How do I straighten out my account?

Question

We upgraded my wife's phone to a new iPhone, but when we got it and I tried to activate it I ran into issues - the phone (which was connected to our internet router) kept telling me it couldn't connect to the server and I should call the activation phone number. After 5 or 6 times being put on infinite hold, I finally got through to someone who then called her supervisor and between them they activated the new phone. Great, all is well, and the phone works well except that anytime I go online to see about modifying my plan, I get the following message: Our records indicate you recently purchased a device for this line of service but have not activated the device yet.  You have the option to change your calling plan after you have activated your new device, or you may contact Customer Service at [phone] for further assistance. The correct iPhone is shown in the picture but it's grayed out and I can't do anything. Calling customer service just puts me on hold forever. I haven't had these kinds of issues with Verizon in the past and don't know why they're starting now, but I'd really like to get my account straightened out.

Answer 1

OK, this is exactly what happened:
The Verizon Wireless site would allow me to order a new phone at a reduced cost a month before the contract expired, but 2 weeks later it wouldn't allow me to do that anymore. So I went direct to the Apple site and it checked with Verizon and came back and said I qualified to get the phone for $99. So I placed an order. The phone came 3 days later, on schedule. It was Friday afternoon. That night I started it up and connected it to my wifi. It then said it could not connect to the server and I should try again. There was nothing wrong with the wifi since I had 3 other things using it at the time. I tried to activate it by going to the Verizon site but it just showed my wife's old phone grayed out with a message that I had to activate the new phone first. Finally the iPhone got through to the server and all seemed well. It then told me I had to finalize the activation by calling an activation phone number. After a few tries I got through. The woman said she would help but then said something was wrong and she got her supervisor. He got on the phone and said he would fix it, and after a minute or 2 the activation took hold and all was well. Since then the phone has performed well, but when I went to the web site I couldn't even see my plan details. I tried a couple more times and got nowhere, and each time I called customer service after listening to the computer for a while trying to sell me things, I would choose an option and get put on hold and finally would give up. That's when I posted my note. Perhaps things are straightened out now, I don't know, but after 20 years with Verizon Wireless I wasn't expecting all these problems.
Thanks for helping.
Barry
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