Recently, my sister decided to transfer phones, from a SIM-based model to one that only accepted eSIM. Everything about the transfer went well… except for the eSIM part.
It failed to transfer, and we were stuck scratching our heads as to why. The previous phone was successfully deactivated, it's just that the new phone never activated at all. It didn't even know its own phone number.
As one does, we download the carrier's app. It asks for us to sign in, so we entered her phone number, and it told us that it had sent us a code over SMS to authenticate. Seriously?
So I log into my personal account, and open a support chat. The Verizon rep and I spend an hour and a half trying different things, trying to get the device to activate the eSIM. Every time we finish a round of troubleshooting that doesn't work, I ask, "hey, we live in an area with no cell coverage, should we drive the phone to cell service?". Every time, they insist that it's absolutely not necessary. Even the automated chatbot insists that it's not necessary!
My blog software doesn't support alt text for galleries, so i'll describe here - this is showing the chatbot insisting that cell coverage isn't necessary
oh...
Even the humans don't seem to understand the concept of areas without coverage. "How many bars does it say you have?" ZERO. OBVIOUSLY.
"Does it say 'No Service', or 'SOS Only'?" It takes me 3 tries to get it through their thick skulls that we have Wi-Fi and Wi-Fi calling, just not cell coverage.
"Can you keep this chat open as you drive to an area with cell coverage?". HOW DO YOU THINK I'M SUPPOSED TO CHAT WITH YOU ON THE ROAD WHEN THERE IS NO CELL COVERAGE IN MY AREA?!
And my personal favorite, "Please stay in this chat for the next 8 hours, in order to keep the eSIM activation ready", when I mentioned that I was going to sleep and would drive the phone out to civilization in 8 hours.
Every time, they swear up and down that you can activate eSIMs perfectly fine using Wi-Fi alone. In fact, the Verizon website encourages, and in some cases requires Wi-Fi to be available for eSIM activation. Yet no requirement listed for cell coverage.
It took me talking with the reps for AN HOUR AND A HALF to finally get them to admit that yes, the phone does need to ping a Verizon tower to complete activation, and that we did need to drive to the city. Fucking hell.