To get a new Verizon 4G SIM and activate on your own old phone/IMEI (Makes no sense)

[friendly2741]

Ok, if you have account A and account B, independent of each other, both 4G LTE plans with some minutes and text, plan A works just fine, plan B had the sim burned and deactivated, but the plan is active. You want to get a new sim for plan B. you have phone X, which is a used 4G phone bought on eBay, on plan A, and you don't have a phone on plan B currently because you lost it or it broke.

You go to the Verizon store to get a new microsim for plan B, they tell you they need a phone or esn / imei to activate a new sim for your account (and they won't budge no matter how much you tell them no phone is required because a sim is not tied to a specific phone), if you were to use phone X from plan A, which currently shows tied to your plan A account under the myvzw page, to activate the sim for plan B, would that screw with your plan A? One of the cs reps at the Verizon store said using the imei from the phone currently active on plan A will deactivate that account and destroy / burn the currently functional plan A sim, and will cause the plan A phone number to be lost. Is there any truth to this? That makes no sense. The phone is not married to plan A, any 4G phone could be used, so why would temporarily using the phone from plan A on any other account deactivate that account?

If this were to be true, would I be able to activate phone or device (iPad 3) Y on plan A temporarily so it shows up on myvzw page, then phone X will become "free" of account A or any other account, and then use the imei from phone X, which is no longer tied to account A, to activate the new sim for plan B? I really don't want to use device B to activate the new sim for plan B, as it may not be the best thing to use a data-only device to activate a phone plan sim, even though Verizon does allow its use now because of the 700 MHz restrictions on limiting what sim is in what device. So will using the one available phone to activate the new sim for B deactivate plan A or mess with the other sim, even if phone X is no longer showing up in account A? It's not worth taking any risks and lose that phone number without being sure.

[coorey]

All I can tell you is that attempting to get a MicroSIM / SIM from a corporate Verizon store is like pulling out your own teeth. I don't know why they make it so damn hard and the store reps/managers don't even like to listen to their own phone customer service who tell them to give you the SIM. I recently tried to go to a store and get a microSIM for my iPad + 4G and they didn't want to give me one unless I attached it to my postpaid account. That's dumb as sh*t since the iPad is meant to be on a prepaid 4G LTE plan that you sign up for from the device itself. I immediately called customer service and they said the store should have gave me one but couldn't send me out one unless they attached it to a device as the system won't allow them to send out an un-activated SIM. So I left and got a micro SIM from Best Buy for $20 with no hassle... I should call customer service and tell them to put a $20 credit on my account but I'm not bringing any unneeded attn to my account at this moment.

[friendly2741]

I know, right? I took an old phone and finally got them to give me one, but guess what? It was a regular size sim phone, but I wanted a micro sim for use in an iPad, so I asked for a micro sim and said it's for the case I might get a newer phone later, the guy said I'm not even sure we can give out a micro sim if your esn shows a phone that requires a regular size sim! So in the end he forced me to get the regular size sim. Seriously? What the f? I seriously doubt they programmed their system to refuse to activate a micro sim with an older phone. They're the same, except for the shape the plastic is cut. Anyway, I just came home and cut it, and it worked just fine in a micro sim slot, but what a bunch of crap, why do people have to go thru so much hassle for something so simple? They really pissed me off with all these stupid "rules". I don't think the guy even tried to scan the micro sim, he just told me it didn't let him activate it once he saw my phone took a regular size sim, then the other sim was just fine to activate. Does any one expect you to believe that?

[budone]

Heck, I asked a rep on their forum and one was sent. I have not yet even activated it. As the issue I had was not a SIM issue. Once the Thunderbolt update was sent out, all has been fine.

[rgblack316]

So I left and got a micro SIM from Best Buy for $20 with no hassle...

Wow! Go on eBay and you can buy a sim for less than $5!

[BuffaloTF]

I know, right? I took an old phone and finally got them to give me one, but guess what? It was a regular size sim phone, but I wanted a micro sim for use in an iPad, so I asked for a micro sim and said it's for the case I might get a newer phone later, the guy said I'm not even sure we can give out a micro sim if your esn shows a phone that requires a regular size sim! So in the end he forced me to get the regular size sim. Seriously? What the f? I seriously doubt they programmed their system to refuse to activate a micro sim with an older phone. They're the same, except for the shape the plastic is cut. Anyway, I just came home and cut it, and it worked just fine in a micro sim slot, but what a bunch of crap, why do people have to go thru so much hassle for something so simple? They really pissed me off with all these stupid "rules". I don't think the guy even tried to scan the micro sim, he just told me it didn't let him activate it once he saw my phone took a regular size sim, then the other sim was just fine to activate. Does any one expect you to believe that?

You can get Micro-To-Mini SIM Card adapters dirt dirt cheap on Amazon. Usually around 1 dollar. I'd recommend getting one, even for future instances or for others that may be reading this in a similar situation. Just show up with it and if they give you a hard time, bring up that you 'have the adapter so thanks for your concern, but I'll be quite alright'...