Originally posted by: Albis
I think QuixoticOne's questions deal with transferring an old T-Mobile account (that is out of contract) to a new T-Mobile account that you created through Amazon.
I have the same questions as well. My contract is just about up and would like to stay with T-Mobile but the Amazon phone deals are so tempting. Does anyone know if I can transfer a T-Mobile number to another T-Mobile account?
Second point: Existing lines
As long as you're signing into a contract, they're making their money. You don't have to terminate your existing line even if it is out of contract. Order the phone with a new contract and then port your number. There's no termination that way. You will be assigned a new phone number on the phone you order with the new contract, but if you call T-Mobile and tell them "hey, I need to port this number to this account" they will cancel the old one but move the phone number to the new one, and you still get your savings. I just recently did this from Verizon to T-Mobile; my Verizon account was past its contract (no cancellation fee) and my new T-Mobile phone (the t809) had a new number allocated to it. One call and it was switched in a day. Again, the 181 days is for Amazon to ensure they get their due from the contract.
Well here's what I've heard.
a) If you have *any* tmobile post-paid line in your name, OR HAVE HAD ONE IN
THE PAST 90 DAYS, you're considered an 'existing customer' by Tmobile. People
in this class *can* qualify for 'new activation' discounts / rebates on
*additional lines of service* (which may be any / all lines added to a family plan,
or which may be an ADDITIONAL individual plan line of any kind).
b) However they call the tactic of additional customers with some existing line(s) of
service ordering a NEW line of service as a new activation with all the
rebates / discounts, THEN canceling one of their PREEXISTING lines of service
'artificial churn'. I HAVE HEARD TMOBILE has a policy of denying this practice in
one of more ways.
c) I've HEARD that TMOBILE *WILL NOT* 'port' a phone number from one line owned
by a customer to another line owned by that same customer in some circumstances,
and I believe 'the shell game' 'artificial churn' scenario is one case where they
will refuse to 'port' the number between your two lines -- having an existing
out-of-contract line, ordering a new activation line to get discounts on a new handset,
trying to 'port' the number of the preexisting old line into the new line so the customer
doesn't 'lose' the old phone number, then the customer quickly terminates service on
the old 'out of contract' number.
d) I've HEARD that if you DO order a new line of service in addition to preexisting lines
of service, that they'll consider it 'artificial churn' if you terminate any of the preexisting
line(s) within 90 days of the date of the new activation. I imagine that after 90 days
tmobile might be willing to 'switch' phone numbers on your lines though I can't
say exactly what their policy is. Of course if you plan to keep the old line as little
as possible, think about changing that to the lowest rate non-promotional plan
offered which wouldn't involve you extending / violating your old line's contract.
e) Since you're still 'in their system' as an 'existing customer' for 90 days after you
terminate a line of service, you'll NOT be eligible for a 'new activation' discount / rebates
if you terminate service on your previous tmobile line(s), then within 90 days order
another 'new activation' line for yourself.
f) You CAN port your old TMobile number OUT to another service or carrier
(including TMobile's own TO-GO prepaid service) for 90 days, then on the 91st day
you ARE considered a 'new customer' and can get all possible rebates / discounts,
and in many cases you CAN 'port' in the 'old number' (that's now sitting active on
some other carrier or some prepaid service like Cingular or Tmobile's) to be used
on the 'new activation' line.
g) I've HEARD there are some clauses some indirects have in THEIR contracts that
limit your ability to make changes to the plan, OR THE PHONE NUMBER of the activated
line for a long period of time or else you may be subject to rebate denial by the indirect
or be subject to some fee. I HAVE heard previously in past months/years that you
actually COULD change the phone number on an activated line, and that you could
still get the rebates but you may need to fill in the details of the new number or
whatever on the rebate form or contact them or what not. I think maybe they check
to see if your ACCOUNT NUMBER is still active, and it's maybe OK if the PHONE NUMBER
changes from the one that was activated, even though they may seem to limit this
in the language of their contract and maybe seem to base the rebate form stuff on
the 'phone number'. I'd get it IN WRITING that you CAN change / port / whatever phone
numbers on the new activated line any time without adverse consequence if there is
any doubt.
h) I've HEARD that changing your PLAN for a long while may be prohibited by
indirect dealers' contracts. Again, I've heard that in practice, in the past it's often
been FINE to change PLANS within certain restrictions -- I believe you've got to keep
the activated line on a contractual term plan that has an equal or higher monthly
basic billing rate as the one you activated. If you keep the same account number
(as you would in general unless you disconnect service), and keep paying for an equal
or higher monthly rate plan on that line, you're probably ok (so I've heard) to get
your rebates and aren't voilating anyone's contract. Though, again, I believe the
way they WORD the indirects' contracts may actually prohibit this or be unclear on this
point. I'd get it IN WRITING that it's OK to do without adverse consequences if you
plan to switch plans.
i) One area that's been very confusing in the past, especially with amazon (who didn't
previously sell tmobile family plan activations) is if you can order
one or more individual new activation lines on individual rate plans, THEN switch
those lines into a family plan and still get the rebates and not be penalized. I've
HEARD that the way it used to work (and may still work) is that you CAN, say,
activate two new service amazon lines on, say, 39.99 individual independent plans,
THEN at basically any time you MAY call Tmobile customer service and have those
two 39.99/month individual plans both under your own name combined into, say,
a single 49.99/month or whatever they offer family plan. In this case you'd go from
paying 79.98/mo for 2x39.99 individual lines into paying just 49.99/month including
service for both those lines in a basic family plan. Evidentally that was considered
QUITE OK by TMobile / Amazon, and I guess it makes sense in that new family plan
lines ARE supposed to qualify for new activation discounts / rebates, though it's
confusing since depending on how you look at it you are terminating (changing) the
lines PLANs as well as switching to a lower-rate monthly service, but I've heard it's OK
to do. This MAY have changed, so get clarification in writing.
So basically if you're an existing customer, I'd suggest either
a) port out your numbers to a prepaid (tmo, cingular) service that will let you
port the same number OUT again (some services do NOT let you port in or port out
prepaid numbers!). Terminate your tmo lines for over 90 days, then you can
sign up as a new activation customer.
b) Get a friend / family member / partner to activate 'new service' to get the discounts
under their name (assuming they're not an 'existing customer'), then you can terminate
your tmobile lines and after the rebates come in (guess that might take 180+ days)
you can do a change-of-responsibility of the service into your name. If you just
do a 'change of responsibility', though, the ACCOUNT NUMBER will be closed even if
the 'service contract' is transferred, so you probably CANNOT COR the lines before you
have the rebates in your hand....
c) Order a 'new activation' line e.g. on an individual 39.99/month plan from someone,
make sure with them you'll qualify for all the rebates / discounts without fees etc.
under this circumstance, then call tmobile to combine that line into a family plan with
your existing line. You'll have two lines now that are 'under contract' for however long,
but you can get into a 49.99/1000 minute/month plan with free mobile-to-mobile so that
may not be a bad deal assuming it's not going to violate the indirect's contract / rebate
rules (which at least in the past I've heard it's OK).
People who know more than I do hang out on HowardForums,
http://www.howardforums.com/forumdisplay.php?f=52
so they'll have either success of failure stories pertinent to your case, but still
ask customer service for amazon & tmobile and get it recorded or in writing
to confirm if you're uncertain.