transfer of minutes

[jwater]

I was wondering if there have been any changes to the tracfone policy of transferring minutes from one phone to another.
I currently have an iphone I bought from Tracfone. I need to extend my service for another year.

Are there any limitations on purchasing a new trac phone bundled with minutes, text, and data, with the idea of possibly transferring those minutes etc to my Iphone?

[hpham]

1. I was wondering if there have been any changes to the tracfone policy of transferring minutes from one phone to another.

2. I currently have an iphone I bought from Tracfone. I need to extend my service for another year.

Are there any limitations on purchasing a new trac phone bundled with minutes, text, and data, with the idea of possibly transferring those minutes etc to my Iphone?

1. TF still allows activation of a new phone with a transfer of service (phone number, days, units) from an active phone.

2. You will have to activate the new phone with a transfer from your iPhone to get the bundled days/units that come with the new phone. Afterward, if you prefer to use your iPhone instead of the new phone, you can do another transfer of service from the new phone back to the iPhone. You cannot simply have the bundled days/units added directly to your iPhone.

[jwater]

Thank you - very clear. So I cannot simply activate the new phone with a new number and after a period of time transfer the bundled units to my Iphone.

If not, is there a time restraint for the turnaround you described?

[loboheeler]

I currently have an iphone I bought from Tracfone. I need to extend my service for another year.

Can you add a $50 one year service in "More for your device" in checkout? This is only offered with Tracfone branded phones, but you said the iPhone was bought from Tracfone. You have to put something else in the cart to get this offer.

[jwater]

yes, but I thought if I could purchase a phone that came with service and bundled minutes and then activate it as a second phone, If I could transfer those minutes at a future date, I would get an extension of service time and minutes on the Iphone.

[hpham]

Thank you - very clear. So I cannot simply activate the new phone with a new number and after a period of time transfer the bundled units to my Iphone.

If not, is there a time restraint for the turnaround you described?

If you activate the new phone with a new number, then you'll have two ACTIVE phones, and both phones will burn off service days at the same time. Also, to get the days/units from the new phone added to the iPhone, you'll have to ask a rep to do a MERGE/COMBINE (not a TRANSFER). Some reps don't know how to do that and will tell you it can't be done. Most competent reps can do it, but there's always a chance that the wrong phone gets deactivated and you lose your preferred number. The steps that I suggested previously are safer.

You can wait just a few days and transfer from the new phones back to the iPhone, and claim you don't like the new phone if the rep asks why.

[jwater]

Very Informative! Thank you

[fuzzwad]

I seem to remember activating a bundled phone with a transfer from an existing phone on the website. The phone number transferred fine but there was a problem getting the buckets added together and I had to do a chat to straighten it out. I guess the "Transfer" option on the website is to transfer just a phone number and not the associated buckets?

[hpham]

I seem to remember activating a bundled phone with a transfer from an existing phone on the website. The phone number transferred fine but there was a problem getting the buckets added together and I had to do a chat to straighten it out. I guess the "Transfer" option on the website is to transfer just a phone number and not the associated buckets?

A transfer entails transferring phone number, service days, and bucket balances. If the current phone and the new phone use different carriers, there could be a delay or glitch with getting the balances transferred. The balance info is stored at two places: in TF internal system and in the carrier's system. If the transfer is cross-carrier, the balance info has to be "pushed" out to the new carrier's system and sometimes that's delayed or fails. For a same-carrier transfer, it takes place instantly and there's little risk of things go wrong. But for a cross-carrier transfer, it's better to let a Chat rep do it, with current balances/days stated in the transcript in case things go wrong.

[fuzzwad]

A transfer entails transferring phone number, service days, and bucket balances. If the current phone and the new phone use different carriers, there could be a delay or glitch with getting the balances transferred. The balance info is stored at two places: in TF internal system and in the carrier's system. If the transfer is cross-carrier, the balance info has to be "pushed" out to the new carrier's system and sometimes that's delayed or fails. For a same-carrier transfer, it takes place instantly and there's little risk of things go wrong. But for a cross-carrier transfer, it's better to let a Chat rep do it, with current balances/days stated in the transcript in case things go wrong.

Thanks. This was a same-carrier transfer. The buckets from the old phone transferred okay but the new bundle wasn't fully added. I think some minutes and texts were added but no data. Luckily, chat figured it out and added the rest.

Don't know why the website was not able to add 1 + 1 and come up with 2. I would think that would be pretty straightforward from a programming point of view.

[KeyLimePie]

Here’s my transfer experience - what can I do next time to make it better? I want to grab another eBay preloaded SIM while they’re $40.

I bought a 1200 min/text 3 GB data SIM from eBay. I already had an account with a BYOD iPhone, Verizon SIM. The eBay SIM is also Verizon. I tried doing it myself on the website. Under “Activate” I entered the new SIM number and the iPhone IMEI. I got an error message when I entered the phone number to transfer - it said something about number not found. Did I mess this up by using Activate?

I started a chat. I told the agent I had a new SIM and wanted to transfer my number to it. All seemed fine until I asked for my new balance. He gave me my original balance - nothing that was supposed to be preloaded on the eBay SIM was in my account.

I told the agent what was supposed to be included with the SIM. He asked if a PIN was included. He asked if it was a 60 minute or 90 day card. He didn’t seem to be able to see anything preloaded on the new SIM at all. I told him again what it was supposed to be, and he eventually added the correct amounts.

What went wrong?

[Tracfancier]

In the past, the preloaded e-bay SIMs have occasionally come without the preloaded airtime. When you receive one, immediately use chat to have the CSR verify the airtime is actually included. If not deal with the Tracfone e-bay store.
When transferring to it use chat and ask for your current airtime so it is in the chat record if something goes wrong when the old and new airtime combines.

[KeyLimePie]

In the past, the preloaded e-bay SIMs have occasionally come without the preloaded airtime. When you receive one, immediately use chat to have the CSR verify the airtime is actually included. If not deal with the Tracfone e-bay store.
When transferring to it use chat and ask for your current airtime so it is in the chat record if something goes wrong when the old and new airtime combines.

But it is -possible- to activate these SIMs and transfer an existing number without using chat, right? I got an error message when I tried to do it myself when asked for the phone number to transfer.
Now that I know some of these SIMs don’t have any any airtime on them, I probably won’t try it again on my own, but I’m still curious.

[malet]

Some people have been able to. I was not, and had to use chat.

[Lisme]

You have to remember that the Tracfone computer system is not up to modern standards, due to neglect. So the DIY options are not terribly reliable nor safe. The chat people seem to have a better system and can eye-witness any problems. When you go the DIY route, you are gambling. If you have a problem, good luck being believed.