Activation Questions Go Here

[theGman911]

I think I have tried this before and they acted like I was trying to kill someone.... Is there any way to do this, or as a right as a customer, do we have the right to activate on our own?

Thanks in advance!

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[Droid800]

I think I have tried this before and they acted like I was trying to kill someone.... Is there any way to do this, or as a right as a customer, do we have the right to activate on our own?

Thanks in advance!

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If you buy it on contract they will make you activate in store. Honestly, its a smarter idea than doing it at home in case anything goes wrong.

If you already have a 4G SIM, or are buying it off-contract, they shouldn't have a problem with you doing it on your own.

 

[ChevyNovaLN]

If you buy it on contract they will make you activate in store. Honestly, its a smarter idea than doing it at home in case anything goes wrong.

If you already have a 4G SIM, or are buying it off-contract, they shouldn't have a problem with you doing it on your own.

I would tend to agree, but I also do believe that it's no different than having the phone sent to you straight from verizon. Just because there is a brick and mortar store shouldn't change the rules if I can get an unactivated phone in the mail

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[Cory Streater]

Yes.
They will fight you about it.
Insist on it anyway. I personally like the ritual of doing the unboxing in private and without them having ever touched it.

 

[ChevyNovaLN]

Yes.
They will fight you about it.
Insist on it anyway. I personally like the ritual of doing the unboxing in private and without them having ever touched it.

Exactly!!! Let us geeks be geeks

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[Droid800]

Yes.
They will fight you about it.
Insist on it anyway. I personally like the ritual of doing the unboxing in private and without them having ever touched it.

Benefit of buying it full price; they can't make me do anything. That, and I already have a 4G SIM.

 

[ServerTech]

When I had bought the TBolt on the day it came out, I told the rep that I needed to have my old phone until the end of the day. He just gave me instructions on a piece of paper and I activated the TBolt later on that night. I didn't need the instructions on the piece of paper though because I activated it on the VZW website. Really easy!

Just tell them that you only had time to come in and buy the phone and that you'll activate it later.

BTW - This was at a corporate store here in Redmond, WA

 

[theGman911]

All great advice! U guys are the best. Thanks a lot.

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[bplewis24]

Benefit of buying it full price; they can't make me do anything. That, and I already have a 4G SIM.

They can't make you do anything if you're on-contract either.

You bought the device at a subsidized price, so you still own the hardware and you are already committed to a two-year contract. Whether you activate the phone in the store or while sitting on your toilet eating twizzlers doesn't change the fact that you're still shelling out $1,600 - $2,400 in service for the next 2 years.

Brandon

 

[largeselection]

As mentioned, they will definitely give you a hard time about it. I agree that I prefer to unbox and set it up myself at home (especially with the ease of simply having to move the sim card from the old device to the new). I HATE at the VZW store when the reps struggle with opening the battery back or installing the sim or microSD card and then I see them trying to force it open/closed or jam it in because they don't know what they are doing.

I've had success by telling them it's a gift (which it actually was at the time). But if you tell them it's a gift for someone, then they will still give you a hard time about it, but ultimately you should be OK.

 

[bberrynewbie84]

u guys can still do an unboxing after u get it home.

 

[wseyller]

I posted this same thing in a different thread but it relates to this thread.

I was the first one to get it at the store I went to. Only problem is getting the 4g sim card to activate. I went ahead and left with the phone with no activation. He told me to call back at 10:30 if it doesn't work by then. He said it was a similiar problem when the thunderbolt came out.

So by my experience I had to leave without activation.

 

[dcgore]

It is possible as long as everything has been taken care of in the account. I don't think they'll just hand you the phone in a "no questions asked" sort of manner.

 

[Nuar]

I tried to get the woman to let me activate it later on my own and she told me they have to do it in the store. I wasnt happy about it. ESPECIALLY when I saw her take the cover off the back of the phone and then put it on WRONG :/ Painful sight, but at least if she breaks it, I can have her replace it with a new one lol

 

[Cory Streater]

This is why I stopped buying in the store and started buying online. In the store, they are NOT happy with people like Droid800 and I who pay full retail price. Which is fine, because I realize they are commission based, but it always seems to really show in their faces and attitudes.

As far as the whole activation piece, remember you are not activating a phone you are activating a SIM card on your account. The two are completely separated from each other. Once that SIM card is activated you can stick it in any 4G phone and it will work. That is why there is no *228 OTA programming with 4G phones. So you have 2 options:

1) Have them activate the SIM on your account in the store. You will notice the SIM card is pulled from a cabinet not from the phone box. If you want to verify they did the activation correctly they can put it any 4G phone (e.g., demo unit) and test before you leave. There should be no arguing about this. If they do, it's likely the rep just isn't fully trained yet which is not their fault.

2) Buy the phone, have them hand over the SIM card and activate the SIM using the 888 number.

If you're concerned it won't work, have them plug it into a demo phone and make a call with it before you leave. If it doesn't work, that means they set your account up improperly.

 

[Cory Streater]

Gman - no offense, but I stickied you thread and changed the title a bit. This is always a popular topic.

 

[specularius]

I got mine this morning, first person in Central Louisiana. Still waiting for the sim to activate. I am in a 3g only area so I don't know if this affects the activation time. After numerous calls and lots of help from the corp store, I left with an unactivated phone. Still waiting.

 

[snowboard052]

I got mine this morning, first person in Central Louisiana. Still waiting for the sim to activate. I am in a 3g only area so I don't know if this affects the activation time. After numerous calls and lots of help from the corp store, I left with an unactivated phone. Still waiting.

Im having the same problem too it just wont activate, is anyone else having this problem? the lady at the store said the one she sold it took 2 hours, and she said it will eventually do it but its been like 4 hours

 

[xxtdxx]

When I got mine it didn't activate the first time then rebooted itself to try again and it worked the 2nd time. The same thing happened to every person buying there phones at costco during the time I was there.

 

[specularius]

Mine never did activate the sim. I got tired of waiting and pressed the four corners, set it to CDMA only and it is working so I can atleast conduct business. I will call tech support tomorrow and see what I need to do to get the sim to activate. If I put it back in CDMA/LTE mode, it has no data connection at all.