Electronics

[QVCkitty1]

I have a Tracphone that I let expire. I was using it as a back up and just forgot about it. Anyway I went on line to see about reactivating and it would not recognize my phone number it serial number. Any suggestions would be welcome. 

[gardenman]

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@QVCkitty1 wrote:

I have a Tracphone that I let expire. I was using it as a back up and just forgot about it. Anyway I went on line to see about reactivating and it would not recognize my phone number it serial number. Any suggestions would be welcome. 

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If it was an older phone (3G), it may have been phased out. Their online chat might be able to help you figure things out.

[QVCkitty1]

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@gardenman wrote:

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@QVCkitty1 wrote:

I have a Tracphone that I let expire. I was using it as a back up and just forgot about it. Anyway I went on line to see about reactivating and it would not recognize my phone number it serial number. Any suggestions would be welcome. 

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If it was an older phone (3G), it may have been phased out. Their online chat might be able to help you figure things out.

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@gardenman , Thank you.

[Kachina624]

@QVCkitty1    When you let your account expire, you lose your phone number and have to start all over again.  It may belong to someone else now and be associated with a different serial number.

[QVCkitty1]

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@Kachina624 wrote:

@QVCkitty1    When you let your account expire, you lose your phone number and have to start all over again.  It may belong to someone else now and be associated with a different serial number.

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@Kachina624 , Thank you  !

[Jordan2]

I had my Tracfone unlocked today and have ordered a cellphone plan from Mint Mobile ( they are running a promo  a three month plan gets you three months free, I think until January 15). It will end up costing me $57 for six months, I figure after the six months are up I can go elsewhere with my phone ( I am a light cellphone user so a phone isn't that important to me). When porting your cell number to your new carrier they ask for your billing information and PIN. With Tracfone is your serial number of your phone your billing address and what is the PIN ( I don't think I have a PIN for my phone)?

[Ainhisg]

@Jordan2 Google is your friend.  I found this for you.  Not sure if it is accurate or not, but it is worth a shot.  If it doesn't work, do another search on Google and try a different method.

Making this post as a help/guide for anyone considering porting to another service provider as it took way way longer than it should have for me.

Despite what your new provider may tell you, they need (3) things:

1. Your Tracfone account number

2. A PIN to port out

3. The ZIP code associated with your TracFone account

The account number is not necessarily what searching/Googling will tell you. It's either the last 15 digits of the S/N of your SIM card, or an IMEI number. If you have BYOP it is NOT guaranteed to be the last 15 of the SIM. I've been BYOP for 5 years and my SIM card had been in 3 different phones, my account number was the IMEI of the 2nd phone that SIM card was in. The only way I know to be sure (cause TF won't tell you) is to text "FOUR" to 611611 and then look at all your SIM card and IMEI numbers till you find it and that is your account number.

The PIN is easy, text NTP to 611611

The ZIP code is whatever they decided to associate with your account when you got your very firstTracFone. For me that was 12 years ago and I had to use the ZIP code of where I lived then. The problem is a lot of service providers don't know to ask this and just use your current address when starting the port process at their end. Let you new service provider know this before they start the process.

TLDR:

• text FOUR to 611611, find the number that has those digits as the last four, that's your acct

• text NTP to 611611, that's your pin

• use the ZIP code of where you lived or where you bought the phone when you first opened your TF account

[Jordan2]

@Ainhisg thank you for this. I may call Tracfone when I'm ready to switch, hopefully they can give me the answers I need. I have been with Tracfone for a long time, but I've had enough with them.