Visible gives my phone order a confirmation, disappears the order

[mpilon]

Hi,

I got an email indicating 'phone upgrade required' and that I would lose service unless I upgrade.

Gave me a nice promo and $25/mo to update my plan.

I picked a 5G phone (motorola one 5g uw ace), selected the plan I wanted and applied the promo code.

Got the 'You did it!' screen with an order #but no confirming email;

Contacted support who told me they had no record of that order.  repeated several times, and I now have multiple pending charges on my card (and paypal) which I expect to drop off as phones don't ship.

Cust care chat repeatedly disconnected, or was disconnected by visible's end ...

"... So what am I, chopped liver?"

I'd like to stay w/ V but not if my service disappears.

M.

[Doggy-mama]

You may want to contact Visible through their social media team.  I’ve only used Facebook but have at least heard back from them.  Visible is a great service provider right up until you have a problem! I’ve been with them for 2 years but am looking around since I can’t upgrade my phone through them and no one can tell me why!

[mpilon]

Thanks for this, but I don't Facebook or tweet.

The only other thing I can consider is to get a port-out pin to keep my number and contact the 'care (retention) team to see if they can get me a phone. My account -> profile -> cancel my service.

There's a 'contact care' link below the cancel service button. If this thread doesn't bring some help, that's my last option. I'll need to setup some alternative, as I really can't be w/o my fone. (Who can?!)

It's pretty telling - there's no help-with-order option to head up a chat.  Sales is supposed to run itself? So Verizon.

The only thing keeping me trying is that $25 plan. Dante would recognize visible for what it is.

M.

[Doggy-mama]

I can’t even get the $25 price.  It appears that after begging and pleading for weeks to move from the legacy ($40) plan to the $30 plan, the timing was off and I don’t qualify for the $25. 

[mpilon]

Andddd... the joke is on me: that chat with care button doesn't go anywhere. 

Looking at the cancelation terms, I keep my number for 50 days. I may cancel and create a new account, try, try, again.

[Anonymous]

FYI, this is a peer to peer forum so getting help from Visible is not going to happen anytime soon. Your only choices for help from Visible is chat, FB and Twitter. They do have a Reddit page and they can be messaged there also if that helps you out any. Here is the link. https://www.reddit.com/r/Visible/

[mpilon]

I may have solved my particular mystery ... I'm trying to buy a Motorola one 5G UW ace; the product page contains a link to Motorola's page for that fone... and it shows as unavailable. 

Maybe I'll try a refurbished ebay similar phone.  I have questioned 2 sellers to check if it'll pass visible's imei check.

[Anonymous]

You have a 1 in a million chance at finding one that will pass the IMEI checker at Visible. About 4-5 months ago I scoured eBay for phones to pass the checker for the new plans, I spent hours and checked close to 100 phones that had IMEI numbers listed and only 1 passed, it was sold by Visible earlier in 2022. It is apparent that if you don't buy an android phone from Visible it likely won't pass the IMEI checker. This was because the G Power 2021 I bought from Visible showed not compatible on the new plans. Bought the used phone ordered a card about 7 weeks ago and put it in the 2021 model instead of the 2022 I bought and that noncompatible phone activated just fine. 

But if you buy an iPhone from anywhere that can upgrade to at least iOS 15.5 it won't even ask you to enter the IMEI number, it will bypass it and take you to ordering a card or eSIM.

I like Visible's plan and what I am paying, I just don't like the business ethics they have when it comes to android phones.

[mpilon]

Thanks for the detailed reply -- I hear what you're saying, but how would Vis handle the case of 'bring you own phone' or is that no longer a thing?

I can see technical requirements to be satisfied for the 'new' network but how would, say, a 'verizon' fone, be brought into the vis system?

thanks again,

M.

[Anonymous]

That's a good question. I am just going by what I found on unlocked phones from eBay, I spent a few hours checking IMEI numbers and never found one, the only one that worked was the one that the seller said they bought from Visible. I really don't know how Visible treats a phone when porting in from Verizon, AT&T, T-Mobile or others. My research involved trying to find a phone for the plan upgrade and I kept getting blocked at the IMEI checker. I have read a lot of complaints between here and Visible's Reddit page about this very thing. I even went 3 rounds with customer service about this very thing and in the end I just got more frustrated. First time was in September last year after the new plans rolled out I was told my 2021 model phone doesn't have the right technology but never really got a definite answer. Second time was a few weeks later and I asked about the technology my phone didn't have and was told it could be firmware but was also told they were trying to move as many phone from the old list to the new list as fast as possible but yet as of last week my old phone showed not compatible. Funny that 2021 noncompatible phone activated and worked just fine. Last week was round three with customer service on Reddit but none of my questions were answered only a vague answer that even though you can buy a phone from the manufacturer the ones that Visible sells is optimized to there network. So I asked if they opened every phone they sold and programmed it to their network because there is no way manufacturers such as Motorola, Google and Samsung are programming a certain model for every different carrier out their that sells their phones. The agent that responded didn't answer that but replied that if I used a phone that was not approved by Visible I would likely not get help. Not what I asked but then I mentioned what good does the IMEI checker do when I used an IMEI number from my 2022 model phone and that did nothing to update my account page that says I am still using my old phone that now in their eyes is not approved. They dropped the conversation after that.

You can get around the checker with a phone bought from the manufacturer, there should be no reason it shouldn't work. It's just my opinion that Visible is trying to recoup the money they are not making when they put out all these promo discounts for the plans. I am not fond of iPhone's after owning a couple iPods but now I am considering them when it comes time to replace my 2022 model phone in a couple years. I am just not going to buy another Motorola phone because of the lack of OS and security updates they which I didn't know about until after I bought the second used 2022 model phone. 

[Doggy-mama]

Now that I’m not able to buy a phone from Visible, I looked around eBay to see what may be out there.  I found an android, brand new, locked to Visible, and decided to give it a try.  It’s a Motorola Pure, I was able to swap my sim, and tried it for a day.  Unfortunately, I’m just way to comfortable with my iPhone so I put the sim right back.  And, now, I’m planning on moving to another carrier.

[mpilon]

Again, I wonder what the whole bring-your-phone thing is, in light of the move to the new verizon hardware.

I just tried a verizon  IMEI from a 2021 moto edge and viz wasn't happy with that number ... it could just be a blind to coax customers into a visible phone ... "oops, sorry no, but we tried ..."

My other thought for my situation is I live in a poorly-served (cell) area - dropping you and I from vis may be preferable to upgrading cell towers here to play nice with the new phones: they silently drop my phone orders. Plural. A business decision.

I'm going to give it until near the cutoff date for the promos to try buying another model.

Too many pending charges on my card already! 

[Anonymous]

if you are partial to iPhones you don't have to buy those from Visible. As long as you don't buy one too old it won't even ask for an IMEI number in the compatibility checker. From my research what I can see is an iPhone needs to get at least iOS 15.5 and it appears that anything will pass the checker that is less than 5 or 6 years old. I was considering an iPhone SE 2022 but a new one is just a little too much money for me and never really looked for a used one. As mentioned I am done with Motorola. I even asked about why such limited updates and "we can't update them forever" is the response I got from them. I kind of wished I would have looked more into that detail before I bought the second one that I didn't need.

[mpilon]

Does your newer moto phone work on visible? Want to sell it to me?

I'm not fond of apple: I helped an old cowboy in my neighborhood whose friend set his pin and never wrote said pin down; his older ios didn't require the pin to unlock; apple then updated his ios to a version that forced use of the pin, and he was locked out; it was his only apple device ... no path to unlock it except to wipe the phone.

I can do without that kind of help from my carrier, tho - it's not like they dangle juicy promos which are impossible to achieve. That's just mean.

[Anonymous]

I am using my newer one now and really didn't want to sell it. Maybe @Doggy-mamawants to sell his Moto Pure. 

I now personally don't recommend Motorola because of their poor update policy. My 2022 model already used its one OS upgrade Android 12 and will only get security updates for about another year. Look into a used Pixel 6A, I was just doing some research and found a few Pixel 6a, 7/7Pro and the few I found that had IMEI numbers they all passed so they don't seem to be restricted like Motorola is. Seems like they can be bought outside of Visible and still pass the checker. I wouldn't look into too old of a Pixel though because you don't want to stuck at the IMEI checker again. The 6A can be found for around $200 if you hunt for the deal on eBay. 

Samsung I think is in the same boat as Motorola and not sure if you would find one to pass the IMEI checker unless you buy it from Visible but I could be wrong on that. 

Pixel will be my next phone is a year maybe two because I don't know how long one should use these phone without security updates.

[mpilon]

Thanks for the reply - it's good To know about the pixel 6's compatibility.

Im taking a look at mint; I hardly use any data as im connected via WiFi at home. My only requirement is tethering for the rare times my isp takes a hike, or I'm away from home - so otherwise not much data.

My moto g7 power shows as compatible (they even said so! Without any begging!). I'm not wild about that fone but it's paid for.

$15 to $20/mo sounds pretty good right now. It's hard to be disappointed when my expectations are so low anyway! 

[Doggy-mama]

I already offered it to a friend.

[mpilon]

No worries; great things are afoot.

[Doggy-mama]

I would love to buy a newer iPhone through Visible, three separate approvals  from Affirm.  When I hit the button to place the order I get “your order cannot be processed, contact customer care.”  While I can stay with Visible service, for whatever reason (and they’ve given more than one) they will not allow me to buy a phone unless I send it to someone else.

[Anonymous]

That makes absolutely no sense at all. I know last fall when the new plans come out and my phone showed not compatible Visible wouldn't let me add a phone to my cart, said something like, there is a phone already on order, which there wasn't. I contacted CS and they did clear it thinking they deleted my old phone from history but that still shows I am using it even though I gave them the IMEI number to the newer phone. 

Customer service does get frustrating to deal with and I don't blame you at all for wanting to leave. Thankfully my frustration has only been with questions and arguments over how ridiculous there IMEI checker is and that my old phone is still not compatible even after being told they were adding as many phones as possible from the old list to the new plans as fast as possible. Apparently that doesn't include my G Power 2021 or Motorola phones in general older than 2022.

[Doggy-mama]

Sad thing is that I’ll have to pay more for monthly service, but I’m having phone issues that make staying with Visible pretty much impossible.

[mpilon · Accepted solution]

received the mint sim - got up and running on my current fone in about 10 minutes.  writing this right now with my computer tethered thru the fone and seems to work well.

Early daze.

You won't be able to see me again; I've become invisible.

[Doggy-mama]

Congratulations on your invisibility!  I shall be leaving soon.  I am stubborn, but smart enough to know when it’s time to go.  

[PatriotJosh75]

I had the same issue. I ordered a new phone and despite the "You did it" success screen, the order stayed in limbo for 10 days. I contacted them, the chat agent cancelled the order, and I tried again. Same thing happened, so two days later, (Today) I contacted them again, and chat agent Praveen pawned me off to the social media team.... I closed that chat and immediately started another to get a new agent, and the new chat agent, Tani, worked to find out the issue. Eventually we ended up opening a new browser, using incognito mode, and I tried yet again. This time, the order went through and Tani stayed with me to make sure, then went the extra mile to make sure the delivery team completed the order on their end. I am told the phone will be here tomorrow. I think this relatively new company is still working out bugs, but as long as they keep hiring people like Tani, I think they will figure things out.