Develop Bugs

Question about Phone Swapping on Account

Repost from the Official Preorder Thread:
I was 2nd at the Shack in the Boca Raton, FL Town Center Mall. To make it the upgrade work I had to upgrade another phone on my plan with the Evo, but I am hoping that once I have the hardware, I should be easily able to switch it to my phone with Sprint Customer Care.
I've been a Sprint customer for 12 years or so, and never had an issue with that before. The guys at Shack said they'd do the upgrade on the phone that's available, but don't count on the switch since the phone is still new. Is this a possible problem??
I already did the order, so the phone is mine....but it would suck to have to use another number, or wait to move my Evo to my phone number at a later date.

Can you ask them to not activate it? I'm in the same boat, but I ordered at Best Buy.

That's something that would be asked on Launch Day, but I'm kinda looking for some Sprint CSRs who troll these forums who may have some information. I think the guys at Shack were just being douches (you don't know douchebags like South Florida douchebags), but I could be screwed over somehow.

I asked the sprint customer support this and best buy. Sprint said no problem I can do it online with the ESN swap tool. Best buy just said bring all the phones and they will do it for me without charging the activation charges. I would ask at your best buy, if they wont you CAN do it online with the esn swap. You just have to make sure you move the other account off the evo onto a third phone before you try to swap to it.

Gracias sir. Explain the whole swap thing for me? I can't visualize what you are explaining.

I did the same thing the day the Moment came out. I bought the Moment at Best Buy. They activated it on a line I don't use (with the valid upgrade). I took it home and switched it (via Sprint's online tool) onto the line that I wanted to use it on. Then I put the old phone back on the upgraded line. No problem doing this at all.

Thanks, I figured they were just trying to **** with me to make sure I didn't give them **** somehow. I will be doing this on the 4th!

Fadakar said:
Can you ask them to not activate it? I'm in the same boat, but I ordered at Best Buy.
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They will have to activate it at the shack for you to get your discount. And they weren't being douches, it is possible to get sprint to switch the devices for you once they are activated, but they don't have to do it if the phone hasn't been on the line for 30 days. So they gave the official CYA answer.

pwabbit hit it almost spot on. You will require 3 phones to do this. You will need to take the old phone, well call it flip (the line you are upgrading in to the store) they will upgrade it to the evo, you then go home and log in to sprint.com. Once logged in as the primary user, go to my account. Scroll down and you will see devices at the bottom (a list of them all). Next to the evo you just activated hover over i want to... and you will see activate a new phone. This will take you to the ESN swap screen, here you will transfer the line from the evo back to the flip. By doing this no line will be active on the evo. Then you will go back to the my accounts screen and next to your current phone (inmy case the hero) you will select i want to... and choose activate a phone. Here you can ESN swap to the evo. This makes the hero have no line activated on it. Finally you can go back to the my accounts screen and next to flip phonje select I want to... and activate a device, you can now ESN swap it to the hero. Now everyone has an adroid phone...enjoy.
Cliff Notes:
Login to sprint.com
under my accounts look for the deives list, in the i want to menu next to the phone (not the sidebar) there is an activate phone option. Use this to move the line on the evo to an extra phone, then move your line to the evo. This will require a minimum of two esn swaps.
any questions ? there will be a test on this

Ok sweet. It looks like I'll only need 2 phones though. My mom is planning on keeping her BlackBerry, and my Hero will be sent to a fellow XDA member who was interested in it. Very excited.

I have done this probobly 6 times already
As long as one line on your account that is eligable for an upgrade, they will take care of it.
Just tell them what number you would like to use, and they will update it, but you have to physically have the phone that has the number that is eligable for an upgrade with you.
So make sure if you are using a family members phone for an upgrade, you bring the phone with you.
As advanced as our technology is, they still have to program the number and then switch it to the your phone. If you are on a family plan you should not need to do this.

Here's my situation:
I have two lines on my account: one is my Hero which is not eligible for an upgrade until October. However, my other line is an Airave (courtesy of Sprint) that is eligible as of May first of this year.
Do you think I can use the Airave line's upgrade credit to get the EVO? Biggest thing I'm worried about is losing the free airave service ($5/month) and equipment I'm currently getting courtesy of Sprint.

pwc realtor said:
Here's my situation:
I have two lines on my account: one is my Hero which is not eligible for an upgrade until October. However, my other line is an Airave (courtesy of Sprint) that is eligible as of May first of this year.
Do you think I can use the Airave line's upgrade credit to get the EVO? Biggest thing I'm worried about is losing the free airave service ($5/month) and equipment I'm currently getting courtesy of Sprint.
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Click to collapse
I would recommend contacting them to ask. Worst they can say is no. Which in my opinion is probablly how it will go. I too have an airrave but I have not tried to upgrade it, so really im not 100% sure.
Best of luck to you, I prefer online chat so you can have a transcript of the conversation.

vandersmissenc said:
I would recommend contacting them to ask. Worst they can say is no. Which in my opinion is probablly how it will go. I too have an airrave but I have not tried to upgrade it, so really im not 100% sure.
Best of luck to you, I prefer online chat so you can have a transcript of the conversation.
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I may drop by my local Best Buy tomorrow. I already talked to Sprint and they said they could do the upgrade but the mail-in-rebate would fail if the new phone was swapped to another line. since Best Buy doens't do mail in rebates and I've heard tey've been able to finanngle this hey its worth the shot.

pwc realtor said:
I may drop by my local Best Buy tomorrow. I already talked to Sprint and they said they could do the upgrade but the mail-in-rebate would fail if the new phone was swapped to another line. since Best Buy doens't do mail in rebates and I've heard tey've been able to finanngle this hey its worth the shot.
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I completely agree, if you don't try we wont know for future reference. Let us know how it goes.

The story behind it: The Shack will activate it for you, BUT the reason they won't switch the line is that it messes up the automated system that passes on the carrier kick-back to the shack, therefore if you switch the line, the shack does NOT get paid for the $700 phone you just bought. Under the hood, the shack pays right near 'no contract' value for the phone, relying on the carrier kick-back which comes about 90 days after activation to compensate them for the inital sale at a loss. That's why they can do no mail-in rebates, they just absorb the cost initially.

Fird said:
The story behind it: The Shack will activate it for you, BUT the reason they won't switch the line is that it messes up the automated system that passes on the carrier kick-back to the shack, therefore if you switch the line, the shack does NOT get paid for the $700 phone you just bought. Under the hood, the shack pays right near 'no contract' value for the phone, relying on the carrier kick-back which comes about 90 days after activation to compensate them for the inital sale at a loss. That's why they can do no mail-in rebates, they just absorb the cost initially.
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That makes sense. Does that mean if you take it home and do the ESN swap they don't get a kick back ? That would make me feel bad....I would still do it ....any ideas on that ?

I'm not certain on that one, but I think that it might.. I suspect they just look up the ESN numbers from (90 days ago) each business day and match them with tickets sold. no match, no $$.

vandersmissenc said:
That makes sense. Does that mean if you take it home and do the ESN swap they don't get a kick back ? That would make me feel bad....I would still do it ....any ideas on that ?
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Yes it does. While it's convenient for you, it takes money out of our pockets

I went to the local shack today being in the same situation. My Pre is still under contract but my wifes diamond is not. The sales person said no problem, they would put my wifes phone on the new contract and activate the evo to my number. He didn't mention bringing my wifes phone, but after reading these post, I will take it just incase.

Is 4G required for an EVO?

I'm considering buying an EVO from my friend, rather than buying it through Sprint. I currently have the Everything data family pack. My question is, am I able to just activate the phone like I would with any other and keep my same plan without getting 4G? I read that the EVO gets 3G as well so I'm assuming 4G isn't required...

You seem to be a little confused. You only get 4G if its available in your area. You wont have to change plans. You will have to pay an extra $10 a month for the extra data a EVO uses. Sprint has claimed that the $10 isn't a extra for 4G. Its extra because of the amount of data the phone/user uses. Hope this helps sure it raises more questions.

zone23 said:
You seem to be a little confused. You only get 4G if its available in your area. You wont have to change plans. You will have to pay an extra $10 a month for the extra data a EVO uses. Sprint has claimed that the $10 isn't a extra for 4G. Its extra because of the amount of data the phone/user uses. Hope this helps sure it raises more questions.
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Oh! I was under the impression that the EVO required a new plan..but is the ten dollars required if I just want to stick with 3g?

radxcoresteven said:
Oh! I was under the impression that the EVO required a new plan..but is the ten dollars required if I just want to stick with 3g?
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Yes. At first, this upset me too (because before just recently I didn't get 4G). But you get unlimited data with that $10, and when all is said and done, it's still a lot cheaper than other companies unlimited plans. I would HIGHLY recommend this phone

Yes it is required regardless if you have 4G in your area or not.

Cool! Sounds good. I'm coming from the Hero so I'm excited to see how the development goes with the EVO. Thanks!

radxcoresteven said:
Oh! I was under the impression that the EVO required a new plan..but is the ten dollars required if I just want to stick with 3g?
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Yes the $10 is automatic. You cannot just say I want 3G only. You would only have to change plans if you weren't already on the everything data plan.

What are the selling options for my RSA-less EVO?

I was a moron and didn't back up my RSA when I rooted, and now that I realize I need it, it's gone forever. I've already got a new phone on the way, but don't know what my options are with my old phone. I'd like to sell it to recoup some of my money, but without 4G I don't know what my options are.
I know it'll never work on Sprint's WiMax, but are there other options? Could someone buy it and, say, take it to Verizon? Or can I only sell it to someone to use on Sprint? Would its lack of WiMax apply to any carrier, anywhere? Will I have to sell it as a 3G-only phone?
Any thoughts or insights would be more than welcome.

I believe you'd have to sell it as a 3G only phone.

Dang. That's what I was afraid of. I was kinda hoping that maybe going to another carrier might somehow present an opportunity to fix it, but I can't think of how they could. The keys are the keys, regardless of the network.
Think I could get $150 for a 3G-only Evo?
Also - would they be restricted to Sprint, or could they take it to another carrier (and transfer their existing plan onto it)?

Right, since the keys are unique to the phone, but now gone. And I think that is fair...no keys, used, good condition. Still a lot cheaper than buying it out right, so I think you could get it for that price.

rajah sulayman said:
Dang. That's what I was afraid of. I was kinda hoping that maybe going to another carrier might somehow present an opportunity to fix it, but I can't think of how they could. The keys are the keys, regardless of the network.
Think I could get $150 for a 3G-only Evo?
Also - would they be restricted to Sprint, or could they take it to another carrier (and transfer their existing plan onto it)?
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Click to collapse
I think you could get that price. I see people selling evo's for 150-200 with bad esn's so I can't see it being that hard to sell your evo as 3g only (most people don't have 4g anyway)

Should be able to work on Metro PCS

dont go too low!
I know several people who have payed $300 ish for a bad esn Evo to use on Cricket.
People with cricket could care less about 4g.

Could also be used by devs to make and test ports, for the EVO, of phones that didnt come with 4g.

just sell it on ebay "as is"
Sent from my PC36100 using XDA App

Drop sprint entirely and use google voice with a wifi connection

nvm 10 chars

Muellersirch said:
Should be able to work on Metro PCS
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+1
I was going to suggest you should try and flash it to work on Cricket but either would work. You could probably get a few hundred for it.
Edit: Just looked on CL in my area and there's a guy trying to sell a Cricket flashed EVO for $350 and another guy looking to buy one for $200 whether or not it has a good ESN. I'm sure you can get at least $250-$300 for it.

I hate threads like this, RSA. I have no clue what RSA is. I got my evo and rooted it, flashed cm7 rc1 within a hour of owning it. Did I do the same thing, not back up RSA? I did nandroid before flashing cm7, so I have a stock image. Not trying to hi-jack the thread here, just trying to get information out there for people like the OP and me. Had he not posted I wouldnt know what RSA was, wait I still dont know what it is, lol.
Thanks
I will pay $150 for your 3G Evo, today. Wife wants one too now that she has played with mine (lol).

cordell12 said:
I hate threads like this, RSA. I have no clue what RSA is. I got my evo and rooted it, flashed cm7 rc1 within a hour of owning it. Did I do the same thing, not back up RSA? I did nandroid before flashing cm7, so I have a stock image. Not trying to hi-jack the thread here, just trying to get information out there for people like the OP and me. Had he not posted I wouldnt know what RSA was, wait I still dont know what it is, lol.
Thanks
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
If you did a nandroid backup, you should be ok. To be sure, usb mount your SD card on your computer. Go to the nandroid folder and find that backup folder. Open it and you should see a backup file for each partition as "img" files. Find that wimax.img, copy and paste it to a safe location on your computer and you should NEVER have to worry about losing your keys.

cordell12 said:
I hate threads like this, RSA. I have no clue what RSA is. I got my evo and rooted it, flashed cm7 rc1 within a hour of owning it. Did I do the same thing, not back up RSA? I did nandroid before flashing cm7, so I have a stock image. Not trying to hi-jack the thread here, just trying to get information out there for people like the OP and me. Had he not posted I wouldnt know what RSA was, wait I still dont know what it is, lol.
Thanks
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Click to collapse
For the lawlz, but RSA = WiMax RSA Keys, aka the image so you can have access to 4G. The big problem with losing your RSA keys are that each device has a unique code, so you can't re-create them or just get another one. When its lost...you're outta luck.

cordell12 said:
I will pay $150 for your 3G Evo, today. Wife wants one too now that she has played with mine (lol).
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I would, but my replacement Evo is still on backorder and I'm not planning on selling the old one until after the new one has been set up. I wanna keep the old one on hand so I can refer back to it to make sure I didn't miss anything when migrating my data. I probably won't be ready to sell my old phone for another week or two.

p.s. Thanks to everyone for the feedback. I think, once I'm finally ready to sell it, I'll list it as a rooted non-Sprint 3G Evo and see if I can get $200-250 for it.

No problem, hopefully you find a buyer.

rajah sulayman said:
p.s. Thanks to everyone for the feedback. I think, once I'm finally ready to sell it, I'll list it as a rooted non-Sprint 3G Evo and see if I can get $200-250 for it.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Take $250 minimum.
I bet if you put it on your local craigslist it will easily fetch that, if not more.
Or you could always put it on virgin mobile and pay some excellent prices
($25/mo is 300 mins & unlim data & texts, $40/mo is 1200 mins & unlim data & texts, $60/mo is unlimited everything. Prepaid for your convenience, same coverage and speeds as Sprint 3G)
Good luck with the sale!

Quick follow-up question:
Checking the Settings -> About -> Status shows my old number still attached to the phone despite a full wipe and confirmation that the phone no longer has service. Is this normal? Will it just stay there until the buyer takes it to their carrier and has it attached to their plan?
I'm assuming yes, but confirmation would be nice. If possible, I'd rather not have any identifying features on the phone when I sell it.

Evo 3d upgrade question

Hey guys. Basically my stepdad has an unused phone upgrade, but does not want to use it.
I would like to own the new HTC EVO 3D.
Can we extend his lines contract, get the phone and then put it on my line?
Also, I understand now that an additional $10 fee is on each smartphone for "data" now. When we signed up only my phone had this fee due to being a 4g phone, the other smartphone including his did not get charged because they signed up and got their phones the month before the change (my stepdad bought his phone online which is why he has an upgrade). Would my plan add a $10 fee to his line?
Any input appreciated. Thanks.

Nope, only the person using the phone has the $10 fee. But make sure sprint knows that you're switching phones and he will not have the Evo3d

Depending on what contract/plan he is on and if your also on that plan. If you are already on that plan and do not have a 'smart' phone, then it will only be the extra $10. However, with it being 'his' upgrade, you will have to have him upgrade 'his' phone and then activate his 'old' phone under you. If you are not on 'his' plan and you are going to add the line, then it will be $20 plus the $10 ($30) additional per month. But I'm pretty sure you can't use his upgrade for a different account. Great, now I'm confused....I think this is right, but a good rep in the store or him calling may be a better option. There are also some sprint guys on here that could answer it better.

kse91holydiver said:
Nope, only the person using the phone has the $10 fee. But make sure sprint knows that you're switching phones and he will not have the Evo3d
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So this is in fact a tangible plan for myself to obtain an HTC evo?
Thanks

dpilcher said:
Depending on what contract/plan he is on and if your also on that plan. If you are already on that plan and do not have a 'smart' phone, then it will only be the extra $10. However, with it being 'his' upgrade, you will have to have him upgrade 'his' phone and then activate his 'old' phone under you. If you are not on 'his' plan and you are going to add the line, then it will be $20 plus the $10 ($30) additional per month. But I'm pretty sure you can't use his upgrade for a different account. Great, now I'm confused....I think this is right, but a good rep in the store or him calling may be a better option. There are also some sprint guys on here that could answer it better.
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Click to collapse
I'm not going to lie. This has me confused as well.
We are all on a family plan.
He has a smartphone, I have a smartphone and we both have our own lines. I pay $10 because I had the htc evo, he does not pay the additional $10 currently.
I want to lengthen his contract, get the phone and NOT activate it on his line, instead, take it home and call and have it activated on mine.

If you are doing this anywhere that offers "Instant Rebates" you can get away with this. Just don't activate the phone on his line at all, otherwise he will be stuck with the $10 fee when he re-activates his "smart phone". Either order it online or at a store, just be sure they do not activate it at the store. Once you are home go online and activate it on your line, or via Sprint chat.

Yeah I did it the last year with the evo4g, you will be fine as long as he activates it with his and makes like two calls and then you call sprint to change ESNs, when you change them tell him to make sure they're taking off that $10/month charge. I'm pretty sure he'll never have to pay it but I guess they might have him pay it for one month. I guess you could look at it as a tax for getting a Evo3d

With the instant rebate he shouldnt have to activate it on his line. If he does he is boned. Assuming he had any smartphone that is on the systematically enforced list. There is no override, the system will from then, on force the $10 fee on any applicable smart phone, blackberry, android, wm etc etc. doesn't matter that its not 4g.
Trust me plenty of people have got jacked on this. The only exception is if its a TEP/ warranty replacement. It sucks, but it is what it is now. Co-worker activated her old Sanyo flip for a 3 day camping trip, came home and activated her BB curve again...boned with the $10 fees now. Only way it will go away is if she uses a non smartphone from now on. Soon as she activates any smartphone, the fee is back.
Sent from my Infected EVO using XDA Premium App.

Action B said:
Hey guys. Basically my stepdad has an unused phone upgrade, but does not want to use it.
I would like to own the new HTC EVO 3D.
Can we extend his lines contract, get the phone and then put it on my line?
Also, I understand now that an additional $10 fee is on each smartphone for "data" now. When we signed up only my phone had this fee due to being a 4g phone, the other smartphone including his did not get charged because they signed up and got their phones the month before the change (my stepdad bought his phone online which is why he has an upgrade). Would my plan add a $10 fee to his line?
Any input appreciated. Thanks.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
YES YOU CAN. Goto a best buy store... and say this
Ok. my dad is due for an upgrade on his contract. he doesnt want the phone though. can we please do a hardware swap after upgrading the contract.
i just did it yesterday to get my mom an evo while upgrading dads lol

leo72793 said:
YES YOU CAN. Goto a best buy store... and say this
Ok. my dad is due for an upgrade on his contract. he doesnt want the phone though. can we please do a hardware swap after upgrading the contract.
i just did it yesterday to get my mom an evo while upgrading dads lol
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
What kind of phone does your dad have? Is it a smartphone. I wonder if they begin implementing the $10 fee if you upgrade your line but keep the same smartphone.

once he upgrade to a new phone he will

Follow up:
You cannot upgrade a line and not activate the phone. I tried at multiple stores and if you purchase it online it activates when you first turn it on upon receiving it.
Anyhow, there is the basic answer if anyone knows a way around let me know

Ok heres what you do upgrade your dads phone to whatever phone you want then activate it like you would regularly do on his line then make like 2 calls then call sprint and ask them to switch each phone to the account you want it on.
Sent from my PC36100 using XDA App

sharkboy0901 said:
Ok heres what you do upgrade your dads phone to whatever phone you want then activate it like you would regularly do on his line then make like 2 calls then call sprint and ask them to switch each phone to the account you want it on.
Sent from my PC36100 using XDA App
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks for your input but I think you are missing a critical detail regarding this thread.
My dads phone is grandfathered into no $10 fee for his current smartphone, swapping to any other phone even for an instant will result in the $10 fee on his account for having a smartphone.
Your suggestion includes the idea of activating the upgrade phone on my dads account. I wanted to know if it was possible to upgrade and NOT activate so that he would not be charged $10 on his line AND I would get an upgrade phone. The end of this story is
TO MY KNOWLEDGE IT IS NOT POSSIBLE TO UPGRADE A LINE AND NOT ACTIVATE THE PHONE AT ALL ON THAT PARTICULAR LINE.
AND
THIS ONLY REALLY MATTERS IF THE LINE BEING UPGRADED IS GRANDFATHERED IN TO NOT PAYING $10 FOR A SMARTPHONE AND THAT PERSON CURRENTLY HAS A SMARTPHONE.

He will only get charged once unless the phone that gets swapped with his upgrade is a smartphone that gets charges the 10$ then he will get charged every month
Sent from my PC36100 using XDA App

sharkboy0901 said:
He will only get charged once unless the phone that gets swapped with his upgrade is a smartphone that gets charges the 10$ then he will get charged every month
Sent from my PC36100 using XDA App
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
That's what he's trying to do. Dad has a smartphone and this guy is trying to get the 3d for himself. Activating the 3d on dads line, even for a minute, will trigger the $10 smart phone fee for for dad. Since he said dad already has a smartphone currently.
Some brick and mortar stores will do this, like best buy or radio shack. I bought a phone as a gift using an upgrade and held it for over 2 weeks before activating. Just call in and have them activate it on your line. Should be fine. Even from sprint.com should be ok. Just call in and have them release the phone from that line first, account owner may need to make the call. Then have it activated on your line.
Key is to not power it up until they are activating it to your line. Since if it's tied to his line, it will try to auto activate. When it connects to the network the first time, it will try to activate on whatever line sprint originally programmed it to. That line is changed when you call them in to activate it, after having it released from his line first.
Sent from my PG86100 using xda premium

KB112 said:
That's what he's trying to do. Dad has a smartphone and this guy is trying to get the 3d for himself. Activating the 3d on dads line, even for a minute, will trigger the $10 smart phone fee for for dad. Since he said dad already has a smartphone currently.
Some brick and mortar stores will do this, like best buy or radio shack. I bought a phone as a gift using an upgrade and held it for over 2 weeks before activating. Just call in and have them activate it on your line. Should be fine. Even from sprint.com should be ok. Just call in and have them release the phone from that line first, account owner may need to make the call. Then have it activated on your line.
Key is to not power it up until they are activating it to your line. Since if it's tied to his line, it will try to auto activate. When it connects to the network the first time, it will try to activate on whatever line sprint originally programmed it to. That line is changed when you call them in to activate it, after having it released from his line first.
Sent from my PG86100 using xda premium
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Click to collapse
First, I would like to thank you for understanding my thread and posts and posting something that makes sense.
I'd like to mention that I have a 3d now and I just bought it on craigslist. This thread is really just informative at this point as I do not have a problem to solve any longer.
When I went to radio shack I tried to tell them it was "a gift for my dad". They told me that basically they could not give me the phone without activating. The guy there is older and not really very savvy so it could just be that or the policy has changed. How long ago did you do the gift thing?

FYI asurion is out of evo4g now replacing claims with the evo3d so basically $100 to upgrade to evo3d

knotcw said:
FYI asurion is out of evo4g now replacing claims with the evo3d so basically $100 to upgrade to evo3d
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Click to collapse
You certain about that?
Sent from my PC36100 using xda premium

Action B said:
First, I would like to thank you for understanding my thread and posts and posting something that makes sense.
I'd like to mention that I have a 3d now and I just bought it on craigslist. This thread is really just informative at this point as I do not have a problem to solve any longer.
When I went to radio shack I tried to tell them it was "a gift for my dad". They told me that basically they could not give me the phone without activating. The guy there is older and not really very savvy so it could just be that or the policy has changed. How long ago did you do the gift thing?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
The last time I did this was last Christmas. But I just spoke to a Sprint rep least week about this. I activated an old flip phone for my son, as he trashed his phone (which is why he won't get a nice phone). The rep was telling me he had an upgrade (which I knew) and I could get myself the iPhone using his upgrade. Plus on Sprint users forum, lots of people bought iPhones and sold them with no issues. Just had to call in and release the phone from their account if anything.
Sent from my Warmed up Shooter.

[Q] Shared Data Plan Question

I have another shared data plan question as if the world hasn't had enough. I'm currently on a plan with my parents but I'm planning on switching to a plan with my girlfriend in the future.
My current plan (grandfathered unlimited):
1 smartphone (Inc 2) - this is mine​2 basic phones (Intensity II, Revere) - parents​
This plan is eligible for an upgrade in July 2013, while my gf's T-Mobile plan is due for one this month. What I'm thinking is that she goes on a monthly plan on T-Mobile with her current phone until July. When summer rolls around, would it be possible to have my parents go on a new separate plan while I keep my unlimited AND add my gf onto this plan?
So basically my gf would upgrade one of the basic phone lines to a smartphone, probably tiered, and I could use that third basic line to upgrade my current phone and keep my unlimited data? The way I've read things is that one "line" can still be grandfathered while another on the same "plan" can be on the shared data. Although ideally both my gf and I would have unlimited I don't think that's possible.
Am I thinking through this correctly? And this is considering my parents don't need smartphones, and will most likely continue using the phones they have now. Any problems with my logic?

I am not the great and powerful, all knowing Oz, but if I understand you correctly, your parents would walk in and start a whole new account leaving you their phones and phone lines? If that is the case and that is possible through the carrier (big red I assume) then yes but they will have to leave the phone bill in their name. Just to simplify things we will call your line "line 1", dad's line will be "line 2", and mom's line is "line 3". You can use "line 2's" upgrade and activate it on line 1, but in doing so you will lose unlimited data on line 2. Next, bringing your girlfriend on line 3 and upgrading to a smart phone you will also lose unlimited data, leaving only line 1 with unlimited data out of the three. Hope that makes sense to you.

You could probably remove your line from your parents. My wife was on her brothers plan, and when we got married we transferred her number to my account. Though on a completely different topic, I don't really recommend doing this with a gf. Unless you are engaged to be married soon, who's to say before your contract is up you decide you don't want to be together. But I will stay off my soapbox. Just a thought though. But lines and numbers can be transferred from one account and carrier to another so no one has to lose their phone number. At least we were able to.
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ThePhantom97 said:
I am not the great and powerful, all knowing Oz, but if I understand you correctly, your parents would walk in and start a whole new account leaving you their phones and phone lines? If that is the case and that is possible through the carrier (big red I assume) then yes but they will have to leave the phone bill in their name. Just to simplify things we will call your line "line 1", dad's line will be "line 2", and mom's line is "line 3". You can use "line 2's" upgrade and activate it on line 1, but in doing so you will lose unlimited data on line 2. Next, bringing your girlfriend on line 3 and upgrading to a smart phone you will also lose unlimited data, leaving only line 1 with unlimited data out of the three. Hope that makes sense to you.
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Sweet, I was just trying to explain to my gf what I thought would work and turns out I was actually pretty close. Thanks for confirming that for me.
NeverSeparate said:
I don't really recommend doing this with a gf. Unless you are engaged to be married soon, who's to say before your contract is up you decide you don't want to be together.
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Haha thanks for lookin out but we're pretty solid
One more thing - any suggestions on something cheap for my parents to go on afterwards? Hopefully on Verizon seeing as they'll be keeping their phones. The shared data plans even just with basic phones comes out to $100 USD monthly. Maybe a monthly plan? I haven't checked that kind of service since I used Virgin Mobile like 10 years ago.
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Straight talk maybe. Never used it, but I know people who have and like it.
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