Verizon and Military Relocation

I also live in Eagle River, and many of my friends have Verizon and get great service. I think they share towers with one of the local carriers. It might be the phone, an newer one might not have the same problems. I have AT&T, and they are great here, but they are not the best when we travel to the lower 48. I have also had friends who got out if their Verizon contracts, but they moved here at least a year ago. I am glad they both stopped charging for the deployment hold, they both used to charge you to hold the number.

I would call them up and tell them thank you but you won't be needing their services ever again and you'll be sure to tell all your military friends about their policy. Serving your country is hard enough - for the soldiers and sailors and the wives and kids they leave behind - you shouldn't be punished monitarily by outside companies - heavens knows you don't make enough money in the military to start with!

Nope, you're not wrong to expect this.
You first step should be to call again and speak to the supervisor. Go as high in the chain as you get until you get a satisfactory result.

If you don't get a satisfactory result try getting the attention of your local newspaper or TV station and see if they want to do a story on it. No company wants to get bad PR for not supporting military families...

But I bet that you will get them to waive your fees if you just step up the food chain in customer service!
Good Luck.

It's really strange. I don't know about the early termination but they were helpful when my husband deployed. They suspended the service for us until he returned as long as they had a copy of his orders.

You are absolutely not wrong in thinking they should be relocation and military friendly. If the United States Department of Defense TELLS you that you MUST move, and they get to tell you that because you have voluntarily MADE YOURSELF government property in order to protect and defend the citizens and their way of life, which includes the right to own businesses and make a profit, then I think any company that can no longer provide the contracted services to your new area should release you from your contract.

But hey, that's just me.

L.

You are not wrong, in my opinion. I guess we can't force or expect companies to do the right thing, but it would be nice. Most companies have military clauses and that is how it should be.

I have learned no rarely means no, if you are willing to pursue it and take it higher. Just like the other poster said, I get very different answers when I talk to multiple people. I think they have a lot more authority to do things than they let on, and sometimes you just get a stickler or someone having a bad day. Ask to speak to a supervisor. Fees can always be waived. If they want to do it. It may not be the policy anymore, and the default answer is no because a lot of people will just shrug, pay it and move on. But if you keep asking for the supervisor of the person saying No, you will eventually get someone who can say yes.

And let them know you are willing to write a letter to the editor or the local news. No one likes bad press, and not supporting our military families is always bad press.

Good luck with your move! Thanks for your service!

Who did you talk to? My son is in the military and has AT&T. When he called about having his phone put on hold while at basic training one person told him they would. Then when he went to do it another person told him he couldn't. He finally went into the local store and they did it. Sometimes it depends on who you talk to. I've also found that taking your proof into an actual store or service center gets better results than talking to customer service on the phone. If they still won't work with you I agree with Martha, talk to the military family services and/or contact the local news. With the public support for the military you might get results. Good luck.

We haven't tried verizon to wave the fees, but we had no problem when we had no cingular coverage after relocation. Are you at your new duty station? you may have to wait till you arrive and prove you have no coverage in your home or place of work. And don't forget the military orders.

We live in alaska (military) and have verizon wireless here...have used verizon for all 3 years we have been here. The only issue with no towers is that you cant usually send pix-flix messages or download games etc. But other than that we have great service everywhere! The only place we have been that didnt have service was the hot springs and none of our friends with other cell phone companies had service either. Hope everything works out for you!

You can get out of a lease, and other contracts, so I don't see how Verizon is exempt. Contact someone at family serives on base, see if you can get somewhere.

You could call the local "On your Side" reporter, or what ever they call it in your area, sounds like something that they would like to broadcast!

M.

I think if you take in a copy of your orders to prove the relocation they might cut you some slack. Where are you PCSing that Verizon doesn't cover?

Edited
According to their coverage map they do have towers in the southern part , and northern most coast of Alaska.

http://www.verizonwireless.com/b2c/CoverageLocatorControl...

Is it a region they totally do not cover at all, or is the service just poor in the area? The reason I ask is because my house is a dead zone for Sprint. I called and complained and they said they would "rent" some sort of small antennae I could put in my home that would give me better reception. I said no thanks! Then a few months later I called to find out when my contract was up. They immediately freak out when you ask that and the person's job is then to bend over and kiss your butt to keep you from switching companies when your contract is up. So I said I was just asking because I want to switch to a company that has better coverage where I live and they said, "Oh, well, we'll be happy to give you an antennae you can have in your home to get better reception." When I said I was not interested in that rental, they said, "No, no-- we don't charge you for that." I still declined and I'm switching companies, but that was interesting. Call and act like you are ready to switch companies -- don't start off by saying why-- just call and say you were just wondering the procedure for discontinuing your service with them and see what they say. Make sure when you call you follow the prompts to get you to the operator that deals with discontinuing service because they have authority to kiss your butt and do things without talking to a manager first. If there is zero service, there may be nothing you can do, but if the service can be picked up with some sort of antennae, they may offer you one rather than lose a customer.

THey did two years ago. All my son needed was his orders to Japan and they waived the fee to terminate his contract.
We have also put my husband's phone on hold for 13 months in 07-08 and again for three in 08 then again for 7 in 08-09. THey have or had a deployment status.
Have you checked with the store in your area?

My husband is not in the military, but his job takes him all over the world. We are currently living in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. We too have Verizon, and I called shortly before we left the States in January to see what we could do. I didn't want to cancel my number, I just didn't want to have to pay for a phone I wasn't using. They were great and did a suspension of service for both of our phones. Maybe you could get a suspension until time is up on your contract? How much longer do you have with your current contract?