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Current VZW customer, still under contract. Trying to confirm this will work for Iphone 5

So I was told this will work by cutomer service via phone but I have been getting conflicting answers so I wanted to ask here.

I am not eligible for an upgrade for another 4 months on my current phone/account

I am going to preorder the 16gb iphone 5 tonight and set up a new line. This will run $199. I was told I can then transfer my existing phone # on my current account to the new (iphone 5) acct, then pay etf to cancel old acct. The idea being I will spend about $400 this way and be able to sell my old iphone 4 thus getting the iphone 5 for much cheaper then spending the $650 it will cost to buy one out of contract.

Again just want to confirm that this will work.

Comments

Ann154

No it won't.

pcu

That's interesting. I just had two verizon phone reps confirm to me that this would work. I even had them notate my account. And I even made two separate calls to get verification.

Ann154

They probably are new or didn't understand what you are thinking about doing. You can't switch numbers of lines of service on the same account. It has never been allowed.

Ann154

https://community.verizonwireless.com/thread/782158

rcschnoor

Contracts are associated with the lines, not the phones. Yes you can purchase the phone at a subsidized rate on a new line of service and then switch that phone over to your current line of service with your current number. The new phone will then be on your current number still with 4 months left to upgrade.

You can then cancel your new line of service and pay a $350 ETF as THIS line of service with your new number has 24 months left on the contract.

You are trying to find a loophole in your contract, but it is so obvious that Verizon has closed this loophole. They will not transfer you current number to a new line of service in order to facillitate skirting around the ETF and the 2yr contract you have signed.

You are more than welcome to go ahead and try it, but you will find out you will still end up with the $350 ETF. Incidentally, paying a $350 ETF is still less than paying full retail for the iPhone.

Dahlen

I did something similar to this for the 4S in that I was on my parents family plan wanting to get the phone so I set up a new contract for myself with the iPhone, then took my droid x off my old line (family plan) and activated a dumb phone in its place. The data wasn't contractual, just tied to the phone, so I simply had to pay $9.99 per month on the family plan. I was also able to forward all my calls from the old number to the new, but that was just a stop-gap until the contract was up. Yeah, you end up with a new number, but you get a new phone while paying less that an etf. Not sure if this works anymore, and I would bet that it doesn't work with the share anything plans.

pcu

OK so what about this thought.

Preorder iphone 5 tonight and start a new separate line. ($199 for 16gb)

Port my current (iphone 4 number) over to google voice. Pay the ETF (works out to like $200).

Sell iphone 4.

Have google voice forward to the new iphone 5. This way I would still keep my original number.

Spiral

Many people have done just what you describe sucessfully.

Good luck.

Dahlen

https://community.verizonwireless.com/thread/780799

Another idea that supposedly works for those that have a heftier ETF.

rcschnoor

Sounds good. There are steps so that when you call out on your phone, you can get your Google Voice number to show in the caller ID, aren't there?

pcu

So I will essentially pay $199 (iphone 5) plus $200 (iphone 4 ETF)

plus $20 (google port fee) which totals roughly $420.

Then I can sell my iphone 4 for probably somewhere between $175-300.

Lets just say $200.

This leaves me paying roughly $220 for a new iphone 5 while

essentially being able to keep my original iphone 4 number.

Being that I am out of contract my only other choice to keep my

current number is to buy an unsubsidized Iphone 5 for around $650.

So it seems to be to save me about $430.

I believe I would also have 2 weeks to return the iphone 5 to verizon for a full refund and to back out of the contract with no fees in case something went wrong.

pcu

Yeah if I port my current iphone 4 number out to google voice then as long as I use the google voice app on the iphone 5 to make calls/text it will show the original iphone 4 number and not the new iphone 5 number. So it will just look like I never even changed numbers/got a new phone. At least I think that's the case lol.

SSPhilly

Any of you thinking you'll be able to sell your used iPhones for close to $200 need to realize the 4s is now only $99 through Verizon, and the 4 is free, both offers with 2-yr contract of course.

Just putting that out there.

pcu

It would not be under contract though and I would <Edited to comply with the .> and unlock it. Just look at ebay and you will easily get $300 for that. Amazon is offering 195 right now for a trade in iphone 4 in good condition. That is instant trade in too

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