My Cell Phone Can't Receive Calls!

Or...Other People Can't Call My Cell Phone!

Here is a problem that cell phone clients and wireless carrier customer service reps both have a very hard time understanding.

So often, when someone hears that another person cannot call them, they distort the issue and say "my cell phone cannot receive calls".

Let's make sure you understand: THERE IS NO SUCH THING AS A PHONE THAT CANNOT RECEIVE CALLS FROM ANOTHER PHONE.

But…there IS such a thing as a phone that cannot call another phone.

Think of it this way: if you attempt to troubleshoot this issue from a "can't receive calls" point of view, you will arrive at incorrect conclusions.

Saying “I can’t receive calls…whah” is a passive problem. If you think like that, you have traces of a victim- mindset, so you might want to watch some more Dr Phil for that.

But having troubles MAKING CALLS is an ACTIVE problem, and THAT is where you always want to initiate your troubleshooting investigation.

KEY POINT: The party that can't make the call is the party that investigates the call. 

Burn the above expression into your mind.  99% of the time, the initiation point of the issue is also the origin of the issue.  So if a landline can't call a wireless phone, the owner of that landline phone must call their carrier.  If a different mobile phone can't call your mobile phone, that acquaintance of yours needs to call their provider. 

Because this is such a simple idea, very few people seem to grasp the concept.

Keep in mind, it IS correct that every now and then the issue ends up being on the receiving telco's end...and occasionally the issue is with some 3^rd party that is transporting the local or long distance traffic, but the main way this will be verified is if the originating carrier reproduces the call.  Then they will trace it to the problem area.

TIP: when the caller/originator contacts their customer service department, they should only say "I can't call (blank) number".  They should NOT say the name of the telco that provides the number they’re attempting to call.

All too often, the under-trained phone rep will say "Oh, you can't call (blank) company?  Ok, then, it has got to be their issue." 

Who knows why, but when customer service reps hear the name of another carrier, they get dumb in a flash and start pointing fingers away from themselves…the clear source of the issue. 

I hope those reps have a chance to read this commentary.

All in all, the person that can't make the call MUST compel their provider to create a trouble ticket.  If your family/friend/client can't call YOU, but THEY don't think they should have to deal with the problem, you're kind of stuck, aren't you? 

You could call your own phone provider and scream like a idiot, and demand that they fix it...but think of the predicament you just put that poor service rep in; they now need to look up what provider your family/friend/client is on, and possibly what long distance carrier they use, and then they'll need to call around those other companies trying to find someone to fix a problem that your family/friend/client should just do themselves.  Now there's TWO MIDDLE MEN (the service rep and yourself) stuck in the middle of a problem that you should not be involved with.

Why not ask the cleaning lady to handle it?!  She's just as pertinent to the issue as everybody else in the middle!

In the end, you need to keep one thing in mind:

Whoever can't make the call, investigates the call.