Visible phones.

[Operator1]

Don't purchase your phone from their website unless you want to overpay! While comparing phone specs I was redirect to the Motorola website where the same phone with twice the memory was $150. less then what visible was offering.

[Anonymous]

The bad thing about buying a Motorola phone from some where other than Visible it won't pass the phone compatibility checker even if it factory unlocked if you are trying to get a new card to enroll in one of the plans. If you have a card and just moving a SIM it won't be a problem. I ran close to 100 IMEI numbers from new and used Motorola phone from eBay that listed the numbers and none passed. It might be different if using a model that can use eSIM.

The one brand of android phone that doesn't seem to get stopped at the IMEI checker is Google Pixel phone provided you are buying a 6 or newer. Not sure about Samsung or other android phones. 

iPhone is another one that if buying a newer model it doesn't even ask for an IMEI number in the compatibility checker if asking for a pSIM, but it will ask for that number if going with eSIM. Buying it elsewhere doesn't seem to matter with these phones.

Last thing is I personally don't recommend Motorola because of the lack of OS and security updates. With only one OS upgrade and two year of security updates when the other three major brands are doing 4-6 OS upgrades and 4-6 years of security updates. My next phone for surely won't be a Motorola. JMO.

[Operator1]

I haven't had the same problem with phone compatibility like you have. Just make sure you purchase the exact model they list on their website. Motorola's website will list the specks of all their phones and that will show you the carrier compatibility, scroll down and if visible is on the list then you are okay with that phone.

As fare as phone brands go, I guess we are seeing a decline in the customer buying power. The customer use to drive the quality of products and now we get only what the company wants to provide. This is China taking over the world I guess. When jobs left the United States to get away from big government we lost quality and the control of our countries destiny.

[Anonymous]

Doesn't matter if you buy the same one sold on Visible as that is what I was trying to do. When the new plans rolled out last fall my Motorola G Power showed not compatible. So off to eBay to find an unlocked phone of a couple different Motorola phones that Visible sells, I checked close 100 IMEI numbers and only found one unlocked phone that passed the checker so I could get eventually get a new SIM card for the new system/plans, that phone was sold to the seller I bought it from earlier in 2022 by Visible. I didn't buy direct from Motorola because you can't get an IMEI number from them until the phone arrives. As said if you have a Visible card already you can buy just about any newer android phone out there and it will work. But if you are moving from the old legacy(party pay) plan or a new customer coming to Visible you will find that some that will say not compatible even though Visible sells it. For the most part I have saw that this affects Motorola phones the most.

Funny thing is, my Motorola G Power 2021 that I bought from Visible showed not compatible when I tried to upgrade to the new plans. I contacted customer service to find out why and was told that my phone doesn't have the right technology. I also asked what is the difference in a phone that is the same make and model sold by Visible versus bought straight from manufacture or retail store such as Best Buy. The answer, Visible optimizes the phones to work on there network. I then asked if they opened every box and programmed/optimized it themselves. Never got an answer to that one. That 2022 model G Power I was able to get a new SIM card sent to me to upgrade to the new plan/system. When the card showed up I put it in that noncompatible phone and activated it without issue so I really didn't need a new phone and it had the right technology. 

Again, you can buy a phone straight from Motorola and it will work, but if you are a new customer to get a card when you get to the step to check the IMEI number I am about 95% sure it isn't going to pass. But as I said if you are already a customer and have a SIM card you can move it to the new phone and it will work fine. Another thing customer service told me is that if I have problems with their service and I need help I won't get it because I am using an unapproved phone. In my case I am but my account shows the old phone. The IMEI checker is flawed and shouldn't reject phones sold by the manufacturer but that is just the way Visible has it set up. It is my opinion that their IMEI database only has Motorola phones listed in it that they have sold themselves in 2022 to present. 

I also didn't find out about the lack of upgrades on Motorola until after I bought the second one and it will be my last. They make a good phone, they just need to get onboard and keep up with Samsung and Google. 

If you buy a new from Motorola, run it through the compatibility checker and post here if it passes. It might help others who want to do the same if it actually passes.

[Operator1]

I now know what you meant. I bought my phone through Motorola after I was sent there from the visible web site to check on the phone capabilities. I then bought my phone on the Motorola web site since it was $150 dollars cheaper. It sad it was a visible compatible phone so I thought it was compatible because the visible website directed me to their website. When I went to activate the phone through visible I was told the phone wasn't compatible? Why would visible send me to the Motorola website if the phones weren't compatible? I had to Port my number to ATT because visible won't let me go back to Verizon? You think that Verizon would like to keep me as a customer regardless of what company I use. I'd really like to know how they modified these phones to work with visible when they work on all other carriers! Thanks for your persistent reply to my doubts, it well warranted.... 

[Anonymous]

Visible likely sent you to the Motorola website to see the full specs since they don't list them completely. If you already had the SIM card you could have activated it but to get a card is a different story and there are ways around that also.

Visible doesn't modify them at all. They buy a block of phones to be sold on their website, those block of phones come with a list of there IMEI number that are then added to the compatibility checker. 

In my case I was completely frustrated with them that a year and a half old phone doesn't pass the checker but I was able to activate no problem. Verizon owns Visible and with the system upgrade 6 months ago they are now using Verizon's system so there is no reason they can't be using there database for IMEI numbers also.

[rjniles]

I am going thru some pain now with an upgrade to Visible+. I have a Moto G Stylus 5G (2021) that I bought directly from Motorola that has been working (including WIFI calling) on the old Visible unlimited plan for over a year. When I tried to upgrade the compatibility checker said not compatible. I chatted with Visible the agent said it was compatible and placed the order for a new SIM. After receiving the new SIM I upgraded using the Visible app and it worked (mostly). Calls, text and data work fine but WIFI calling does not, WIFI calling is a requirement for me because my home is in an area with very sketchy over the air signal. I have spent many hours with chat over the last few weeks and have been assured by all agents (and their second level support) that they will make it work. So far no joy. As of yesterday they have decided I need a new SIM to implement the changes they have made to my account. A new SIM has been shipped and hopefully will arrive today. The problem is once they create that new SIM you are out of service until the new SIM is installed in the phone. I guess I will find out later today.

[Anonymous]

I don't know why they deactivate an old SIM when customer service sends it out. They told me that also, then another agent said they couldn't send me a SIM that I had to order it. When I finally ordered the SIM for the upgraded plan beginning of February I never lost service after ordering the card and only lost about 5 minutes of signal, the time it took to activate the card when it arrived. A 2021 phone should have the latest updates to work on Visible even though Motorola will stop sending out updates for their 2021 models phones this year.

On my Motorola G Power 2021 that I activated without issues that said not compatible worked, the one thing I never tried was wi-fi calling as I never use it so not sure it worked on that phone. 

The meeting the other day I thought the main subject was to discuss phones not being compatible but there was little talk of it and what Visible was actually going to do to fix the issues with the checker and there database. I not a tech savvy person but there should be no reason they can't be using Verizon's database instead for phones being compatible. From what I know the SIM controls what you can do with the plan not the phone itself. 

I like the plan and the phone service. Just not happy with how Visible handles this phone issue. It seem like a ploy just to sell more phones. There has to be a decent profit margin in them when buying in bulk and selling for list price. I do know one thing is my next phone in a couple years will not be a Motorola phone but likely either a Google Pixel or maybe the budget iPhone(the SE) and I am not buying it from Visible since there are better prices elsewhere.

Hope you get your issues fixed.