It seems that Verizon may be stuck in the dark ages when it comes to new customers activating their Motorola Xoom tablets. CDSmith over at Reddit shares his frustration at buying a new Xoom tablet and when trying to activate a new Verizon account in order to make payments and manage their accounts. The issue lies with not being able to activate a user account since Verizon sends the activation password either by SMS text message to a phone on the same account, or via snail mail. Being that the Xoom doesn’t have a phone number, a user account can’t be activated directly. And if new users don’t have a Verizon phone on the same account, their only option is through snail mail, which is problematic since the temporary passwords are reportedly expiring before the users can receive the notification.
But here’s how CD Smith got around the issue. He returned the Xoom to the Verizon store and told them they could either activate the tablet or give him his money back. The employees had to actually ad a phone to his account temporarily (after much complaint that they couldn’t) so that he could receive the text message with the password. Then he was able to activate his account.
Seems like a clunky way to get an account working. But the Xoom isn’t the only one. The iPad is also problematic in that users have to connect the device to iTunes with a computer in order to activate a user account. If a user doesn’t have another computer, they’re forced to have the store activate it for them. There has to be a better way, but clearly, it appears that no one is interested in discovering it.
[via Reddit]
The problem isn’t that the tablet cannot be activated, its that you cannot create your Verizon online account information without a Verizon Device that can receive text messages. The tablet itself can be activated just fine. The line on the account that the tablet uses does have a phone number like any other line, but the Xoom cannot send or receive SMS messages or phone calls. This unfortunately introduces a different problem in that the owner will have to pay $0.20 for each SMS message sent to that phone number, even though the device has no way of handling it. A Verizon rep told me that the pay-per-text feature is required for the Xoom and cannot be turned off or blocked.
The iPad just has to be plugged into a computer for about 10 seconds to be “unbricked”, no account creation or anything else for that matter needs to be done.
I suspect part of the problem is sales force ignorance. The rep at the local Verizon store activated it on site, doubled checked to be sure it was 3G active, sent a test email…wham bank, thank you ma’am.
The Xoom does have a phone number, and can be activated because it also has an esn/mid. The Xoom is assigned a phone number, you just can’t sign up for an online account quickly without a phone that is capable of receiving SMS messages. The device cannot receive text messages, so charges cannot be assessed for SMS or mms that is never properly delivered, so no worries there. And if for some crazy reason you get a text charge on the line with your Xoom, Verizon will credit that immediately. This business of saying that Verizon requires you pay. 20¢ per text is assinine, if the device doesn’t receive it than you have no worries. Now there have been some issues with Xoom’s being shipped out in a different box with a different mid on the box than on the device, which happened to me, however my device connected correctly after I determined the issue.
I don’t think the SMS charges are a problem so much as they are a nuisance.
I too faced the same issue of setting up verizon wireless account, the issue is more for new Verizon customers. Have to be in call with customer support for about an hour to finally came to know they would send by mail the temporary password. Yesterday I got my temporary password and can set the account up successfully.
-Suriya.
I have had this same issue…been working with Verizon to try and get it figured out for about a week. Yesterday I finally received my temporary password (3 of them, because it changes every time you attempt to login) and was able to login and create my account. The funny thing that I noticed, are the text messages that Verizon attempted to send to me showed up on my bill and Verizon charged me for them! It was only 2 for a total of $0.40 but still…the nerve of these people. Anyway, I am fixed…good luck to you all that are still working with this issue.
The online activation of the account management doesn’t work without sms, but If you are in fact, in the 21st century, you know how to click the chat icon during the setup process… an agent should respond within 30 seconds, provide your name and “phone number” that is assigned to your xoom… took the agent all of 2 minutes to get me a temp password.
The online activation of the account management doesn’t work without sms, but If you are in fact, in the 21st century, you know how to click the chat icon during the setup process… an agent should respond within 30 seconds, provide your name and “phone number” that is assigned to your xoom… took the agent all of 2 minutes to get me a temp password.
Well if you really want to get into your account heres how. First you need to root your xoom. then you should look on the xda forums for
CRT Anim + Desktop UA String + SIP + SMS + Langs
install that framework-res.apk then download and instal handcent. app now after all this work now u can recieve that sneaky text from verizon.
i have a problem i have a too many attemps for my password, what should i do?