Nexus 5 owners with T-Mobile $30 Prepaid Plan Thread

[BuffOrange]

Any extra cash is available for up to 90 days to cover over-limit calls at $.10 for each needed minute. This unused stash will roll over if it hasn't yet expired.

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I see. So $8.50 = 85 minutes rolled over...
I guess I'm confused on why the Auto-refill is $30-X instead of just $30 then (not that I'm complaining).

 

[akuki]

I see. So $8.50 = 85 minutes rolled over...
I guess I'm confused on why the Auto-refill is $30-X instead of just $30 then (not that I'm complaining).

Looks like your added money was treated as a prepayment against your charge.


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[cdschutz]

Have just started using this plan and it is working out well for me. I just have a question about the various carriers that you can select from and whether or not they allow conditional call forwarding as T-Mobile does not allow access to my Google Voice or any other voicemail other than T-Mobile's. Has anyone experienced this issue of call forwarding being disabled on all T-Mobile's prepaid plans?

 

[akuki]

Have just started using this plan and it is working out well for me. I just have a question about the various carriers that you can select from and whether or not they allow conditional call forwarding as T-Mobile does not allow access to my Google Voice or any other voicemail other than T-Mobile's. Has anyone experienced this issue of call forwarding being disabled on all T-Mobile's prepaid plans?

I only use my Google Voice number. Installed the GV app and had T-Mobile turn off their voicemail, so messages go to the GV account. The cell # is "mobile" forwarding phone in GV. The only thing that goes into Hangouts are official T-Mo notifications, since they only know me by the cell #.

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[Canuckfan]

Looks like your added money was treated as a prepayment against your charge.


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Is there anyway to add money without it being counted as a prepayment?

I guess the danger in what I'm asking is there is a higher chance of this extra "cushion" expiring after 90 days.

 

[jpr]

Is there anyway to add money without it being counted as a prepayment?

I guess the danger in what I'm asking is there is a higher chance of this extra "cushion" expiring after 90 days.

All money/refills added are seen as prepayment. However, you don't have to worry about your cushion expiring as long as you renew your plan each month. When you renew your monthly plan, the 90 days is reset.

 

[akuki]

Is there anyway to add money without it being counted as a prepayment?

I guess the danger in what I'm asking is there is a higher chance of this extra "cushion" expiring after 90 days.

I think it's just for their accounting purposes. Easier for me to see it as $30 due/paid + a deposit of extra minutes. It's the same thing.

I won't put in more $ than I need over the next 3 months. It was explained to me by 2 different reps over the past month, that any deposit over payments due will be available for only 90 days. Since I haven't tested the rule myself, I won't dispute anyone's experience if it was different.

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[jpr]

I think it's just for their accounting purposes. Easier for me to see it as $30 due/paid + a deposit of extra minutes. It's the same thing.

I won't put in more $ than I need over the next 3 months. It was explained to me by 2 different reps over the past month, that any deposit over payments due will be available for only 90 days. Since I haven't tested the rule myself, I won't dispute anyone's experience if it was different.

Sent from my Nexus 5 using AC Forums mobile app

I've had the same $5 extra in my account for the last 18 months untouched since I've never gone over my minutes. What I wrote above about the 90 days being reset every time you renew your monthly plan is in writing in the Tmobile terms.

And here is a Tmobile document that makes it easier to find than reading all the small print: http://support.t-mobile.com/docs/DOC-1281

 

[Canuckfan]

I've had the same $5 extra in my account for the last 18 months untouched since I've never gone over my minutes. What I wrote above about the 90 days being reset every time you renew your monthly plan is in writing in the Tmobile terms.

And here is a Tmobile document that makes it easier to find than reading all the small print: Renew your Pay in Advance plan | T-Mobile Support

So I'm guessing you don't autofill your plan every month? Is that how you've kept the same $5 for longer than a month?

 

[jpr]

So I'm guessing you don't autofill your plan every month? Is that how you've kept the same $5 for longer than a month?

I add a $30 refill card every month that pays for the plan. It would work the same with autopayment but I buy the cards elsewhere to avoid tax.

 

[JohnnyBroccoli]

Seems like it's possible but trying to figure out for sure for a friend....any current T-Mobile customers able to get in on this deal? I think you might just be able to order a new SIM card and that's as good as a "new customer" for this company. Any confirmation or other thoughts on this would be appreciated.

 

[akuki]

I've had the same $5 extra in my account for the last 18 months untouched since I've never gone over my minutes. What I wrote above about the 90 days being reset every time you renew your monthly plan is in writing in the Tmobile terms.

And here is a Tmobile document that makes it easier to find than reading all the small print: http://support.t-mobile.com/docs/DOC-1281

Think this shows 1st-$-in are the 1st-$-applied. We are saying the same thing, if each successive payment looks like it lets your $5 ride, but is really old $5 + $25 to the bill (the way T-Mo posts it), and the new $5 goes to the reserve.

Same thing happens if you make a $95 payment to a 0 balance, and wait 90 days, until you lose the $5 on the 91st day. That's how I understand it.

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Edit : Bottom line, the only way to lose your reserve money is if you don't make a payment within 90 days of your last payment.

 

[jpr]

Think this shows 1st-$-in are the 1st-$-applied. We are saying the same thing, if each successive payment looks like it lets your $5 ride, but is really old $5 + $25 to the bill (the way T-Mo posts it), and the new $5 goes to the reserve.

Same thing happens if you make a $95 payment to a 0 balance, and wait 90 days, until you lose the $5 on the 91st day. That's how I understand it.

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Edit : Oh! A bit premature with my post. Taking another look at your link: "Also, when your rate plan renews, your account balance expiration date is extended by 90 days if it is fewer than 90 days away."

No, still see us saying the same thing. As long as you make the next payment before the 91st day, the same thing happens - $5 is part of the payment, and another $5 goes into the reserve.

No you still don't quite get it. The entire balance expiration date is reset - there is no first in first out. You could put $500 in your account and not add anything more for over a year and you balance would rest it's expiration date every month when your plan renews.

Then say after a year you had $100 left and you added more money. When your plan renewed the next month, the entire balance would get the new expiration date and be treated equally. There would be no subtracting from the $100 first - it's all the same once a renewal happens and the whole balance gets a new expiration date.

 

[akuki]

No you still don't quite get it. The entire balance expiration date is reset - there is no first in first out. You could put $500 in your account and not add anything more for over a year and you balance would rest it's expiration date every month when your plan renews.

Then say after a year you had $100 left and you added more money. When your plan renewed the next month, the entire balance would get the new expiration date and be treated equally. There would be no subtracting from the $100 first - it's all the same once a renewal happens and the whole balance gets a new expiration date.

Yeah, had changed my edit. Sorry to put you thru that, but thank you!

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[grifta67]

Hi everyone!

I just got on the Nexus 5 and this plan last week, everything works great in my usual location of San Francisco. This week though, I have an unusual situation of being in rural Delaware for the holidays. There's no T-Mobile service where I'm staying (which is fine, no big deal), but my phone doesn't seem to want to do any roaming. My girlfriend's phone is on AT&T and she has a signal, but my Nexus 5 sits here with an empty bar.

I've tried going to the Mobile Networks settings screen, and when I tell it to search for networks, it does show AT&T (the only one that shows up). But selecting that doesn't seem to do anything, I still have zero bars. My understanding is that the $30 plan doesn't have any weird restrictions or charges for roaming, so I'd think the phone would automatically latch on to that AT&T signal.

Being new to both the phone and T-Mobile, maybe I'm doing something wrong or not understanding how roaming works?

Thanks!

 

[mrsmumbles]

Hi everyone!

I just got on the Nexus 5 and this plan last week, everything works great in my usual location of San Francisco. This week though, I have an unusual situation of being in rural Delaware for the holidays. There's no T-Mobile service where I'm staying (which is fine, no big deal), but my phone doesn't seem to want to do any roaming. My girlfriend's phone is on AT&T and she has a signal, but my Nexus 5 sits here with an empty bar.

I've tried going to the Mobile Networks settings screen, and when I tell it to search for networks, it does show AT&T (the only one that shows up). But selecting that doesn't seem to do anything, I still have zero bars. My understanding is that the $30 plan doesn't have any weird restrictions or charges for roaming, so I'd think the phone would automatically latch on to that AT&T signal.

Being new to both the phone and T-Mobile, maybe I'm doing something wrong or not understanding how roaming works?

Thanks!

Sorry if someone already said so but does the $30 T-Mobile plan include roaming?

Sent from my LG870 via Tapatalk 2

 

[Central n ohios best]

The roaming for prepaid is quite different from the post paid roaming agreements. I'm using an unlocked att phone. Att has good signal inside my house. But because I'm on the prepaid 70$ plan I work just off the T-Mobile freq and towers here not att. So even though my signal is ok it can bounce from time to time.

Sent from my T-Mobile LG Escape running 4.1.2 using tapatalk 2 (Central n ohio Austin IL)

 

[grifta67]

Yea, it gets confusing with how things are labeled. News articles and press releases refer to pre-paid "Simple Choice" accounts getting things, but don't specify if our $30 plan is included or not. And I've come across conflicting info on a couple Tmo support pages.

Finnaly got online while Tmo chat was available and clarified some things. The $30 plan does indeed have voice/text roaming, they're not sure why I'm not picking up the AT&T roaming signal. Whatever, no big deal, I'm only here for a few more days. And the $30 plan does not include data roaming. I know I was confused about that since the recent announcements about pre-paid plans getting roaming and hotspot. That apparently does not include our magical $30 plan.

And I'm sure many of you already know these things, just figured I'd write it out again for easy access!

-Sean

 

[tgp]

No you still don't quite get it. The entire balance expiration date is reset - there is no first in first out. You could put $500 in your account and not add anything more for over a year and you balance would rest it's expiration date every month when your plan renews.

Then say after a year you had $100 left and you added more money. When your plan renewed the next month, the entire balance would get the new expiration date and be treated equally. There would be no subtracting from the $100 first - it's all the same once a renewal happens and the whole balance gets a new expiration date.

Yes, I can assure you from personal experience that this is correct. I added a $100 card because I got a good deal on it, and then a short time later I added another $50 because of some confusion with a vendor. This gave me a balance of $150 plus a bit of reserve, or enough credit for 5 months. It worked perfectly. Every month my balance went down by $30, until I was down to the few dollars in there as reserve.

 

[JohnnyBroccoli]

Yes, I can assure you from personal experience that this is correct. I added a $100 card because I got a good deal on it, and then a short time later I added another $50 because of some confusion with a vendor. This gave me a balance of $150 plus a bit of reserve, or enough credit for 5 months. It worked perfectly. Every month my balance went down by $30, until I was down to the few dollars in there as reserve.

Any recommendation as to where to find "good deals" on these prepaid T-Mobile cards? I'm new to the game and just been paying via their website. Great deal regardless but more savings is always good.