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velocipede · Mar 9, 2011, 11:24 AM

Anyone had any luck retrieving lost voicemails when switching to a Verizon iPhone from a different Verizon phone? My wife just switched, and was told by the Apple rep (bought at an Apple Store) that voicemails would transfer. Unfortunately, that was BS, and now she's lost voicemails left by her father years ago, and he's suffering from dementia now. So, this is really frustrating. I've searched the web but had no luck, but I'm hoping someone here has had a similar experience.

ghporter · Mar 9, 2011, 05:18 PM

Have you contacted Verizon customer service on this? It sounds like a great opportunity for them to get good publicity for helping a customer out.

mduell · Mar 11, 2011, 10:15 PM

Can we talk about the wisdom of relying on your carrier to keep important voicemails indefinitely?

AKcrab · Mar 11, 2011, 10:32 PM

You would probably be shocked how many people never sync their iphone. They'll have 2000 pictures of the new baby, and voicemails from their dead parent or sibling... And then they come crying to us when the phone goes belly up.

ghporter · Mar 12, 2011, 07:04 AM

Shocked? Probably not. Saddened is more like it, at least for me. Way too many people consider technology to be some sort of "magic box" that anticipates their needs and does things the user doesn't even know need doing. Too bad for such users, but it's just as much a tool as a can opener, and it's up to the user to make sure they're opening the right can...

velocipede · Mar 13, 2011, 01:17 PM

You would probably be shocked how many people never sync their iphone. They'll have 2000 pictures of the new baby, and voicemails from their dead parent or sibling... And then they come crying to us when the phone goes belly up.

The wisdom of my wife's choice notwithstanding, does anyone have some useful information to impart? Let me repeat the point of the question, which was about voicemails from a Verizon phone that is NOT an iPhone. I get that this forum is mostly tech-savvy consumers, and, generally, I'm one of them, but I'm talking about my wife's phone here, not mine. More to the point, we specifically asked the rep at the Apple Store whether the voicemails would transfer, and we were told YES. So please don't make any assumptions, and take a moment to actually read what was written.

mduell · Mar 13, 2011, 05:42 PM

Why haven't you called Verizon yet? Or if you have, mentioned what they (the definitive source, not some Apple goon) said?

velocipede · Mar 13, 2011, 06:34 PM

Originally Posted by mduell

Why haven't you called Verizon yet? Or if you have, mentioned what they (the definitive source, not some Apple goon) said?

Yeah, my wife called Verizon (after my initial post), but the support rep said it was a no go. I was hoping someone might have had a good story of getting a similar issue escalated to the point of resolution or some other solution, but it's not looking good.
On a related note, we also discovered after the purchase that call blocking isn't an option on iPhones, at least on VZW. Unfortunately that means the wierdo that calls my wife at 1:00 to harass her now has the ability to do so again. I've found a passable workaround, but these weird quirks are annoying and surprising (and I've been an AT&T iPhone user since day one, literally).