Catch-22: working phone line required to repair my broken phone line
CoastHighway
Newbie

I have one phone - a Verizon landline - which requires repair. Verizon support tells me I need a working phone number in order to repair the broken one, because the technician has to make a confirmation call to me, prior to arriving.

Can anyone see a solution other than replacing my landline with a mobile phone?

Even if you see a solution to the above scenario, the situation is a little more complicated. The landline is on the 3rd floor of a locked apartment building. The building uses a phone-entry intercom system for visitors to make their arrival known. This means that if my phone line is broken, then my intercom is also broken. So even if the technician can arrive without the confirmation call, he won't be able to contact my apartment.

I offered to wait outside to meet the technician, provided the appointment could be made at a specific time. Of course, Verizon doesn't do anything more specific than an 8 hour time frame.

You'd think that Verizon would have a strategy ready for such a situation, since the company existed in times when most people had no mobile phone and only one landline. However, tech support offered no solution.

Can anyone think of a solution that doesn't require me to replace my landline with a mobile phone, or do we live in an age where ownership of a mobile phone can no longer be avoided?

OTHER INFO:
The phone and DSL come through the same line. Currently, the internet connection in spotty and the phone signal often isn't strong enough for a dial tone. It's possible for me to do some email and internet messaging if I'm patient, but occasionally it's down for long periods.

0 Likes
Re: Catch-22: working phone line required to repair my broken phone line
mfizzy
Specialist - Level 1

Call back. Someone didnt know what they were saying. Even without you home a tech can verify  and repair outside issues. If you have a NID and can check it for dialtone, you may not need to be home for repair. If there is not dialtone at the NID is outside then you do not need to be there.

0 Likes
Re: Catch-22: working phone line required to repair my broken phone line
CoastHighway
Newbie

... Then none of support knows what they're saying, because I've spoken with multiple representatives and they all tell me that a technician requires that the customer have a working phone number; that the technician will call me before arriving, and if I don't pick up, he won't show up.

If Verizon's policy is any different than what I've described, then surely a representative can respond here; but so far, silence.

Regarding the NID, the technician requires entrance to the locked apartment building before he can access the NID. If I'm not reachable, he can try contacting other tenants for entry, but I suspect most technicians won't go to that length.

0 Likes