Update:

(Please read below the *** for the original review.)

It's been over two years now, and we still have Verizon Wireless. After doing extensive nationwide travel in that time, I've come to rely on Verizon for the service they provide.
I have to comment on my last review, which covered our first purchase of cell phones and service contract with Verizon. We found out much later that we hadn't actually dealt with Verizon directly, but with an outside vendor that sold Verizon service. Apparently, it's at a lower level of maintenance and service than in dealing with Verizon Wireless directly. So, a very crucial point when cruising the mall for a cell phone - make sure you're talking to Verizon wireless and not John Doe selling Verizon contracts.
We found out about this when our NeoPoint phones stopped working and the company went out of business soon after. I was in New York for a few months on a freelance job and I needed nationwide wireless service. I called Verizon and they told me that my phone wouldn't work nationwide (it wasn't "tri-mode"). I visited the Verizon store in Manhattan, where they helped me pick out the right phone for what i needed. They also set me up with a new contract, making the phone essentially free for signing on for another year. I got a great deal on nationwide service and kept my 1,000 mobile-to-mobile minute deal my wife and I had before (I hesitate to mention price, because it changes so frequently. It wouldn't be accurate next month). The person at the store also informed me about the vendor thing, so I could avoid that in the future.
That was in January of 2002, and we've renewed our verizon service (and had new phones) a couple of times since. It was easy to pick a new phone, and I didn't even have to go anywhere to do it (they sent it to our home). It's been pretty reliable. We now live in downtown Los Angeles, and we have very little drop-out or missed calls. I've also had a really good connection in Miami, San Francisco, San Jose, New York, and Chicago. I get a low (or no) signal in some airports and hotels. Subway tunnels in all cities make my connection go away completely, although I'm always surprised when I see the odd person or two who actually have a connection on the subway. Maybe they work for the CIA?
Overall, I'm happy with Verizon's wireless service plans and my phone. One thing that can be frustrating is navigating through the Internet to find the right Verizon department/subsidiary to deal with. We also have Verizon land line and DSL, and it would be nice to only have one phone number to call or URL to look up for tech support (that's an entirely different review).
After comparing our plan and service to T-Mobile or Sprint, we seem to have a good thing going. We will probably renew our contract again, and get new phones at the same time. Why not, when they're so easy to deal with and the service is this good?
I would recommend Verizon Wireless to anyone in LA.

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My wife and I were considering getting cell phones for a while, and checked out a lot of calling plans before we stumbled upon Verizon. A booth at the mall was having a "Super Bowl Special," offering two phones and a half-price plan for three months. That sounded good, and even after the three months it wasn't very expensive. On the Verizon plan we each get 1,000 mobile-to-mobile minutes every month. This means that we can call any Verizon customer in our calling area (CA, AZ, NM, NV), and it's included. We also get 200 anytime minutes, and 500 off-peak minutes. I don't remember what the long distance service per-minute cost is, but it's fairly expensive, so we don't use it.
The guys that helped us the first day were friendly and attentive. Of course, they work on commission, so they're pretty outgoing with anyone who walks within 15 feet of their booth. Did we care? Not much. They explained the plan very well, and gave us paperwork to support it. After walking around a bit, we decided to go for it, and signed up. The salesman we talked to first told us we would be getting identical Nokia phones, and showed them to us. Not knowing what the major advantages/disadvantages to other brands were, we thought they were fine. He told us to come back in about 30 minutes to sign the contract and pick up our activated phones.
When we returned, our main salesguy was busy, so another one helped us out. To our surprise, he offered us different phones instead of the Nokias. After he assured us they were included in the special, we looked at them. The "new" phones were NeoPoint 1600's, which also have a PDA (Palm Pilot) feature. Too cool. I already had a Palm Pilot, but I though it would be great to have everything in one device (I was right). Of course we took the phones. We were signed up and on our way in a couple of minutes.
The main reason we got cell phones was the safety factor. My wife can call me if she's stuck on the freeway with kids and a flat tire, or vice versa. When we go to Disneyland, we can split up if we have to and call each other to meet up again. I don't think we've ever come close to using our full 1,000 minutes, and we can chat quite a bit! I don't have to worry about calling her to ask her a stupid question like, "What kind of Soy milk was that again?"
The first problems we had were with missed calls. I would be sitting at the computer (at home), and get a voice mail alert - without getting a phone call. Callers are sometimes pushed into my voicemail on the first ring, and I don't even know they've called. The phones also cut out in weird places - I can have a perfectly clear conversation with my wife at home, when I'm in Malibu Canyon, but when I call her from the grocery store on the corner, I go straight to her voice mail.
I called Verizon about this, and although they try to be helpful and are friendly, they all agree that, "That happens sometimes. We don’t know why." It could be that this is the way of the Cell phone, but I thought digital technology was supposed to be better!
On a recent trip to Omaha, I called to ask about roaming charges. It was pretty stiff - .60/minute if I call home (plus usage time), only usage time if my wife called me. But, I was assured I could call easily enough if I wanted to. I actually had so much trouble connecting to *anyone* that I wondered why I bothered to bring it. I called Verizon a number of times to figure it out. They would call me (from wherever they were) and say, “See? It works fine.” My wife wasn’t so lucky. She tried to call me quite a few times and couldn’t even get my voicemail. I was “out of the calling area.” I got the same message calling any number. However much Verizon tried to be helpful, I couldn’t make them understand that it just wasn’t working. We did connect a few times, but I couldn’t understand what the parameters were. Sometimes I got through when standing on the porch, sometimes I didn’t. It worked in a deep basement, but not in the middle of a parking lot. I still don’t know, and neither does Verizon. If I had to travel that far more often, I would be more concerned about the reliability.
We’ve also had to replace our phones, because we were getting glitches like incorrect time/date. This was not Verizon, but when I brought the new phones to have them activated, nobody (and I mean nobody) at Verizon could figure out how to program them. I finally called tech support and was told, “That’s a pretty high-tech phone, Sir. I’m not sure I can help you.” You can imagine how frustrating a comment like that can be, especially coming from tech support. Eventually, I figured out how to program the phones myself. It’s not really that difficult. I called tech support again, because at one point I needed a security code. They were surprised I got that far “with such a high-tech phone (this again!), but gave me the code with no problem.
Overall, Verizon offers a pretty good service at a pretty good rate. It’s not very reliable nationally (or in Omaha, NE, anyway), but locally (Los Angeles) it’s about average for what I hear other people receive. After our contract runs out, I would seriously consider switching to another company.


Recommended: Yes

Amount Paid (US$): 34/month