Verizon Wanted a Pic of my Drivers License

[TractorGuy]

<rant>

I have a Verizon prepaid phone I had on Verizon for years. I switched to AT&T a while back but it wasn't any better than the Verizon signal so I decided to switch back. Getting my account number from AT&T was like pulling teeth but I finally got through to someone to give that to me. You have to have the account number to get your number ported to the new carrier. After that the online order went pretty smooth and they sent me an order confirmation and I got the text alert they charged my credit card.

15 minutes later I get an email from Verizon telling me I had to send them a photo of my current drivers license to complete the order. BS on that so I set out to try and cancel the order. I guess I should have just ignored it and let them do their worst but I was irritated they submitted a charge THEN tried to make a new requirement. I got bounced around between customer service and their fraud department and was never told why they wanted it and none of the customer service reps I talked to had ever heard of that requirement. I finally got a person that claimed he could cancel the order so a refund would issue.

</rant>

My wife's phone was still on Verizon. Both services would drop calls at our house. I did a shoddy install of a booster antenna for the Verizon signal. I placed the antenna in the attic, aimed it at the Verizon tower, plugged the booster into the garage door opener outlet to keep the attic heat off of it, and threw the output antenna on top of the sheetrock in the living room. We didn't get any more bars but it solved the problems with the wife's phone. Her calls have been clear and not dropping since. I figured instead of adding an AT&T booster I would just change my phone back. Guess I'm gonna install a booster and aim it at the AT&T tower. They make a wide band booster but it seems the carrier specific ones work better. I might just switch the wife's phone over after that but we'll see if I cool off.

 

[CMV]

You could check into Straight Talk or Visible. Those are prepaid that use Verizon's network.

 

[TnAndy]

Or TracPhone....which also uses Verizon.

We bought a couple of smart phones from Home Shopping Network for around 60 bucks each and it includes 1500min talk, 1500 text, and some data (can't say how much, never use it) good for a year. That handles the amount we use a cell phone by far. At the end of the year, you can buy another card ( $125) or simply buy another 60 buck phone (how stupid, right ? ) and port the number if you want to keep the old number.....or transfer the time to the original phone if you like that one better than the new ones they have.....we've done that too.....

 

[rekees4300]

15 minutes later I get an email from Verizon telling me I had to send them a photo of my current drivers license to complete the order.

Been with Verizon for several years. It takes a lot of patience since their policies & website are nearly incomprehensible. :confused2: Sending them (or anybody) a copy of your drivers license via email would be very foolish.

 

[kcflhrc]

My guess is this. I think it's all part of the Real ID thing you get on your driver license to actually prove who you are and not some terrorist. I just purchased a new truck and had to give copy of DL. The other thing is these prepaid phones are used in a lot of crime and the PoPo cant trace them to an actual owner. Just my thoughts. Right or wrong, I don't see it as a big deal. Sending it via e-mail, that's a different story. Guess you could go to a Verizon store if there is one close. Or tell them to pound sand and be on your way. I never quite understood the reasoning behind pre-paid phones anyway.

 

[buck12]

We swapped from ATT to Verizon recently and had to send a photo of our driver’s licenses. It was part of the credit check for the phones.

 

[Industrial Toys]

Is that a new NSA directive? Get a drivers license copy on file to go along with all those recorded conversations. Thanks Craig Snowdon!:thumbsup:

 

[radios1]

sending a drivers license over email would be a big mistake!. giving a copy to a store is ok though.. they may not need a copy, but rather, just check yours..

 

[TractorGuy]

My guess is this. I think it's all part of the Real ID thing you get on your driver license to actually prove who you are and not some terrorist. I just purchased a new truck and had to give copy of DL. The other thing is these prepaid phones are used in a lot of crime and the PoPo cant trace them to an actual owner. Just my thoughts. Right or wrong, I don't see it as a big deal. Sending it via e-mail, that's a different story. Guess you could go to a Verizon store if there is one close. Or tell them to pound sand and be on your way. I never quite understood the reasoning behind pre-paid phones anyway.

I just told them to cram it.

I had a Verizon account for years and at one point they even asked for the last four of my social which I gave them. Me AND this phone was already in their database. The phone number I was having ported back to their service was originally issued BY Verizon back before I retired.

The service and number was originally my work phone which I kept when I retired. I had it converted to a pre paid when my employer asked us to convert our work phones to personal instead of providing them. They went from paying for a negotiated contract to giving me a stipend. I was actually making money on the deal. My employer was paying me $75 a month which equaled their negotiated price with Verizon. I was paying $43 per month for unlimited talk and text and 3 GB data prepaid.

Pre Paid phones are the only way to go in my opinion. We own our phones and have a fixed monthly fee with no surprises.

It seems the cellular industry has made it a point to be the absolute hardest service to deal with. They are all competing to be the worst when it comes to customer service.

AT&T isn't much better for customer service. To get the number ported I had to have my AT&T account number. The account number was being held secret to prevent me from getting the number ported to a different carrier. My account number was nowhere on my original receipt and nowhere to be found on my account log in. On their FAQ page it said I HAD to call to get the account number. When I call FROM my phone it recognized it as a prepaid and no matter which number I called it would channel me through all the automated prompts that didn't answer my question and wouldn't let me get to a person.

What I learned was I could call from my wife's Verizon phone and eventually get channeled to a person.

 

[Dftodd]

Wife and I have been with straight talk for years now. We've bounced back between att and Verizon for the network.

Only beef is you have to have a carrier specific phone. Phone must be set up for ATT, Verizon, or Tmobile.

When we want a new phone, we usually purchase a refurbished one off from Ebay. Please note if you do this to make sure it's not factory unlocked and able to be used on any network. Tried that once and it confused the tech support department. Purchased it from a local phone refurb shop and they assured me that it would work. Got so frustrating I finally went back to the store and had them turn all the phones on. First one that popped up ATT or Verizon on the start screen came home with me