I’m in the middle of moving my family plan from Verizon to T-Mobile, and Verizon has not made it easy.
I hesitated for years. We have seven phones and two watches spread across two cities five hundred miles apart — exactly the kind of account carriers love. The bigger and more geographically scattered the plan, the less likely you are to leave. Inertia is their most powerful retention tool.
Several things finally pushed me to act. Verizon’s substantial communications contracts with ICE — second only to AT&T — made me uncomfortable. I’ve been supportive of the boycott efforts encouraged by Neil Young and Scott Galloway, urging consumers to rethink where they spend money.
There were practical reasons too. T-Mobile includes international data at no extra charge and offers free in-flight Wi-Fi on airlines like Alaska, Delta, and Southwest. Their network performance is widely considered comparable to Verizon’s. And several phones on my account were aging. The best upgrade deals, of course, are reserved for new customers — not loyal ones.
Before pulling the trigger, I wrote to Verizon’s CEO. After 17 years as a customer, I asked for clarity about the company’s ICE involvement and explained I was considering leaving. I never received a response.
That made the decision easier.
The Friction Begins
A T-Mobile agent walked me through the promotions and sent a written proposal. Five new phones, $800 credits per line, and clear pricing. All I needed from Verizon was a “port-out PIN” to transfer our numbers.
Simple — in theory.
When I logged into Verizon’s website to generate the PIN, I received the same error message repeatedly: “Error occurred with authentication.” The app produced the same result. They provided a number to call.
I called and an agent answered quickly and immediately asked why I was leaving. I requested the PIN first. He countered with a retention pitch: four free phones and a $70 monthly loyalty credit. I asked him to send the offer in writing and we scheduled a follow-up call.
He never sent the proposal. He never called back.
I proceeded with T-Mobile.
The Transfer
The hardware transition was surprisingly painless. Place the old and new iPhones side-by-side, wait about ten minutes, and everything transfers — apps, settings, photos. An Android phone is nearly as easy – just requires an Apple app from the Play Store. You simply skip the step that moves the cellular plan. The old phone keeps working; the new phone activates with a temporary number.
The final step is porting the number. Provide the account number and port PIN. Two minutes later, the Verizon number works on T-Mobile.
Until it doesn’t.
When transferring the fourth line a few days later, I tried logging back into Verizon to retrieve the account number. Even though I was still the primary account administrator, I was locked out. Since my primary number had already ported, Verizon could no longer verify me through text. The system demanded another active number and the answer to a security question I had set up 17 years earlier.
Eventually, after bouncing authentication texts between two cities, I got in.
Then another surprise: the account number had disappeared from where it had previously been displayed. My son — whose line was still active — eventually found it buried in tiny print in an obscure section of the site.
It shouldn’t require a scavenger hunt to leave a service.
The Result
We now have new phones and full service at roughly the same monthly cost. International roaming issues are gone. Airline Wi-Fi is included. Functionally, nothing is worse. Several things are better.
What disappointed me wasn’t that Verizon tried to retain me — that’s expected. It was the lack of follow-through combined with all the friction. If you want to compete, compete. Offer a compelling proposal. Send it in writing. Call when you say you will. Instead, the only consistent response was resistance.
And I’m not alone. Over the past year, T-Mobile has added roughly 3.3 million phone subscribers, while Verizon has experienced subscriber losses. Customers are moving.
Carriers know that switching is hard. Family plans, device payments, authentication loops — all create drag. The system is designed for acquisition, not exit.
When you make it difficult for customers to leave and they eventually do — you’re insuring they will never come back.
