@Jordan2 wrote:
I have a different question about Tracfone. I have had my Tracfone long enough to have it unlocked ( I have been paying monthly for service). What I want to know is if I buy myself a new cellphone that is unlocked and go to the carrier of my choice, how do I keep my number? Does Tracfone own my phone number, do I need a code to release the number or can my number just be transferred to my new carrier ( thinking abou Mint Mobile)?
Phone numbers can be ported to a new carrier. That's assuming you're staying in the same area. If you leave an area, you sometimes lose the ability to port your phone number over. What you'll want to do is start a new service with a new carrier and keep your old service active. Inform the new carrier that you want to port your number over to the new phone. You'll give them your number, they'll submit a porting request, and God willing, within 24 hours (or so, it can take up to a week) the number will be ported to the new phone. Once the number has been ported over, you can then terminate your contract with the old carrier. It should be pretty trouble-free and easy.
Where things get messy is if you're leaving an area and have a landline number you want to port. If you terminate your old service before the number gets ported, you can lose the right to port the number over also. In theory, phone companies are to hold old numbers for a set number of days before reusing them, but sometimes they don't, and things go haywire.
Back when I worked for Frontier, we had a customer who wanted to port their number but had canceled their service before they ported it over. In theory, we would hold the number for 90 days, but somehow, we didn't. It had already been given out within 24 hours after the customer had terminated their service. Another phone company had taken the number and already given it to a new customer. This led to a long series of complicated calls between us, the new carrier, their customer who had the number, and the agency that oversees porting. It was not fun. We eventually got the original customer back his number and everyone ended up happy, but it wasn't easy.
Just keep your current plan active, set up the new plan, tell them you want to port your number over, and all should go smoothly. Companies do this all of the time. It usually is done quickly, and easily, with no hiccups. And even if there is a hiccup, it's generally possible to still get the number back. (Not easy, but possible.)
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