A relative complained to Verizon that she had trouble making calls on a trip through Georgia. Her phone is six years old. The saleswoman gave the phone to a technician who a said the transmitter was wearing out and she needed to buy a new phone. The saleswoman offered her a choice of second-hand phones.
In this area the phone works as well as ever, so my relative decided not to replace it until she takes another long trip.
Do cellphone transmitters normally get weak as they age? Wouldn't that cause a problem in normal use? My neighbor has two relatives who switched providers because both found Verizon's coverage unsatisfactory on trips through Georgia. Does it sound as if Verizon is conning my relative?
[TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: At first blush, I would say your relative got a con job. The cellphone transmitter has no idea where it is at; its job is just to radiate RF. If the phone works okay at your house, it should work as well in Georgia; I cannot imagine that Georgia has cellphone towers any further apart than cellphone towers are in your area of the country, and all that should really matter in the case of a 'transmitter getting weak from age' is how far it has to look for a tower. If it can find a tower, that should end the problem of 'old age'. PAT]