Questions about Verizon's prepaid smart phone service

[MRW1215]

Earlier this year, I helped my parents shift to prepaid plans so they could get their first smart phones, and I've got a couple questions for future reference.

First and foremost, is there anything stopping someone from just buying one of those $99 or less Verizon prepaid smart phones you'd find in a store, and activating it on their existing prepaid account rather than starting a new one?

Secondly, my dad has an old Moto G, and it only has 3G, and doesn't have any kind of sim card. In the future, if he wants to get a new phone, how would he transfer service to it, being that he can't just take out a sim card and pop it into the new phone?

 

[B. Diddy]

First and foremost, is there anything stopping someone from just buying one of those $99 or less Verizon prepaid smart phones you'd find in a store, and activating it on their existing prepaid account rather than starting a new one?

According to the Verizon site,

"Our 3G Prepaid Phone-in-the-Box phones are restricted for use with our Prepaid service for six months after activation, and are locked to the Verizon Wireless network for 12 months after activation. After six months, the restriction to our Prepaid service is automatically removed. After 12 months, you can contact us at *611 from your Verizon Wireless Prepaid phone, or (888)294-6804, and we will provide you with the programming code so that you can unlock your phone. If the user guide for your phone does not provide instructions to access the programming menu, we can help you with that as well."

It's not entirely clear about 4G LTE prepaid phones. They say that those are unlocked from the start, without any other conditions.

Check here about if an old phone can be activated: https://billpaysvc.verizonwireless.com/vzwprepay/prepay/nos/showPhoneActivationPage.action

 

[dpham00]

Earlier this year, I helped my parents shift to prepaid plans so they could get their first smart phones, and I've got a couple questions for future reference.

First and foremost, is there anything stopping someone from just buying one of those $99 or less Verizon prepaid smart phones you'd find in a store, and activating it on their existing prepaid account rather than starting a new one?

Secondly, my dad has an old Moto G, and it only has 3G, and doesn't have any kind of sim card. In the future, if he wants to get a new phone, how would he transfer service to it, being that he can't just take out a sim card and pop it into the new phone?

You can buy any Verizon prepaid or postpaid device and activate it on the prepaid plan at any time.

If the Moto g is on the line now then you would need to get a sim in order to upgrade to a 4GLTE phone. It should be included in the prepaid phone package.

Sent from my Verizon Samsung Galaxy Note 5

 

[dpham00]

According to the Verizon site,

"Our 3G Prepaid Phone-in-the-Box phones are restricted for use with our Prepaid service for six months after activation, and are locked to the Verizon Wireless network for 12 months after activation. After six months, the restriction to our Prepaid service is automatically removed. After 12 months, you can contact us at *611 from your Verizon Wireless Prepaid phone, or (888)294-6804, and we will provide you with the programming code so that you can unlock your phone. If the user guide for your phone does not provide instructions to access the programming menu, we can help you with that as well."

It's not entirely clear about 4G LTE prepaid phones. They say that those are unlocked from the start, without any other conditions.

Check here about if an old phone can be activated: https://billpaysvc.verizonwireless.com/vzwprepay/prepay/nos/showPhoneActivationPage.action

I believe that the op is asking about prepaid phone on prepaid service. There is no 6 month clause for prepaid service. That is only if you wish to use a prepaid phone on a post paid account. And the 6 month restriction applies to 4glte smartphones too... Though you can always pop in an active Verizon 4GLTE sim card into the prepaid phone for use on postpaid service.

Sent from my Verizon Samsung Galaxy Note 5

 

[MRW1215]

You can buy any Verizon prepaid or postpaid device and activate it on the prepaid plan at any time.

If the Moto g is on the line now then you would need to get a sim in order to upgrade to a 4GLTE phone. It should be included in the prepaid phone package.

Well, okay, but how would you go about transferring your account/ service from the sim-less Moto G to a prepaid 4G phone that has a sim included?

 

[B. Diddy]

I believe that the op is asking about prepaid phone on prepaid service. There is no 6 month clause for prepaid service. That is only if you wish to use a prepaid phone on a post paid account. And the 6 month restriction applies to 4glte smartphones too... Though you can always pop in an active Verizon 4GLTE sim card into the prepaid phone for use on postpaid service.

Sent from my Verizon Samsung Galaxy Note 5

Oh, I see--I was thinking he wanted to activate the phone on some other carrier, and missed the part of wanting to activate on his existing prepaid account. Sorry!

 

[B. Diddy]

Well, okay, but how would you go about transferring your account/ service from the sim-less Moto G to a prepaid 4G phone that has a sim included?

If you call Verizon, they should be able to take care of that easily.

 

[dpham00]

If you call Verizon, they should be able to take care of that easily.

Like said above, Verizon can give you a new sim. Call them or get one from the store. They will activate the new device for you.

Sent from my Verizon Samsung Galaxy Note 5