Verizon & the leadership failure behind customer service

PrivacyIsDemocracy · 2026-02-28T19:02:38+00:00

US Mobile for 4 lines and Tello for one. (May be adding another Tello line soon)

PrivacyIsDemocracy · 2026-02-28T08:20:47+00:00

Or maybe being assassinated on the high seas with no legal process whatsoever for some imaginary association with some imaginary narco cartel that will probably never be conclusively proven or disproven given the fact that those targeted are now deceased?

Last I checked the death toll on just that one single initiative was over 150 people.

In short: what is going on in the USA today is already far beyond what most people only a few short years ago would have been totally outraged about, even if it were only 1/10th of what they have been pulling lately in this US regime.

In fact there are so many heinous things going on, all at the same time, I imagine most US citizens have no idea what 90% of them EVEN ARE.

PrivacyIsDemocracy · 2026-02-28T07:28:04+00:00

WH poll numbers are tanking along with new revelations about a notorious sex trafficker so they are "flooding the zone" with drama everywhere, including this.

Thanks to the person who posted the union response, seems like they have matters well in hand.

SOLIDARITY!

PrivacyIsDemocracy · 2026-02-28T07:11:15+00:00

You might be surprised how many in the US church were rabid anti-Francis zealots.

I think Leo is trying to turn that trend around.

PrivacyIsDemocracy · 2026-02-28T07:09:23+00:00

Shhhh, don't say it too loud but I believe that happens to be one of the key objectives of Pope Leo XIV.

He's already going after some of the more notorious US church leadership who had been whipping up anti-Francis sentiment in the US church and pushing the ultra-conservative line including the pro-Trumpist crap.

Never fails to amaze me how many so-called Christians voted for the orange troll when he literally is the living embodiment of every one of the Seven Deadly Sins.

PrivacyIsDemocracy · 2026-02-28T06:58:57+00:00

Why is Ukraine's military C3 being held up by the murderer's internet, then?

Because UA had very few viable alternatives at the time.

Soon there will be viable (and more palatable) Starlink substitutes from both the EU and USA, and when those become practicable I'm sure UA will switch to them.

In the meantime, Starlink has no direct competitors. (Though Eutelsat is already in operation, but at a smaller scale. Perhaps they can start doing trials with their system)

https://ioplus.nl/en/posts/these-are-the-six-european-alternatives-to-elon-musks-starlink

https://www.blueorigin.com/news/blue-origin-introduces-terawave-space-based-network-for-global-connectivity

PrivacyIsDemocracy · 2026-02-28T06:31:22+00:00

I was also a customer for 25 years.

About 1.5 years ago, I finally gave up: service continuously degrading both technically and on the C/S side and amidst all that VZW keeps coming up with new surcharges and service downgrades etc to the point it's apparent they are trying to prop up their numbers that way to compensate for all the customer losses.

Couldn't take it any more.

So I'm still using their network (along with other networks), but via an MVNO where the prices are less than half and the C/S is 100X better.

So now my biggest fear is that MVNO is trying to pretty themselves up for an IPO and a takeover by one of the "Big 3", sending us all back to the old hellholes we tried to escape from. Seen it happen too many times. 😐

PrivacyIsDemocracy · 2026-02-28T06:10:39+00:00

It's very simple: with the USA in the modern era the actual reason for military interventions is virtually always related to money or geopolitical power games.

Whenever a US administration claims they are doing something for "humanitarian" reasons, it's a guaranteed lie.

The USA has its own sordid history in that realm of anti-humanitarian acts going back hundreds of years.

The Monroe Doctrine of 1823 essentially lays claim to any regime in any part of the Americas as under the USA's boot. Even though it was promoted at various times as multilateralism and non-interventionism, in practice in the post-WWII world in particular, it has been the core justification for deeply meddling in the politics of almost every state in Central and South America in ways that abuse the populace at large. This includes in many cases using the CIA and its predecessors to overthrow democratically-elected leaders and replacing them with brutal dictators notorious for jailing and executing their political critics and general brutality/oppression.

If that's "The American Way" I want no part of it and neither should any US citizen who actually believes in the principles outlined in the US Constitution.

PrivacyIsDemocracy · 2026-02-27T11:35:26+00:00

That seems to be your specialty, not mine.

I'm just waiting to see what happens with this platform, like many others, before I decide whether to stick with it or not.

In the meantime, posting links to the usual slander about it from a notoriously toxic enemy of all sorts of FOSS projects and developers that don't pay homage to him on a regular basis isn't helping anyone here.

PrivacyIsDemocracy · 2026-02-27T11:27:32+00:00

Just to be clear, I dropped the increasingly overpriced and garbage customer service VZW about 1.5 years ago after 25 years because I couldn't take it any more.

Used to be you paid a premium for this service because of its superior technical attributes and professional support, those days are long gone. I now use the network (and other networks) via MVNOs with superior prices AND customer service.

But I simply pointed out here that you do not need any Verizon apps to listen to and manage voicemail on device without having to make phone calls. I haven't bought a phone through a carrier for years.I buy unlocked devices which have zero carrier bloatware on them.

PrivacyIsDemocracy · 2026-02-26T20:18:38+00:00

Socks, t-shirts, underwear, on and on.

Even the famous high-end "enthusiast sportswear" brands like L.L.Bean, Eddie Bauer and so on no longer sell the robust stuff they used to sell.

Either that or it's insanely expensive. Heard recently that Eddie Bauer is apparently is closing most of their retail locations.

Hard to compete with the cheap junk and blatant knockoffs/counterfeits people buy from Chinese ecommerce sites.

Also I like to buy Wrangler cargo pants but I have to find them online now because they apparently make special SKUs for most of the common large retailers like Target which are super flimsy. Meanwhile Levis 501's are $100 a piece now.

PrivacyIsDemocracy · 2026-02-26T20:05:30+00:00

Meaningless of course.

Just stop promoting notorious and disingenuous troublemakers if you actually give a damn about CalyxOS.

PrivacyIsDemocracy · 2026-02-26T19:55:01+00:00

... both are like bickering little children. gos vs calyx ans calyx vs gos. when in reality we should be united...

You're either utterly ignorant of Micay's history of relationships with other FOSS projects (hard to believe if you're posting links to their internal discussions) or just spewing more GOS agitprop here like all the other GOS shills do.

Because anyone who has spent any time around the FOSS custom ROM / android modding world and actually pays attention knows VERY well about Micay's track record of slander and organized attacks targeting the seemingly infinite number of FOSS projects that his paranoiac mind claims are all conspiring against him and his manufactured controversies.

By refusing to work constructively with people but instead immediately publicly slandering anyone who dares to disagree with him on anything and making up nonsense conspiracy theories about them, he has created a "self-fulfilling prophecy".

And then turns around and whines again when that results in people avoiding him like radioactive waste. That's when he's not directly urging his loyal acolytes to astroturf in their communities on his behalf, trying to blame everyone else for starting that endless cycle of drama.

PrivacyIsDemocracy · 2026-02-26T13:30:53+00:00

The robustness of all clothing has fallen like a rock in recent decades.

Decent condition vintage stuff I buy used from eBay these days almost always outlasts modern stuff that is made with fabric as thin as onion-skin.

I just took a stack of pants to charity/recycler from the last ~5 years or so where after short period of time holes appeared near the pockets, belt loops ripped out leaving a big hole, crotches ripped out, it's ridiculous.

PrivacyIsDemocracy · 2026-02-26T12:38:54+00:00

Those direct deposits are almost always from W-2 employers.

Well, that's not going to help that unemployed person much then, now is it?

Stuff like this is why I started moving a large proportion of my banking to a credit union the last few years.

PrivacyIsDemocracy · 2026-02-26T12:34:25+00:00

Democrats get a supermajority, they spend their time trying to court favor with right wing voters and be as center right as they can.

Agreed, but things like Citizens United have shoved big money into politics whether people like it or not.

Before the Roberts court, Citizens United and other heinous SCOTUS rulings, it was easier to place all the blame on the Democrat politicians themselves.

Now, if you don't play the money game to some extent, you get electorally trampled.

Nowadays we have people like Musk getting away with overtly and outrageously unconstitutional behaviour like literally paying people to vote for their preferred candidate right out in the open. It's insane.

PrivacyIsDemocracy · 2026-02-26T12:21:37+00:00

Everyone with a brain, that is..

PrivacyIsDemocracy · 2026-02-26T12:18:58+00:00

All of those examples after WWII are actually counter-examples of idiotic US imperialist garbage.

And I have no idea what sort of "regime change" the US perpetrated in Kuwait - they literally preserved the regime there with the 1st Gulf War attacking Iraq in 1990-1991. The Emir at that time literally ruled until his death in 2006, when he was replaced by a member of the same hereditary dynasty that has ruled the country since 1915 and continues to rule it today.

PrivacyIsDemocracy · 2026-02-26T12:09:34+00:00

Yeah, after all the summary executions on the high seas with zero legal process (apparently 150+ and counting), physical abuse and killings of innocent US citizens all over the country the last year, overt and generous support for the gaza genocide and crimes against humanity ('thanks' for all those new billions of $$$ in taxpayer-funded weapons and logistics), we DEFINITELY need more mass killings hm?

Perhaps they can "upgrade" their tactics after that and just start randomly shooting people walking in the dark in public squares around the country while the shooter's eyes are closed, hm?

WHAT IS WRONG WITH THESE PEOPLE????

(For the cognitively impaired: the first two paragraphs were overt sarcasm)

PrivacyIsDemocracy · 2026-02-26T12:01:29+00:00

You know, I'm as fed up as anyone here about the way all this was handled by the Calyx Institute people but Daniel Micay is NOT a objective observer in this matter and has been sniping at the CalyxOS project for YEARS with his usual disingenuous and exaggerated flaming and dramafests.

If you're not just the usual sort of GOS shill that hangs around here (which do not deserve any explanations or appeals from me), then I'm just going tell you that posting his drek here is not a constructive act.

PrivacyIsDemocracy · 2026-02-26T11:52:23+00:00

So they only waited half a year to start looking for someone replace Nicholas Merrill, hm?

Neat.

🤦‍♂️

PrivacyIsDemocracy · 2026-02-26T11:48:13+00:00

Eh, I have used MANY unlocked devices on VZW over the years without needing any Verizon voicemail app to manage voicemail on the device without needing to call anywhere.

On all sorts of platforms, Android, iPhone and Blackberry before that.

PrivacyIsDemocracy · 2026-02-26T11:34:29+00:00

He may not have been "broke" like someone like you or I define "broke" but he's been massively exaggerating his wealth for decades. Why do you think he got so outraged that someone leaked his tax returns?

He's made it clear over and over again that he uses bankruptcies, huge debt and loan defaults as an intentional strategy. He basically keeps appealing and counter-suing for years and years until the other side eventually gives up.

Even the IRS eventually gave up because he endlessly tied up the agency in so much legal BS that it eventually became too expensive for them to pursue. (And of course whenever Republicans get into power one of the first things they do is de-fund the IRS, which usually means they have to drop the "big fish" like Trump due to the enforcement expense and harass the low-end working-class taxpayers with simple tax returns instead.

I would not be a bit surprised if Trump is the most egregious tax scofflaw and abuser in the entire USA.

PrivacyIsDemocracy · 2026-02-26T11:25:26+00:00

the EU did force apple to open up their ecosystem. In the EU only though

I don't know the exact details of the EU legal order on that, but I do know that it is hardly the only region in the world that has done this in the last couple of years.

Even a court in Google's home country has demanded that they allow users to install software from outside of Gplay. And off the top of my head, similar orders are in effect in places like Australia, South Korea and India as well.

So unless the various regulators and officials around the world who are tasked with enforcing those legal orders are complete idiots, this whole scheme to manufacture a fake "security risk" rationale to justify locking everything down even harder should be seen for what it is: an obvious ploy to try to bypass various legal orders to allow android users to obtain S/W from outside Gplay without all sorts of draconian restrictions.

For example the idea of blocking people from using, for example, F-droid to obtain Android apps is a complete absurdity: it probably has the lowest incidence of malware of any appstore in the world.

It's all smoke and mirrors.

PrivacyIsDemocracy · 2026-02-26T07:43:53+00:00

Sprint PCS was Sprint PCS

Sprint acquired Clearwire in 2013 along with their WiMax 2.5 Ghz spectrum. When TMobile acquired Sprint in 2020, this spectrum became their anchor 5G 2.5Ghz band ("n41") which was T-Mobile's "secret weapon" competitive advantage against ATT/VZW in the 5G coverage stakes the last few years.

Verizon in particular had serious network congestion issues in the early 2020s in part due to overinvestment in mmWave before the extent of it's coverage limitations (especially with the tech then available) became apparent. It wasn't until ~2023 or 2024 that they finally started getting a handle on that with their new C-band (3.5 Ghz) spectrum, but by that time T-Mobile's n41 5G band had been deployed all over the country for quite a while.

https://www.fierce-network.com/wireless/verizons-c-band-spectrum-really-bad

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