Activating IP5 from another account and transfer

[Keirtt]

All,

First, thanks for reading my lengthy story. This has worried me more then anything.

Ok, so my mother (An older woman who still uses a feature phone) is eligible for an upgrade. I pre-ordered the Iphone 5 this morning on her account as an upgrade. I've spoken with atleast a dozen customer reps at Verizon and been told a dozen different things... literally.

This seems to be the most consistent answer I've heard... when I receive the phone, I need to go ahead and activate it on her line because the "upgrade" is attached to her phone number. Then I need to turn around and deactivate the phone. Call customer service and have them put my mothers old feature phone and plan back on the account. Take the Iphone 5 to a store and get a new SIM card.

I've had other reps tell me not to activate the phone on her account and instead activate it directly on mine. This makes less sense to me because like others said, the phone was upgraded on her line and the terms and conditions need to be accepted on her line first.

Also, I'm attempting to keep my unlimited data plan. Do you all agree with the process I initially started? Has anyone else had problems with customer reps at Verizon giving different stories?

My goal here is to make sure that my mothers nationwide $30/450 min plan and phone can get put right back on with minimal interruptions.

Thanks for everyones help!

**I am an authorized user on both accounts.

[Covet]

I had someone pre-order a Verizon iPhone 4S for me using his upgrade.  Once he received it I just (after setting it up as a new phone) dialed *228 and activated it on my account.   I don't recall their being any issues. 

But if you do go with the former..

You don't need to actually deactivate anything.  Just activate the iPhone 5 on her line first (which will deactivate her old phone, since only one ESN can be attached to a number at a time), then reactivate her original phone (which will deactivate the iPhone 5), then go and activate the iPhone 5 wherever.  And yeah, I've heard there might be a sim issue but never anything definitive (suppose we'll all find out).

Although I'm not sure what activating an iPhone on her plan would effect.  Someone out there deffinetly knows that better.

[black562]

From what I've been told, you would need to call verizon BEFORE activating or even turning on the phone.  The reason they gave is that once the sim activates, it's permanent.  At that point you would have to go to the store and get a new sim.

So I will call before I even open the box.

[Ann154]

Is this a completely separate account from your account?  The warranty and insurance won't transfer with the phone when they are separate accounts.  Also you will need to activate the phone on the line you purchased it under even if it is only through customer service.

[Keirtt]

Yes, this is a completely separate account. I am completely aware that you lose insurance and warranty (Verizon warranty, not apple - Confirmed this already)

So no big loss.

[houser]

I'm in a similar situation, and I say similar because there are a LOT of different scenarios that customers can be in, and sometimes your exact situation is miscommunicated or misunderstood by the VZ rep; thus, different answers. There's also a lot of confusion caused by the PEBKAC phenomenon.

I think this is the issue: If you have two lines on the same account, there's an easier way to do it, and because 2 lines on the same account is more common, a lot of VZ reps assume that's what you meant... or just don't realize that the easy-way doesn't work between separate accounts. So, to be safe, VZ reps give the 'long' approach to everyone, unless they're sure the easy way will work. This leads to a lot of confusion.

Here's how to do a manual upgrade that I think will work in any situation, including as you're suggesting between two accounts, you'll want to follow the same steps as was required for Activating iPhone4 on Another Line. These steps have been confirmed to work for the iPhone5 by another Verizon rep online. (source) I realize the instructions say for the same account, but I believe this to be the 'buckshot' answer that will cover almost any situation. Again, there are easier ways of upgrading for certain situations, like 2 lines on the same account, but I think this one will work for you.

Hope that helped! If you find out anything more, please post! Most of us are operating in the dark.

[Eccovet]

Ahhhhh exactly opposite what phone rep just said.... And my gut told me to back out of pre order!!!! Bad info

[rara105]

You will need to activate the phone on your mothers account. then have her old phone put back on the account. Go to the store and get a new sim card then have the iphone put onto your account. You will have no issues doing this. If you have access to both online account you can also do it right from home after you have purchased a new sim card.

[Ann154 · Accepted solution]

rara105 wrote:

You will need to activate the phone on your mothers account. then have her old phone put back on the account. Go to the store and get a new sim card then have the iphone put onto your account. You will have no issues doing this. If you have access to both online account you can also do it right from home after you have purchased a new sim card.

The 4G SIM cards are free for customers from a corporate store, customer service via phone and through the MyVerizon account.  Only third party retailers will likely charge for a new SIM card.

[vzw_customer_support]

Hi there Keirtt & Community,

I'm excited for your new phone! Thank you everyone for your input, there was a lot of good information in here.

A few things have changed over the years.  First, with 4G sim cards you can't dial *228-call/option1 to activate the phone, so the sim card is really important.  Second, the terms and conditions are now accepted at the end of the phone order before it can even be shipped.  If you've already accepted the Terms & Conditions then your mother's account is already updated with the new commitment terms. Finally, are sim cards are currently going through some upgrades to where we can swap them around like MEIDs, but I'm unsure if that's in effect for the nano-sim.

This means, technically speaking, that you should be able to speak with us and have us manually activate the sim card and phone directly to your account instead.  My only concern is this rarely causes confusion in the system and causes delays for activation.

The lengthier, but potentially safer, option is to do what's been stated. Activate the phone temporarily on your mothers account, try to activate the exisiting nano-sim on your account, if it doesn't work get a new sim!

I trust this will provide a little more clarity to the options you have available. New technology is so fun!  Good luck and let us know if you have any other questions.

Thanks,
MelissaM_VZW
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