Questions on porting family plan lines and a prorated final bill?
michae2414
Newbie

Hey there! I've done some searches on the board before posting and encountered tidbits of information I found useful, but I couldn't get all of my lingering questions answered from older posts so here's my situation:

 

My number is the primary number on a family plan (3 lines, mine included) with Verizon, and I'm considering porting it along with the two other lines elsewhere. All three lines are no longer in a contract and are month-to-month (the 2-year agreements ended many months ago and none of the lines have been upgraded or anything since then). I'm planning to move them all to separate prepaid services through another carrier.

 

I'm doing my best to gather enough information about how to go about moving all three of these family plan lines with the least amount of hassle :smileyhappy:, so I've got some questions I hope I can get answered. Thanks for any assistance!

 

This is my understanding:

 

-I'll need to contact my new carrier to have a given number ported, correct? And that line will be subsequently cancelled on Verizon's end, with no ETFs since none of the lines are tied to a contract?

 

-Should I port the second and third lines first and not port the primary number (mine) first, so asto not cancel all the lines of service before they're ported? I'm okay porting one number at a time AKA separately instead of all at once if that simplifies the transfer process.

 

-When the porting process takes place and my Verizon service is cancelled, does Verizon prorate the remaining days on my billing period from the date it's cancelled, or do they still bill up to the end of the cycle? I hear it's better to wait until the end of my billing cycle (which for me is the 9th of every month) to initiate the transfer(s) so that I don't have any billing issues, but moving all three numbers on one day (even separately) sounds kinda daunting. :smileysurprised:

 

-Do the phones I currently have under Verizon simply "disconnect" or deactivate once service is cancelled? Will they no longer be associated with my family plan lines and therefore be free to be resold or handed off to other family members who are using Verizon? I notice many phones on eBay/Craigslist list a "cleared ESN" as a requirement for someone to activate a used phone on Verizon and wanted to know what that was about.

 

Thanks for any help on these concerns!

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Re: Questions on porting family plan lines and a prorated final bill?
SuzyQ
Community Leader
Community Leader

 


michae2414 wrote:

Hey there! I've done some searches on the board before posting and encountered tidbits of information I found useful, but I couldn't get all of my lingering questions answered from older posts so here's my situation:

 

My number is the primary number on a family plan (3 lines, mine included) with Verizon, and I'm considering porting it along with the two other lines elsewhere. All three lines are no longer in a contract and are month-to-month (the 2-year agreements ended many months ago and none of the lines have been upgraded or anything since then). I'm planning to move them all to separate prepaid services through another carrier.

 

I'm doing my best to gather enough information about how to go about moving all three of these family plan lines with the least amount of hassle :smileyhappy:, so I've got some questions I hope I can get answered. Thanks for any assistance!

 

This is my understanding:

 

-I'll need to contact my new carrier to have a given number ported, correct? And that line will be subsequently cancelled on Verizon's end, with no ETFs since none of the lines are tied to a contract?  All correct - the port happens via the NEW carrier. 

 

-Should I port the second and third lines first and not port the primary number (mine) first, so asto not cancel all the lines of service before they're ported? I'm okay porting one number at a time AKA separately instead of all at once if that simplifies the transfer process.  You can do it this way - but based on your next question, you wouldn't want to do it this way.  You can't do both!!

 

-When the porting process takes place and my Verizon service is cancelled, does Verizon prorate the remaining days on my billing period from the date it's cancelled, or do they still bill up to the end of the cycle?  You have already paid for the current month's service - you are billed in advance for the coming month.  What WILL be billed is any texting, roaming calls, data charges, etc, that have occurred during the month that were NOT billed in advance. I hear it's better to wait until the end of my billing cycle (which for me is the 9th of every month) to initiate the transfer(s) so that I don't have any billing issues, but moving all three numbers on one day (even separately) sounds kinda daunting. :smileysurprised:  But YOU don't have to do anything - your new carrier will deal with it, and it seems to me it would be better to end the service on all three at one time, since it is one account.  You can ask your new carrier what they recommend.  There should be no issues with porting all three lines at once.

 

-Do the phones I currently have under Verizon simply "disconnect" or deactivate once service is cancelled?Yes - once the number is ported to the new carrier, the phones will no longer work until they are activated with another number.  Will they no longer be associated with my family plan lines and therefore be free to be resold or handed off to other family members who are using Verizon? This is correct, and another reason for doing the port at the end of a billing cycle.  Issues have come up with transfers done mid cycle - and because the account had been billed and paid for the full month's service, the phone's ESN was not released until the end of the billing cycle.  I notice many phones on eBay/Craigslist list a "cleared ESN" as a requirement for someone to activate a used phone on Verizon and wanted to know what that was about.

 

Thanks for any help on these concerns!


 

It may take several days for the numbers to fully port over and have all services working correctly, and for the old phones to be fully "released" from your account to be used on another Verizon account.  I would wait a week or so after the port, then call CS and check the ESN status of the old phones to see if they are "clear".

 

Hope this answers most of your questions.  Post back if you need further clarification.

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Re: Questions on porting family plan lines and a prorated final bill?
Minniehaha
Specialist - Level 2

First which carrier are you porting to, not all phones are compatable with verizon or are you planning on buying new phones?

You can not use a smartphone with prepaid. GMS and CDNA are not compatable.

The chief GSM carriers in the United States are Cingular Wireless, recently merged with AT&T Wireless, and T-Mobile USA. Major

 

The chief GSM carriers in the United States are Cingular Wireless, recently merged with AT&T Wireless, and T-Mobile USA. Major

CDMA

carriers are Sprint PCS, Verizon and Virgin Mobile.

 

Should I port the second and third lines first and not port the primary number (mine) first, so asto not cancel all the lines of service before they're ported?   Yes -- I am guessing at this part, but I would say port over the 2nd and 3rd phones first, my thinking is if you do the main line first it might disconnect the main line along with the secondary lines.

Yes you will need to contact your new carrier to have the number ported, my thinking is that you might have to have the new carrier port your phone before you cancel from verizon otherwise your phone numbers will be also canceled.

 

Do the phones I currently have under Verizon simply "disconnect" or deactivate once service is cancelled?  Yes  Will they no longer be associated with my family plan lines and therefore be free to be resold or handed off to other family members who are using Verizon?   Yes  I notice many phones on eBay/Craigslist list a "cleared ESN" as a requirement for someone to activate a used phone on Verizon and wanted to know what that was about. I'm guessig again I think that means that  the phone is free and clear and no charges are pending on them and that all info on them has been cleared. 

I'm also guessing that verizon will not prorate the bill since you signed up for a month even if you don't  use  it you still pay for it. Thats just a guess.

 

 

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Re: Questions on porting family plan lines and a prorated final bill?
Minniehaha
Specialist - Level 2

I was typing the same time as you, didn't know you had already answered the above question, didn't mean to step on your toes, lol.

Michae2414  Suzy is right in her answers.

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Re: Questions on porting family plan lines and a prorated final bill?
SuzyQ
Community Leader
Community Leader

It's OK Minnehaha - I've done the same thing too!

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Re: Questions on porting family plan lines and a prorated final bill?
michae2414
Newbie

Thanks for your replies, the both of you! :smileyhappy: And yes, I do plan on getting new phones since my Verizon CDMA phones won't work (my new carrier will be either AT&T or T-Mobile).

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Re: Questions on porting family plan lines and a prorated final bill?
michae2414
Newbie

Hey, so I'm looking more into my plan as the end of my billing cycle slowly draws near, and I wanted some clarification if possible:



SuzyQ wrote:

michae2414 wrote:

 

-When the porting process takes place and my Verizon service is cancelled, does Verizon prorate the remaining days on my billing period from the date it's cancelled, or do they still bill up to the end of the cycle?   You have already paid for the current month's service - you are billed in advance for the coming month.  What WILL be billed is any texting, roaming calls, data charges, etc, that have occurred during the month that were NOT billed in advance.


 


 

Can you clarify what you mean here? RIght now my Verizon account's telling me I have an amount $XX.XX due, so if I'm billed in advance for the upcoming month's service, am I still supposed to pay that if I'm gonna be canceling before the end of the cycle? I'm gonna be spending a bit of money initially to get new GSM phones and I'm afraid of inadvertently paying for a full month of service from Verizon that I won't be using.

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Re: Questions on porting family plan lines and a prorated final bill?
whatsitsname
Newbie

If your billing cycle ends on the 9th, you should port your number over to att on the 8th.  It gives you 1 day of time for any kind of delays that might happen.  As Suzy has pointed out there will no prorated final bill as you pay your monthly bill in advance.  You can do what I suggest above and DO NOT pay any bill yet.  They will send you a final bill about a week after you ported.  The worse that can happen is that you will be charged a $5 late fee.  This way you will be assured you do not pay in advance for a month that you will not use.

 

You should really contact Verizon and

1) confirm that you have no contract on any of your lines. 

2) ask them how much you own them if you cancel your contract on the 9th. 

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