After almost 3 weeks of complaining nonstop to family and friends (and even numerous perfect strangers all over the Internet) I finally ventured into the Verizon store after work today to see what gives. I have had intermittent to NO service and when the service WOULD come back, none of my email messages or texts would update until I rebooted my phone (take out the battery and then put it back in).
BTW... I have a Blackberry Pearl that I got in December 08. I know it's outdated and I was sure that it was on its last leg. So after a 40 minute wait to see a "representative, I found out that thankfully, that wasn't the case. It seems that my relationship with Alltel was the problem. I was a product of the Verzion inhalation of Alltel. As I learned today, Friday, August 13th (rather ominous - wouldn't you say?) Verzion switched all of Alltel's towers to Verizon. Hmmmm... Wasn't that the weekend when I had NO service for 4 days??? OH YEAH!!!
I guess what Verizon failed to publicize was that now all the "old" Alltel phone would be out there roaming for a signal and frequently, not finding one. What I did learn is that there is a relatively easy fix that you should be able to do on your own. I'd love to save someone else a painful 40 minute wait in the store!!! If you too are a victim, you can dial (when you have service) *22800 and then select option 1. This action should update you to the "new" towers. IF you still are receiving spotty service, you can dial *22890 and this will force your phone to a new PRL. (I forget what this is. I think its a Preferred Roaming Location or something like that.)
I sincerely hope that this solves someone else's problem with Verizon's service. Let me know what kind of experience that you have!
