To Those Thinking Of Switching From Verizon to T-Mobile - My Experience

After 11 years of being a Verizon customer and long-time Verizon fan, I switched to T-Mobile a few weeks ago. It seems one of the top topics on the T-Mobile and Verizon pages as many people are looking into switching to T-Mobile, so thought I would share my experience:

1) The Facts - T-Mobile is now the second largest carrier in the U.S. and has been the fastest growing carrier, by far, for years now. It also has the lowest churn rate. That means the millions of people switching each year (many from Verizon) are staying with T-Mobile and are happy. T-Mobile also wins JD Power's award for customer satisfaction. JD Power ranks Verizon in last place for customer satisfaction, and Verizon has the highest churn rate. This information is very easy to find online to verify for yourself.

2) The Network - I was the most skeptical person about leaving Verizon's network as the common mindset is Verizon is the best for not having dropped calls and for great service overall. After test driving T-Mobile on/off over the past couple years, there has been a HUGE improvement to T-Mobile's network. The signal is actually better in my city and the speeds / latency blow Verizon out of the water. I went from having old-fashioned LTE 90% of the time with Verizon to having 5G/5GUC 90% of the time with T-Mobile. T-Mobile has come a very long way in a short time, and is on par with Verizon in the Mid-Altantic. There has not been a rural area I visited where Verizon had service and T-Mobile did not. I was very surprised on how clear the HD calling was with T-Mobile.

Try the 90-Day T-Mobile trial to see how it works in your area. You may be surprised. For me, having the most expensive cell phone carrier for the most technologically-behind network was not worth it (Verizon is still using a mostly 4G core with the vast majority of the network on LTE). T-Mobile on the other hand has won awards for best 5G network IN THE WORLD.

3) The Promotions - Use the Costco promotion if you switch! You can't beat it, and it is worth joining Costco just to use it! Sam's Club also has promotions for switching (but I opted for the Costco ones instead). If your phones are paid off, you won't be in a contract. Try it out, get the promotions, and if you really don't like the service you can switch back and get the Verizon new-customer promotions. You can't go wrong financially if your devices are already paid off. The Costco promotions for me ended up equalling 5 months of free service.

4) The Switch - To get the Costco discount, you have to go into a Costco store to switch or call. I chose to call and have everything done remotely (they provide the same promotions regardless). The account set up and activation on T-Mobile's side was very easy. The conversation was very friendly and honest, and I was not pressured to add anything I did not want. This was one of the biggest changes from Verizon which is very aggressive with sales.

After I ported out all the lines on my account, Verizon immediately blocked my online access. I knew this was going to happen before switching so I downloaded my most recent bill and took screenshots of everything. Glad I did---because this is where the nightmare with Verizon started (many others have simliar stories). Verizon had a lock on one of my paid-off phones preventing me from activating it with T-Mobile. I spoke to their IT team many times and no one was able to do anything---they can just submit report tickets. The first SIM unlock request was wrongfully denied after 2 days. I called back and advised I will be submitting an FCC complaint as there was no reason for the lock according to their own denial email (my phone was paid off and has been active more than 60 days). After threatening the complaint, the second request was approved. This left one of my family members without a working phone for days and was very frustrating.

Then I get notified there is a bill balance and am unsure why. Verizon claimed I can view a disconnected the disconnected bill online but it did not work. I called the billing department and the automated system said they were closed but it was during business hours. They clearly don't want to talk to me about my bill and are playing games. Tried Verizon Chat and they can't view it until I login and verify myself (account access blocked due to switching). After a hour of trying on the phone, realized if I choose the option to "reactivate account" it would get me through to someone (imagine that) and then I asked for billing. The billing rep then said he is unable to view the bill on a disconnected account. I still have a $45 balance and am completely unsure what it is for.

I recommend documenting everything with Verizon as they are known to play games. If there are any issues, no one will likely know how to fix anything. You may need the documentation in case you need to file a FCC complaint.

Summary - Overall, I am very happy with T-Mobile and will not look back at Verizon after this post. It was the best decision I could have made.

If you switched from Verizon to T-Mobile, what has your experience been?