Several West Philly blocks were a ‘dead zone’ for Verizon customers. It finally got fixed.
Residents were so frustrated by Verizon's response, that they reached out to The Inquirer to draw attention to their service issue.
It was sometime in mid-July that Emily Hammer noticed she wasn’t getting calls or texts while at home. On the 4700 block of Larchwood Avenue, she’d be met with an SOS message where reception bars should be.
Margaux Munnelly, 39, also of the 4700 block of Larchwood Avenue, noticed she couldn’t make calls while walking her dog at night.
And Jake Blanch, 38, couldn’t work in his garage near 48th and Pine Streets without losing service.
Neighbors started to compare notes and found that people between 48th and 46th Streets from Hazel Avenue to at least Pine Street had similar issues. Sometimes their phones would show a bar or two of service but they still couldn’t make calls or send texts. They were all serviced by Verizon or a subsidiary. Hammer and others started calling it a “dead zone” for service and it was more than a minor inconvenience until this week.
“If I was outside my house and there was an emergency, I couldn’t even contact the police because we have no service,” she said.
Residents reached out to the company and compared notes again. Written exchanges provided few answers and over the phone, representatives offered different explanations and “solutions.”
Hammer’s husband said he was told by a customer service representative that a “tower was redirected” during maintenance and that there are always “winners and losers.”
Munnelly and others were offered free extenders.
In a series of tedious chats with representatives from subsidiary Visible by Verizon, which allows customers to have a plan without a contract, Blanch was told to “check whether the SIM card is inserted properly and restart the device.” Finally, in a Sept. 5 chat, an agent told him, “We have checked further, and it looks like there are some issues with the cell towers in your area, which are being worked on right now.”
Yet October came and went with no remedies until The Inquirer asked Verizon about the dead zone. On Monday, a spokesperson for the company said a small cell — essentially a smaller version of a cell tower used in higher-density areas — was in need of repair. The rep said that Verizon was repairing it and that service would return to its “previous level” once the work was complete. According to the company, the affected area was about four square blocks. Verizon did not answer a laundry list of questions regarding the mixed messaging customers reported.
But by Thursday, the company said service was restored.
A spokesperson said Verizon is still investigating what caused the initial issue.
On Thursday night, some residents reported restored service. Munnelly was able to walk her dogs around the block and make calls. Blanch, however, had a less successful test with patchy service.
And there’s still anger over how little power customers such as Munnelly say they have. Residents said not having service was affecting their everyday lives.
Visiting family, friends, or contractors would have to log on to Wi-Fi to make sure they could be reached. Gig workers dropping things off or picking people up couldn’t get in touch with residents if they had Verizon. Even with Wi-Fi calling enabled and the use of extenders, residents had trouble with calls. And Munnelly said she later learned that her house alarm was affected by the service issue and she had to switch to an AT&T modem.
“I also asked, are we gonna get decreased bills for lack of service?” said Munnelly. “And they’re like, ‘No, we don’t do that.’”
Several customers said they were told they could switch carriers, but they say it wasn’t an easy choice. For people such as Hammer who travel for work, switching would mean risking having less reliable service elsewhere.
“I know Verizon has the most extensive coverage elsewhere,” said Hammer before the issues were fixed. “I don’t want to be without service on rural highways.”
Some people were also on family plans and peeling off would mean spending more. And Blanch didn’t want to be tied down to a plan, which is why he was with a Verizon subsidiary in the first place — he ultimately switched to Xfinity Mobile, which also uses Verizon’s network, because he got a deal.
Munnelly described the experience as the “most flagrant disservice to customers” she’d been through and Hammer wondered whether a more affluent neighborhood would have had to reach out to media to bring attention to the issue.
“I don’t think we would have gotten anywhere otherwise,” she said after service was restored.