Apple Watch and phone synch issues both purchased through Verizon — need help

My wife got an apple ultra watch, and Verizon makes you pay a monthly cellular service charge of $15 for the watch…. however, the Watch wont activate the standalone cell service or any text features by itself. It has to be near a phone just like the old versions of the Apple Watch and if it is too far away, or my wife’s phone is turned off, all the watch does is tell the time.

This is a known issue to Verizon support and they are being difficult about me trying to return the watch or even getting a $15 credit because the cell service isn’t working. Is anybody else experiencing this bullshite?

What did you do to solve this so that your watch rings just like your phone even if your phone is turned off?

Doesn’t help with my sanity that their customer service is outsourced to the Philippines and their English is fricking atrocious and all they do is read from this stupid little book that’s supposed to solve every little problem. It’s useless.

Rant over.