In A Tight Spot, A Prepaid Phone Can Replace A Broken One
Reader Brandi's expensive T-Mobile Dash broke after only 7 months, leaving her phoneless and sad. The T-Mobile store was unhelpful — as she'd already used her phone discount to buy the now-broken Dash. What to do?
Brandi says:
Recently my expensive T-Mobile Dash broke after only 7 months of use. I had to get another phone, so I went to my local T-Mobile store and browsed their selection, but was told I would only be able to get a "partial" discount on the price of a phone because I had gotten a discount several months before that, and you only get the full phone discount once every 22 months. Even with the meager discount they offered, the price of a new phone would have set me back at least $90 for all but the least expensive phone that was a little too basic for me.
I left and went and read some information online and found out that you can buy a packaged t-mobile phone that is sold as a "pre-paid" phone and simply insert your SIM car and have it work like any other phone. They had one model available with a camera (which was my only requirement) and I purchased it for $55.
When the salesperson was ringing me up, she started trying to set up the phone. I told her not to worry about it because I wasn't going to be using it as a pre-paid phone, but I was going to put my own SIM card in there. She got really quiet and sad that she would "have to pretend that I didn't hear that."
My guess is that they don't want it leaking out that you can do that, because even though the phones are cheaper, when they sell a phone as pre-paid, the price for minutes more than makes up for it.
I inserted my SIM card into the phone and it worked perfectly and just like any other new phone I would have purchased.
Don't worry, Brandi — T-Mobile is still making lots of money having you as a customer — and a happy one at that. We're sure they won't begrudge you the use of a prepaid phone.
What do you do when your phone breaks? eBay a used one? Unlock an old model? Does this tip work on other carriers? Share your phone emergency tips in the comments.
(Photo:NYCviaRachel)
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I had heard this technique also. Searching a local Craigslist for a similar carrier phone saves on the unlock issue unless the phone to be unlocked is same or better than the broken one.
When mine broke, I eBay'd a used one for less than half what the provider wanted for new. Put the SIM card in and was back in action.
4mo later I dropped the phone on the cement floor in the gym's change room and it too was toast.
I'm really hard on phones - lucky I don't have pets or kids, eh?
i bought a t-mobile prepaid phone online a while back, it was a cheap little nokia but i didn't need it for much, only emergency calls and texts if my current phone were to break. i bought it for $20 minus $20 instant rebate (which also came with $20 refill card). my free phone came in handy last month when my roommate lost his $400 phone on the bus (he was drunk).
Yeah, you can do this with ATT as well.
On a semi-related note, when your contract is up, ATT and TMobile will give you the unlock code allowing you to sell your phone on ebay as an unlocked phone, which either carrier can use (in the united states).
I've stocked up on a couple phones from ATT's website when they had prepaid phones for $10. You'll never know when you drop your phone in the toilet.
I did the same thing at Verizon, even though they don't use SIM cards. When I accidentally washed my cell phone, I went to a Verizon store for a replacement, and they tried to soak me for nearly $200, even though I carried insurance (on another cell phone in my family plan). I went to wal-mart, picked up a new prepaid phone for $19 and took it back to the Verizon store, where they applied the code (IDS number, I believe - it was printed right on the package) to my account. It worked perfectly, although I lost my address book and had to restore the data manually. Cell phone contract terms are outrageous - Seems we get no break for being long-standing customers who pay $Thousands per year in cell fees - in my case, for minutes that never get used.
She got really quiet and sad that she would "have to pretend that I didn't hear that."
Why? Is she legally bound to call the police or something? Are they not going to sell her the phone if she doesn't promise to use it the right way? There's no contract, right?
I just keep my old cellphones around. Not only does it save me not having to worry about them floating around in the world w/my meager contact list, but if I every destroy my phone, I can use one of them as a back up. I just wish the bluetooth worked on my E815, best cellphone I ever owned.
All GSM carriers do this. In some countries it's actually fairly common to just lease the SIM card and buy a phone separately, not unlike how your lease your gateway device from Comcast and buy your own computer.
I've done this with Alltel, too. Twice. $25 for a brand new phone. The phone selection isn't great, but it's fine for me. I just want a phone, not the bells and whistles.
I'm surprised people don't do this more often.
I use a nice ATT GoPhone (on my postpaid account) except when I am in a spot where there is a chance for damage to the phone (working on a car or construction), then I swap the sim to my trusty Nokia 6010 (TMobile). You used to be able to unlock Nokia phones (GSM) yourself, but they have made changes. Was able to unlock the ATT phone myself and when I went overseas, put a sim from a EU carrier on it and saved a bundle.
The same thing happened to me. My Dash started not working about 6 months after I got it. I've been calling and trying to get something figured out, because honestly, I didn't want to pay for a new phone after recently buying a $300 one. Tech support "tried" to help me, but eventually the one year warranty came due and past, so I couldn't get it replaced. I called in to cancellations (a t-mobile rep at the store told me to do that and milk them for what they're worth!). They offered me a new phone and sim card for free. It's not a smart phone, but I'm hoping it'll work better than the Dash!
@Mike Ankener: you say "Cell phone contract terms are outrageous". This is why we need to get some serious competition in the phone market ... like no fewer than 24 providers. What we have today is not a free market at all.
After working at Walmart long enough I can say this about AT&T and T-mobiles prepaid, no one buys them for prepaid. Everyone gets them for a cheap fix for broken phones and honestly I wouldn't blame them. When a contract phone costs nearly $200 for a cheap camera phone and you can walk about 10 steps and get a prepaid for $50 with a camera, you can't beat it.
It's odd the rep acted that way, twice when I've been in my local T-Mobile store I've heard different reps advise customers to do this, one time even going so far as mentioning they head over to Target across the street to buy it cheaper than the one they have in their own store.
I have a real fancy model, a Nokia N82, and I have a cheap T-mobile prepaid phone that I got for $15 on sale. And I always buy my phones from [www.myworldphone.com] instead of signing a contract for another 2 years just to get a discounted phone. I bought a really nice Nokia flip phone for $105. Works around the world, quad band, basic camera/mp3.
No I don't work for myworldphone.com
Confusing that they couldn't do anything like a phone for phone swap, as most phones have a year manufacturer's warranty (unless it wasn't a manufacturer's defect). I can't even tell you how many Verizon phones I've had that I've swapped out within a year.
I've used Ebay to replace lost/crappy phones with success. Used phones aplenty available, especially useful if you have Verizon which doesn't use sim cards.
In an effort to be "that guy" who has a phone glued to his ear all day, I only have a prepaid cell phone. Every one I've purchased has been off eBay for a pretty significant discount off the MSRP. Upfront, though, an unlocked or a pre-paid phone will generally be more expensive than a contract phone because it's not subsidized by the carrier. I guess that's not the case for replacements...
For GSM carriers, the phone is nothing more than a shell for the SIM card. You can mix and match pre/post-paid, swap SIMs, or even cross networks if the phone's unlocked. It's no secret at all that you can do this (I'd have to try hard to find someone I know who doesn't know this...but then again, I'm an engineer). If you use anyone but At&T or TMobile in the US, then you're likely out of luck.
If you ever have a problem with the store itself letting you do it, just go to a Walmart or Best Buy type store that is a reseller and buy the phone there.
When my grandmother's phone broke, she just went to Walmart, bought a $30 prepaid AT&T phone and the guy there helped her put the card in. Piece of cake.
Funny, if this is all true I was straight-up lied to by a T-Mobile rep the last time I went into their store. I had lost my phone while moving and wanted a cheap and easy replacement, and he told me more than twice that the pre-paid phones would not work for my plan and the minimum amount I had to spend was $80 - $60 for the cheapest phone they carried and $20 for a new SIM card. Just another reason why I'll be switching carriers when my contract expires.
Another good use for prepaid phones is to test out reception in your area before switching to a new carrier; it's easier than signing up for a contract, porting your number, cancelling your existing service, and testing w/in the 15 day trial period.
I'm thinking about switching to Sprint when the Pre comes out. Before taking the plunge I plan on getting a cheap Virgin Mobile pre-paid (which runs on Sprint's network) to see if reception in and around the home are decent.
T-Mobile prepaid to the rescue! My husband and I have a spare one for the next time one of our phones breaks.
@Mike Ankener: Altho I know some people hate Sprint, it's been good to us and I used their $2 a month back up service b/c I'm really hard on phones and I work for myself. It backups your contacts, etc whenever you change it automatically.
I had to replace my phone twice and it was so simple - I just installed the program and within 20 mins, everythign was back.
Some people may find it horrible to pay $25 a year for that service but I know the pain in the butt of re-entering data is work more than $25 to me.
You can also have ANY phone unlocked that takes a sim card. It's like $25. It's what I've done in a pinch.
This is what I am doing when my phone dies or the battery stops charging. I just need a phone no bells and whistles, don't even need a camera phone and buying a new phone is a lot better than buying an aftermarket battery that may explode or not work correctly.
I just picked up a pre paid t-mobile on sale at walgreens for $19.99. It's great to buy a few and keep them around when you or a friend runs into problems. Ebay's full of unlocked phones you can do this with as well. I used to have a razr from ATT and I break them like toys.
@Julius Seizure. Jim to my Peeps: Nah, just because you're careless with phones doesn't mean you would automatically be careless with pets or kids.
Dynamics change, but people still seem to like summary assumptions anyway.
@WiglyWorm: You actually don't have to wait until the contract is up. T-Mobile requires either 30 or 90 days as a customer before they will provide the code. AT&T is similar, but all carriers will provide an unlock code if you ask.
@WiglyWorm: It's been my experience that if you call either carrier to let them know you'd like to use your phone out of the country, they'll give you the unlock code (or refer you to a store), regardless of your contract.
@WiglyWorm: I can confirm that with AT&T, they can give you the unlock subsidy phones for most phones instantly even before the contract is up.
Last year, I was able to get the unlock codes for three phones instantly about 1.5 years into the contract (of a two year contract). The CSR handling my request expressed her surprise and told me that just two months ago (prior to my call at the time), there was a waiting period for the unlock code to be issued.
Unless AT&T changed policies lately, I assume that everyone else to use this to their advantage.
@Charlotte Rae's Web: Insurance plans seldom cover the whole account, you usually need the insurance on every line.
The only main provider I know that provides insurance for mobile phones is Asurion and I can tell you from having to deal with them as a Sprint rep, they have a reputation for poor customer service, botched claims, and misdirected phones.
craigslist and ebay are the way to go
@Miss Scarlett is made of sugar and spice and everything nice: I was told to do something similar. My PDA broke and I was going to have to pay full price (500+) for a new one. I needed a quick replacement since it is a work phone so they told me to go to Rite Aid and buy a go phone. I got a go phone for $14.99 and was back in business! I was able to order a new phone the following month since my contract finally expired!
Nope - but corporate policy would then prohibit her from completing the sale, and the OP would walk out with nothing.
When my son's phone got stolen, we simply ported his number over to my wife's old phone. When we recovered the phone, we were able to port it right back. Good reason to keep the old phone around.
When I used to work at Radio Shack, I would inform ATT post paid customers of this fact, but after a while Corporate informed us that we could get written up for selling prepaid phones as post paid replacements. I still did it, but not as directly. One major stipulation was that we couldn't put post paid sims in prepaid phones. The customers had to do it themselves. I kept doing it simply because I thought that it was ridiculous to pay so much for a replacement phone when a ten dollar solution was available.
Is Asurion the ones that Verizon uses? Not trying to say that your experience is untrue, but I used them once a couple of months ago and had an awesome experience. I had ripped the touch screen off my LG Dare, thinking it was a screen protector (long story lol). So I got online like on Wednesday night, did the claim on their website, paid my 50 bucks, and by 2pm the next day I had a brand new Dare in my hands. I know they say you most likely will get a refurb, and maybe i did, but it looked brand spanking new. Same box as a new one and everything. I was very impressed.
I thought Verizon had blacklisted the ESN's of the prepaid phones they sold in various retail outlets from being activated on post-paid accounts? I remember running into this about a year or so ago when I was repeatedly cycling through phones in an attempt to find a fit, and didn't necessarily want to extend a contract I was trying to stay out of.
If you can still activate a pre-paid phone on a post-paid account, that is good info to have. What I tend to do now is shop for pre-owned devices on Craig's List or eBay and hope for the best. (Clean ESN, no faults with the device, etc)
I knew this when I signed up over a year ago with them and even mentioned it to the sales rep and he acted like this was a selling feature of their service, not a secret to be kept. Odd that this person got that reaction. I switched to them from Verizon and I save over $40/month, which made my wife VERY happy.
Check Craigslist. Personally, whenever I need a phone, whether it is high or low-end, I check Craigslist. Usually you can find some really great deals on new or used devices, and it's always nice to get a new phone contract free for much cheaper than the carrier's cost. As long as you are careful and wary of scams, craigslist is great. (hint: NEVER ship items anywhere, period. If they need it shipped to their current location, they can find one locally. Most likely they are trying to screw you over)
To save even more money, you can unlock AT&T's GoPhones fairly easily (usually just a code you can Google for) and use them on TMobile.
BTW - When I switched to a new Sprint phone, I went into the store and they transferred my contacts and stuff for me for free. They had a neat little gizmo with all of the various connectors for all the phones.
That might be a handy device to look for online...
Recently I tried to buy a T-Mobile Phone on Craigslist, but everybody wanted pretty much full retail on their phones, even if they were used or missing accessories. Many ads included the line "no lowball offers." Well, I say no highball offers either.
@azntg: Casio makes some very beefy phones for people who are generally rough on them. My sister destroyed several Motorolas before moving to the Casio G'zOne Boulder. Online reviews complain about audio quality, but she's been happy with it. YMMV.
My mother did this recently but with an AT&T prepaid and was advised at the AT&T store to go to Walmart and pick one up and if she had a problem to bring it back and they would help her.