot provide a download link that works, and they are impossible to receive support from?

I understand this is an exceptional situation, but I do think if you were in it yourself, you'd be upset, too.  And as I've researched this to great lengths, I've uncovered why our Call History with Visible is so difficult to access and I do think that needs to be looked into by the FCC.  I will file a complaint with the FCC and the Attorney General.  It's important to hold companies responsible when they are not meeting government regulations.  Posting it to these boards is reasonable–it's important other Visible customers know this is an issue.  Accessing Call History is a fundamental service many people want and expect, and any cell company should easily provide it to its customers.

[GreenSub]

I tried getting my call history as a test in the summer of 2022 and was unsuccessful.
I have not tried it since.

[Anonymous]

GreenSub, my issue is I am unable to download the file they posted to my Privacy portal.  The download button is not clickable.  The file says "0 bytes".  If this sounds similar to your issue, please let them know.  I've found 20 other Visible customers who have had the same issue.  They were upset, too.  The only way Visible will address this is if they hear from us and understand it's unacceptable. 

[GreenSub]

Exact same issue I had. I could not download the file  

[Anonymous]

I didn't even know a call log/history was even available and I certainly don't need it.

For what we are paying for a truly unlimited plan I am surprised it is even an option. Doesn't your phone log calls? I know mine does but I clear them from history.

Wouldn't it be easier just to leave Visible and find another carrier that offers a call log. 

[Anonymous]

skibik, I do plan on finding another carrier.  But I need my call history from a year ago.  No phone stores that.  And while your monthly service fee may seem low to you, it doesn't mean you should not receive the basic services that the government regulates a communications company must provide.  Also note that your service is so cheap because Visible does not have to do much to provide it.  They are a mesh network–they are using the phones all around you to set up an instant network to push your call through.  That poses a whole host of security threats and hassles, from denial of service to physical attacks on the network, to passive monitoring of your private information and accounts.  

I know Visible was hacked in the past.  I do not know the status of their vulnerabilities, but it is important to be aware of.  What can feel like a dream service when you sign up, can quickly become a risky endeavor every day, not knowing when you might be hacked, if you'll receive support, if you'll even have service, if you can access your account info when you need it.  I'm a fan of saving on my cell service as much as anyone else, but I think Visible preys on this–they know how frustrated people are with costly cell service and their brand conveys 'ease & simplicity'.  But the actual experience, at least for me, has been far from that.  With AT&T my service was costly, but seamless.  I did not think about it and I did not have to invest my own time to offset the company's lack of service.  With Visible I save money, but I am investing far too many hours–many of which are extremely stressful–to fix eSIM cards, troubleshoot dropped calls, wait for slow-loading data, and now access simple account information–which kills my work productivity and costs me billable hours.  Is it worth it?  I don't think so anymore.

[Anonymous]

I have no clue how long phones store them for since I delete my recent list regularly. 

Maybe instead of venting here and talking about legal action maybe that should have been your route instead. To post this in the help section did you really think you would get help?

I get the frustration with customer service and there lack of knowledge, been there, done that more than once. For the most part I have no complaints with the service. 

The options you have are through chat and you've done that so maybe legal action is your next step and that we really don't need to know.

[Anonymous]

But posting here DID GET ME HELP.  I received a Call Back from Visible Tech Support within an hour of this post.  

You can shame me all day if you want.  The fact is if Visible customers cannot get the customer support they need via the channels Visible advertises as the 'correct channels', then we have every right to flood any channel available to us to get the attention we need.  

I did not come here the day after my first request went unaddressed.  I did so after over 20 Days had passed with repeated attempts–over 18 chats, hours and hours wasted.  Sorry, but I do not agree with you at all.  You are indulging the poor customer service when you imply the Help section should only include polite questions and mask the frustrations.  Sometimes legal action is a valid pursuit, and the best way to find other people who may feel the same is the community forums.

I will start a new thread on what the solution was to solve my problem.  But again, I stand by my post here all day long... because it worked.

[Anonymous · Accepted solution]

We don't know the reason that  OP's requesting the history - it could be due to a past legal matter that they are trying to resolve or another valid reason requiring documentation. It's best not to make assumptions... for example,I wonder what my reaction would be if I needed to prove my innocence in some matter and the only proof was a that I had made a series of phone calls in the past. Where were you on the night in question? I was at home texting my brother as we remotely virtually watched Monday Night Football together.

Regardless, Visible does provide the ability to request that information through the Data and Privacy Portal at:

https://www.visible.com/legal/data-and-privacy-portal

https://www.visible.com/help/where-can-i-learn-more-about-my-data-and-privacy-portal

Government regulations require collection of that data and consumers have a right to know it and how it has been disclosed. An FCC complaint may be more effective.

At the very least Visible should be able to honor those requests and it should be a straight forward non-stressful process for an all-digital carrier. Like so many other things appears to be one more broken Visible process. I'm sure the FBI could get hold of it with little effort 🙂

My advice to the OP... keep pounding away via Chat, Facebook or Twitter and request a case number for followup. Frustration in dealing with support is well-established here... personally I've found  Twitter to yield best results.

[Anonymous · Accepted solution]

Thank you, BobT.  Your reply is thoughtful, insightful, and articulated my concerns in a far better manner than I did.  It is hard to be reasonable when you've spent 60+ hours in chats and sending emails asking over and over for simple help. 

I think  it's important these complaints are as visible to Visible as possible on these forums.  Hiding them and pretending this company's service is great–or suggesting that it's okay for a company to fail at service because they're monthly fee is cheap–I don't think that's a responsible thing to do.

I am pounding away on social feeds.  Sad that this is the only way to get this company's attention on a customer who needs their help.

[Anonymous]

@Anonymous 

You might want to try the Visible subreddit over at: https://www.reddit.com/r/Visible/

Seems like Visible is taking a little more proactive role over there and responding to some with DMs. In particular see the following thread which garnered a reply from Visible:

https://www.reddit.com/r/Visible/comments/118z60s/are_the_privacy_data_requests_supposed_to_take/?utm_source=share&utm_medium=web2x&context=3

Why Visible cant do this via its own community's private messaging is beyond me.

[Anonymous]

Thank you for sharing this... I did post to it.  Unfortunately, the response from Visible on that thread was an automated bot response, which seems to be a large part of the ongoing customer service problems.  

I think your point about a Community Private Messaging is a good one.  But I also feel complaints need to be out in the open, for all to see.  Customers have so little power in a business model like Visible's... open complaints, publicly viewable, are one of the only real sources of influence we have, to keep a company in check.

Thanks again for your help and support  You're an excellent contributor on this forum.

[Anonymous]

I fully agree that users should post their problems and experiences, both good and bad, so that others may benefit from those experiences. My suggestion here is that Visible should reach out with private messaging to those problems that the community here can obviously not resolve. Obviously no members here can resolve billing or other administrative issues. Support can monitor this forum just as easily as any other social media platform.

Squeaky wheels get greased.

[VisibleSucksBad]

What a cheap and terrible company! 

[Anonymous]

Whatever the situation is doesn't warrant a thread announcing legal action. What exactly is the person trying to accomplish by this thread. If it was a legal matter then I would suggest maybe having your attorney get a subpoena for the records and acquire them that way. 

[Anonymous]

The OP is upset - cut him some slack, we've all been there. He stated he's considering legal action not that he's pursuing it. Like anyone who comes here he wants his issue resolved. We cant solve it but only offer some advice.

[Anonymous]

Whatever the situation it doesn't warrant nearly 30 days and over 60+ hours of chats and emails to get simple help.

I did not announce a lawsuit.  I stated I feared legal action was my only recourse anymore, after nearly a month of asking for help and being repeatedly ignored.  What other recourse do I have?  FCC complaints are fine, but companies like Verizon have so many they don't take them seriously.  I agree, a simple request for customer service should not have to come to this.  But I don't see my frustration as the problem on this thread.  I see the poor customer service (which Visible has long been aware of) as the problem here.  

What if it wasn't a legal matter?  Do you honestly feel Visible should be allowed to bypass government regulations because they offer cheap service?  It's a slippery slope.  If they can decide to do as they please and just roadblock customers to avoid the cost of a real support team, what happens during an attempted hack?  Mesh networks are known for security vulnerabilities.  It worries me to see Visible let the network run itself, using decentralized service reps to placate customers and block them from any personal contact. 

Their business model seems to be based on a 'low overhead, self-managed mesh network with automated customer support'.  Great for the company and its investors; really bad for customers' privacy, security, and convenience.  They are essentially pushing off the work onto you, me, and all their customers.  For no pay.  

So, what I'm trying to accomplish with this thread?  To call attention to anyone who is a Visible customer, or may be thinking of becoming one–as to the ever-escalating frustrations that have become indicative to their brand, and to bring some transparency to people about what it actually behind them, so they can decide for themselves on whether Visible really is the dream service the company promotes themselves to be, vs. the experience they actually are.

[Anonymous]

After 32 hours and a LOT of stink raising–and this uncomfortable post which seemed to be what ultimately worked 🙂 I finally received a call from Visible Tech Support.

I was told that if you access the Visible site via an Incognito browser window, you can bypass a lot of the issues with their site.  I did, and was able to get past the verification issues and get the download link to work.  I finally have my Call History.  

Note the agent was reluctant to offer this solution, and subsequently declined to answer why the incognito approach works.  So, if you have this issue, approach with caution.  Incognito mode does suspend your browser's virus protection, thus opening you up to malware, hacking, etc.  It also erases your own history and activity on their site, but does not erase theirs, so they will have a record of your activity but you will not.  If this is important to your situation, you may wish to take screenshots for your records.

[Anonymous]

Actually that starts to make sense to me and is one of the reasons I always use private mode on any of my critical/trusted web sites. Firefox refers to it as private mode rather than incognito. Firefox also has an enhanced tracking protection (by default) that can be turned off on a site by site basis. Some web sites don't function properly when it's turned on - too bad you can't start a new conversation recommending it as general advice when experiencing web site difficulties. Hopefully that gets resolved.

[Anonymous]

It's a shame Visible cannot just post this to the Privacy Portal as a helpful "Tip".  The agent I spoke with seemed to indicate it was being used to help a lot of customers.  Not everyone is tech-savvy enough to even know what private or incognito mode does, or think of it as a solution without being prompted. 

Also surprised none of the 18 chat reps never brought it up–it seems it's only known inside the Tech Support group.  That's a shame when real help is so readily available among their tech group, but the only way for a customer to access it is through raising a stink to attract help through uncomfortable posts like these.  It's upsetting for the customer, annoying to the community, and inefficient for the company.  

[Anonymous]

Note I could not start a new thread for the solution to my problem, as my ability to 'Start a New Thread' has now been deactivated.  I guess Visible has the time to quickly address their own problems with customers criticizing them publicly, even though they do not seem to have the time to quickly help customers with their service issues.

Priorities, I guess.

[JasonKirk]

You can’t forget it’s Verizon we’re dealing with. We all know how  Verizon post paid support is. I don’t expect Visible to be any better. After all it’s a Verizon company. 

[HLH13]

I requested data for a specific date range, and it was missing the dates I really needed. I finally got the correct dates today after going through the download request process again, but it's missing a lot of calls and everything is six hours ahead of my local time. I've tried chat and email support, chat told me to email. Email told me to do what I've already done. I sent them screenshots and they just never replied. Even if you are able to get to the downloading process, don't plan on it being accurate. The cost for this service is great, but the support for things you should be able to obtain easily is absolutely ridiculous.

[taraldavis83]

I have experienced a similar issue with downloading my chat transcripts.  It is like a “dummy” button; it looks the part but has no functionality to it. It is put there to make you think you can download your info but jokes on you, you can’t.  I have mentioned this to multiple agents and their usual MO is to tell you that you must end the chat and then you will be given the option to download.  Then they either force you to end the conversation or force end it on you.  After that you are screwed and can say goodbye to ever having a transcript of all the broken promises, false guarantees, and straight-up lies they were spewing during the chat.