Activation Frustration

[justsomeguyma]

Good morning,

I am looking for confirmation of my understanding of what transpired with my activation last night. 

Some backstory:  I ordered an iPhone 5 16 GB under my girlfriend's phone number.  After reading these forums, my understanding was that if I did not turn on the phone, I could call Verizon and they could reprogram my activation.   Last night, I did just that and the rep confirmed that I would be all set if I turned on the phone.  I waited about twenty minutes and turned it on.  It activated itself under my girlfriend's phone number. 

When I called back, the new rep told me I had misunderstood the last CS rep, and that I needed to wait to 24 hour period in order to reprogram the SIM card.  Am I wrong to think she is wrong, and that somehow the previous rep had failed to reprogram the phone prior to me turning it on?

Any insight would be appreciated.

Thanks. 

[TomCat03]

Seems this has happened to a lot of people in the VZW reps don't even know the time you may have to wait until activation when moving over to another line.

I did the same thing. It could take up to 24 hours but I was also told there is a full "push" of pending status activations at midnight each day. I was told to leave the phone off for activation to complete but i had my i5 on doing some stuff and a notification popped up that I was activated after about 2 hours. I think the key is to make sure your old phone is turned off.

Take a look at the identified device for the number on your Verizon online account page and once activated, the phone should show as your current device. mine was showing my old phone, then "no device", and finally my i5 once it was activated.

[gina7239]

You need a new SIM card if you switch from one line or another. You can't reuse a different card for another number.

[justsomeguyma]

Thanks Tom.

My rep told me I had to wait 24 hours before I even called back to try again.  This seems to be misinformation.  I should just turn my old phone off, call about the 5 activation, and then wait, correct?

[TomCat03]

That's what I did and it eventually activated. I did not need to swap SIM cards, go into a store, take it out and put it back in or anything like that. Once my "pending" activation finally went through i saw my i5 on My Device page online and also all was working just fine.

[Morpheus171]

I have the same problem.  When I bought two new phones, the CS dude at the store told me not to turn on the phone for the line that was getting swapped from it's upgrade.  Got the phone yesterday, went into the store and talked to a different CS rep. who told me I was SOL and needed a new SIM card as this phone was programmed for my son's line whom I stole the upgrade from.  Went to Apple and another Verizon store and no one had SIMs.  Spent an hour on 611 and they said they will call me back within 48 hours.  At this point, I have an iPod and no phone.

[justsomeguyma]

Alright, so here is what I have learned. . .

Tom is absolutely right.  Verizon CSR's are spreading misinformation about this, which is leading to consumer frustration.

You do not need a new SIM card if you want to change the activation number.  You simply have to call Verizon, inform them of your intentions, and let the SIM "age" for +- 24 hours.  After the aging period is complete, the option to activate your intended line should show up in your online account, or you can just call Verizon to see if it's complete.

Once it is, you can proceed as normal.  No new SIM cards, no running around. . .