Very late voice mail notification

[sf68864]

I've been getting insanely late voice mails - like as much as a whole day after they're left - for several months. AT&T's technical bufoons (they censored the word "1d1ots") come up with a tremendous (and occasionally hilarious) variety of excuses, but none have yet offered a solution. One actually suggested that I might be on a Verizon tower rather than an AT&T one. Right, my phone suddenly became a CDMA one. This is unacceptable - I miss important calls and have no idea someone left a message. I know I'm not the only one experiencing this. I think it constitutes a reduction in services, and we should therefore be compensated, since they're doing nothing to fix this problem. We need to tally the number of people experiencing this and look into possible remedies.

[damonandamber]

I noticed the delay in voicemails and multiple non-reporting of missed called back in early September.  I've contacted AT&T multiple times who never provide any useful information.  I love my iPhone, but if it will not function as a phone properly, I am going to have to make a switch. 

The last chat session I had with an AT&T customer support person stated that I should turn off my phone every day and turn it back on later.  She claimed that tip will prevent many of the "network"-related issues with voicemail and missed calls.  Now I can't speak for others, but I've never had to do that on a different phone on the different carriers I have used over the last decade plus. 

It would be nice to get an actual AT&T response that is not canned and lacks any useful information.  This customer is not going to wait very long to get a reasonable explanation for why you can not provide consistent and reliable phone service.

[ripleyr1]

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sf68864 wrote:
I've been getting insanely late voice mails - like as much as a whole day after they're left - for several months. AT&T's technical bufoons (they censored the word "1d1ots") come up with a tremendous (and occasionally hilarious) variety of excuses, but none have yet offered a solution. One actually suggested that I might be on a Verizon tower rather than an AT&T one. Right, my phone suddenly became a CDMA one. This is unacceptable - I miss important calls and have no idea someone left a message. I know I'm not the only one experiencing this. I think it constitutes a reduction in services, and we should therefore be compensated, since they're doing nothing to fix this problem. We need to tally the number of people experiencing this and look into possible remedies.

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I'm not saying you have done so but if your phone is jailbroke this can do things to the phone to interfere with the basic operations.

[ecount00]

Enough with the excuses. My phone isn't jail broken or anything else. It just doesnt notify me that i have voice mail until days later. Numerous calls to ATT get nowhere. Lots of boards outside of the the ATT cheerleader stuff here are lit up with this. It's not an isolated incident nor is due to non standard uses. ATT is blaming Apple, Apple is blaming ATT. Meanwhile I have to manually check multiple times a day for voicemails. The last time I waited one out for visual vmail to notify me, it took 4 days. Pathetic service.

[BrianfromNO]

Have you done anything on your phone to try and fix this?  Are you having problems with anything else?  Email?  Internet connectivity?  Additionally, are you in an area where you lose connectivity?  An office?  A subway?

You might want to try resetting your network settings on your phone, to see if that makes a difference.

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ecount00 wrote:
Enough with the excuses. My phone isn't jail broken or anything else. It just doesnt notify me that i have voice mail until days later. Numerous calls to ATT get nowhere. Lots of boards outside of the the ATT cheerleader stuff here are lit up with this. It's not an isolated incident nor is due to non standard uses. ATT is blaming Apple, Apple is blaming ATT. Meanwhile I have to manually check multiple times a day for voicemails. The last time I waited one out for visual vmail to notify me, it took 4 days. Pathetic service.

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[gcp238]

I'm here on the board for the same reason and have had the same problem. It's very intermittent and the delay is random. This time the message showed up 4 days late. From a potential new business customer! No help from AT&T. You are not alone.

[sf68864]

My phone is not jailbroken (nor is my wife's, she's having the same problems), we power it down regularly, data connectivity is mostly fine, dropped call rate is average for ATT (that is to say, pretty gosh darn poor). But not getting voice mail notificcations is something I;ve never experienced, even going back to the bad old 80's.My big problem is that this is my only phone - I haven't had a landline for years, because I haven't needed it. AT&T is changing that, with a level of service that harkens back to the very early days of cell phones.  they'r esimply incapable of delivering the services they charge for, and that's unacceptable. It is changes what is probalby the best concept ever for a portable communications device into a toy. A very expensive toy. I suspect that when Verizon gets the iphone, ATT will "miraculously" upgrade their network. Until then, they're busy building ill will among their most lucrative customers.

[moorepheus]

It really sucks you people are having these issues. I don't think it's the phone as much as I think it's the area you are in and the amount of traffic in that area.  I live in Niagara Falls, NY.  I just called my phone, let it go to vioce mail and w/in 20 seconds after I hung up, my iPhone notified me that I had an Voice Mail.  Are you having issues with MMS sending and receiving too?  I am not trying to make excuses for AT&T or APPLE, but I have 3 iPhones on my plan and they all work very very well here in Niagara Falls, NY.  No dropped calls, MMS works great (takes about 20-25 seconds to send) and I can send/receive MMS from AT&T, Verizon and t-mobile customers.   I sure hope you find a solution to your issue.

[Demetri70]

80% of VZW customers don't have data plans, and there network would be way worse off then AT&T with the iPhone, not to mention how badly they would butcher the software and add there junk!! Thank You AT&T for my GREAT service!!

[reader0023]

About half these problems can be corrected with the device, the other half may be network related. If everyone can take some simple steps to ensure they are not causing thier own problem, then it would be less frustrating for them.

- Most people never turn thier phone off, which will cause network connectivity and signal/service problems. Power it down completely more often. You do realize these are mini-computers, right?  Don't you reboot your computer at home on a regular basis? It is the same idea for the iPhone or any phone for that matter.

- Most people keep their wifi on all the time, which drains the battery and is not needed unless they are not in att coverage area.

- Tethering?  Don't do it!  Don't jailbreak your phone.. if you want to tie up the network even more with high usage data transactions than go for it, but you may be causing yours and everyone's problem.  If we are worried about not having network availabliity, why would we cause more strain on the network. Does nobody realize how much data is transfered via tethering?  Does nobody realize that this is not supported, hence that you have to download an unsupported app from the internet to do it? Not to mention it breaks the visual voicemail.  Don't get your visual voicmail or notifications?  Then remove the us.att or ben.m profile (settings>general>profile) and power your phone off and on.  wala your voicemail floods in.  Att or Apple problem? No.

I see so many people complaining about thier service, yet sometimes it is their device.  Your iphone not getting service, but your friends 3G LG is? Then its your phone, not the network.  If you take care of it and reboot it once in awhile it may like you more.  Make sure its fully updated to the latest software.

For the issues that are plain network related, meaning coverage is poor no mater who or what phone is being used, then unfortunately we have to give them time to increase coverage, which they are constantly doing to keep up with all of us and the people that are overusing the service with tethering. We all have to remember that cell phones are wireless, not hooked to a wire. They are also supposed to be a convenience, not necessity.  We are depending on radio signals that go through the air (not solid objects), and we expect it to work 100% of the time.  If having phone service is a life line for us, we should be holding on to our landlines in our homes.

[satchev]

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sf68864 wrote:
I've been getting insanely late voice mails - like as much as a whole day after they're left - for several months. AT&T's technical bufoons (they censored the word "1d1ots") come up with a tremendous (and occasionally hilarious) variety of excuses, but none have yet offered a solution. One actually suggested that I might be on a Verizon tower rather than an AT&T one. Right, my phone suddenly became a CDMA one. This is unacceptable - I miss important calls and have no idea someone left a message. I know I'm not the only one experiencing this. I think it constitutes a reduction in services, and we should therefore be compensated, since they're doing nothing to fix this problem. We need to tally the number of people experiencing this and look into possible remedies.

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Did you have AT&T service prior to the iPhone?

If so, was it good? acceptable? bad? or Horrible?

Frankly, you come across as someone who switched to AT&T to get the iPhone without investigating the coverage in your area and based on that selecting the provider with the best coverage.

I am in no way trying to take AT&T's side here, but you as the consumer must make the best choice for yourself.  

I have had minor issues with missed calls not showing up and voicemail notifications taking longer than expected.  A reboot of my iPhone has always resolved the issue.  Of course, I'm in an area with great coverage... and not just EDGE, but 3G almost everywhere I go.

I really feel sorry for those in crappy coverage areas, but if you feel another provider will give you better coverage then SWITCH!

It is really a simply matter of paying the ETF (if you are still in contract) and taking your number elsewhere.

No one is holding a gun to your head and forcing you to stay with AT&T.

[coldwintersun]

We are having the same problem. No, our phones are not jail broken. Yes, we power down our phones regularly. No, we did not switch to AT&T just to get an iPhone. We've been customers for nearly 5 years. Not only are we missing important voice mails (accessible only if we call into our voice mail), we are missing phone calls; I can call my sister about 10 times and it might go through once. The area we live in has excellent wireless and 3G coverage.

I certainly hope we'd all be compensated for this incredible lack of service but they don't seem to be willing to help out at all.

[nbaylinson]

If your service was fine before the iphone, and has become lessened since receiving one, I would take that up with apple.  If you look around on the forums as well as on google, you will find it documented that the iphone is not so great as an actual PHONE.  A superior device in web browsing and applications, but the phone side of things leaves much to be desired.  Again, seeing as how you are long-standing customers and have experienced issues since getting an iphone, you should go to your genius bar at the apple store.

[sf68864]

AT&T's problems are well documented. New York is hardly a marginal area, yet they can't deal with the volume they INVITED by selling the iphone. At this point, their best bet is to let go of the exclusivity contract they have, since they clearly have no idea how to service their client base, and even resort to such absurdities as asking people to limit their bandwidth useage (while paying for unlimited service). AT&T's management { Please keep it courteous } they are actually blaming their customers for using what they paid for. This will be a textbook case of an epic business fail for years to come.

Message Edited by Caretaker on 12-11-2009 11:27:25 AM

[drumn_bass]

To the OP. Am I reading your posts right? "But not getting voice mail notificcations is something I;ve never experienced" So you're receiving them but your phone won't notify you? That is what it sounds like when you say that you have to manually check them. Please correct me if I'm wrong, but if that's the case, the problem is with the phone and Apple is to blame, not AT&T. It will have nothing to do with their network if voicemail is delivered, but you don't get a notification, it would most likely be a software problem. Did you try to restore your phone (as a new phone, and not from the back up)?

[reader0023]

It is usually due to a tethering profile that most people don't even know that they have. Some had downloaded it, some had not.  If you are not recieving your 'visual' voicemail or your notifications go to settings>general>profile.  If you see benm or usatt in there then these are tethering profiles and need to be removed. Once you remove them, turn the phone off and back on (not sleep mode) and when your phone boots back up the voicemail will flood in.  Try it..

This is not ATT error, it is from downloading some sort of appliation that has to do with tethering. You may not have even realized it, but if the profiles are there, then thats your problem.

[dls1974]

riddle me this then, smarty pants. I don't have an I phone, i do not have the internet on my cell phone, it's . just. a. phone. Nothing else, no texting nothing it's a phone.  I get voicemail notifications MANY DAYS LATE. (up to four days late) I turn off my phone every day.  what's the excuse there? oh and i live in a major metropolitan area so don't give me excuses about that.

[b7i8l9l0]

I have heard of similar issues with other phones too...  I think it might be a sim card issue to be honest...  I would take the phone to an ATT store and ask for a new sim.

[wireless-user]

OK,  I've been getting international text messages delayed by 24 - 36 hours..

Try explaining that one to AT&T support....

This occured on a plain Jane iPhone 4, no JB, in a large US city..

[unhapuser]

This is not unique to an Iphone, same problem with the a Nokia lumia 900.  Get off the plane turn on the phone and no messages if I am luck a day later. Frustrating when you have been out of the country. Never was a problem with the Razr.

[ShaunMN]

I would like to thank everyone for taking the time to post your comments and opinions related to this topic. This topic has been thoroughly discussed and will now be closed, as it is very old. If you still have questions, please start a new topic.