It seems like yesterday I moved to a small, eclectic neighborhood adjoining downtown Cleveland called Tremont. It was about 1999. Tremont had begun the long path to eradicate stereotypical city problems like corner drug pushers, gang violence, robberies, car theft, home invasions, prostitution. Most of that was gone by the time I arrived. But we still couldn’t order Pizza Hut delivery… our neighborhood was redlined. Purportedly due to multiple robberies.
Fast forward nearly twenty years. Tremont can order pizza for delivery now. And there’s a lot more options than just Pizza Hut. But we’ve moved to a remote mountain in North Carolina without mail service that comes up to our house. The issue these days isn’t pizza delivery, but rather, mail and package delivery. So we rented a mailbox at our local UPS Store. Never did I think having a private mailbox would be reminiscent of having a pizza delivered five hundred miles away nearly two decades prior. But Verizon Wireless made it so.
I’ve been a user of Verizon Wireless for many years. I’ve gone through many reiterations of various plan offerings, prepaid and post paid. In most areas, Verizon reception is bar none…while other carriers like Sprint and T-Mobile have no service and no roaming at all in places like our mountain retreat. Sprint and T-Mobile = ZERO bars, they just don’t work. And with Verizon’s new wireless prepaid offers, it was time to port my spousal units service from US Cellular to Verizon Prepaid.
Login to my existing Verizon Wireless Prepaid account. Select ADD A LINE. Answer all of the questions. Receive confirmation email… great… new SIM CARD on the way, will be delivered by FedEx at no charge. Great, I love Verizon!
EMAIL RECEIVED FROM VERIZON WIRELESS
…Not so fast… you red liner Verizon Wireless!
Within a few hours, I receive another email from Verizon, shown below. Subject said “your recent order is under review” and that I should “Follow these steps to verify the order.” I did. I called and spent nearly 30 minutes on the phone. After an extended hold, the Verizon rep came back on the line and just said my order was cancelled without providing any further explanation. Upon further inquiry, rep said it was because they didn’t have my social security number. I mentioned it didn’t ask for my SS#, and I had an existing account. Rep said they couldn’t access the account and my only option was to either try entering order again, or visit Verizon store.
So, at the direction of the Verizon telephone rep, I tried entering order again. Another Verizon confirmation. Another your order is complete. Another Thanks for your order. Wait for it…
Another your recent order is under review. Another 30 minute phone call.
This time the rep mentioned they cannot deliver to my address, since it’s a UPS Store and a Sprint Wireless store in the same strip mall complex! The Verizon security department rep said they’ve had too much fraud at UPS Stores and cannot mail there. This time, they didn’t suggest I go to a Verizon Wireless store – instead just said I must find a new address.
Really? This is the best way Verizon Wireless could come up with to prevent fraud? Nice way to disenfranchise your current customers, Verizon. What an utter waste of time. And so goes our modern day world of redlining.
In any case, as the world of monopolies sometimes go, the service itself has been very good in our area. We will visit that Verizon store and pick up a SIM card. But it’s not right. Verizon is a redliner.
It seems the issue is about delivery of the SIM card, rather than activation of service. So we can likely just obtain new Verizon SIM card anywhere… like Amazon.
UPDATE 2/18/2019: I did order SIM card from Amazon, the same card linked below. The card is only a nano SIM, NOT a 3-in-1 SIM, so be careful what card you need. I installed then added it to my existing prepaid account as a new line of service. Verizon still blocked the order. Yet another call to their security department. Even more strange requests, wanting to txt me a verification code to a ‘different number’, weird requests. The rep finally said she was tired and it’s the end of a long day and that she would unblock the order becuse it was no product being shipped, only an activation. Gee thanks.
Want to order your Verizon Wireless Prepaid SIM Card…. WITHOUT the redlining?
I participate in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for us to earn fees by linking to Amazon.com and affiliated sites.
If you purchase using links below, it doesn’t cost you a penny more… and you don’t have to deal with Verizon’s Fraud Prevention Team!
