Half way there...

 

Making the switch.  From Verizon to Visible.  For anyone keeping track, Visible is owned by Verizon.

The sim card from Visible arrived late yesterday afternoon, while I was hanging Christmas lights on the deck; I finished with the lights, had supper, then took on the switch.  A case of clumsy fingers had me picking up the new sim card several times.  I went through all the steps, but knew I had to contact Customer Care to get Joan's phone number switched so she could keep her long-time number.

In my two previous encounters with Visible Customer Care, I was "You're Next" in the cue for a chat, and #7.  I have to say I was impressed with how fast the cue moved.  Last night, I didn't get a number for my place in line, just a thermometer-type display... I must have been "below zero" on that thermometer because it took two hours for it to change to "You're Number 50" in the cue.  The wait was bearable after that.  I was on my computer for the chat, since I can type WAY faster on that, compared to a phone.  My new friend, Keysha, got Joan's number changed, then stayed with us while we checked all the features of the phone to make sure everything was working.  A long wait, but good experience once we got to a person.

Keysha told me that I didn't need to order a sim card to make the change on my phone - just the number release  pin from Verizon so I could keep my number.  I decided to wait until this morning to go through that again on my phone.

Is it worth it?  The actual cell service should stay the same, since Visible operates on Verizon's network.  The data speeds may turn out to be a bit slower, but my testing with that on my phone showed it to be the same as Verizon.  I will continue to have unlimited data, and Joan will now have unlimited data (as opposed to the 2gb she had with Verizon, and will not get "ratted out" to me when Verizon would let me know that she was exceeding her 2gb limit.  Her plan is completely separate from mine, and she can have her own unlimited hotspot... no more asking me to "jazz up your hotspot."  After 25 years of being together on a cell plan, we are now both independent.  And after 25 years of the price constantly going up, extra fees and taxes, we will have cut our cell bill by over $100 per month.

The Verizon coverage is pretty marginal right at our house.  It used to be great, but is now "1 bar" at best.  Dropped calls are common.  Visiting with Mark yesterday, the call got dropped a half dozen times before we switched to FaceTime... and no further issuesd, because we have great wifi at the house.  And more importantly, Mark is doing great - except for moving just a bit slower (for now), he is back to his normal wit and sense of humor.  He is wearing a strap-on device (yes, there was some fun poked at him over that) that promotes healing and blood flow at the surgery site.  It sticks out front and back.  He made me laugh when he raised up his shirt and said, "I think I can mount a phone holder and drink holder on this."

So, on to dealing with Visible for "the rest of the change-over."  I just needed a few minutes of not being "in the cue" this morning.

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It took a while on the Visible chat this morning, but we are now "all the way there."  I would say we are done with Verizon, but Visible operates on the Verizon cell and data system... so, we are getting the same service, just paying way less for it.

When it was complete, we checked phones - seems that everything is working... except we have two bars on the cell signal, where it had previously been one bar with Verizon.  Go figure?  We had to re-record our voicemail messages, but everything else seems to have made the transition just fine.

So, if you are thinking about making a switch, I have "a code" that will save you $20 on your first month's bill with Visible.