Hi folks!
This is an unusual issue, so it doesn't really fit into any specific forum on the MacRumors site. This forum was the closest, so here goes...
I just bought a brand-new unlocked iPhone SE (2022) from Apple's web-site. I was thrilled to receive it.
In the past, I had bought a couple of other unlocked smartphones (Motorola G series phones, running Android) and bought SIM card kits from TracFone Wireless (pay-as-you-go, minutes-based plans) for "bring your own phone" contingencies. This may seem really cheap to many on this forum, but I live in the hills and even with more cell towers going up it never seemed worth it to go with regular monthly-payment cellular plans; most of the time, my smartphone is used as a WiFi device anyway. The Tracfone "bring your own phone" kits worked, so I kept using them.
Now for the trouble part...
I bought another Tracfone ("BYOP") SIM kit off of Amazon the same night I bought the new iPhone SE. It arrived and I tried installing the SIM into my new SE. It didn't work. I got on the phone with Tracfone Technical Support, whose service was barely adequate in the past, and told them about my problem. I learned from Tracfone's automated phone tree that Tracfone "is now part of the Verizon family", in other words, Verizon bought Tracfone.
When I go to speak to a human, I learned that "those SIM cards won't work", and, of course, Tracfone was going to send me a nice new Verizon SIM card. (Couldn't you see that one coming?) Tracfone said they would send it out right away. Over a week passed, and nothing arrived. My shiny new iPhone SE languishes...
I decided to call Tracfone and ask them what gives. They said they would send me out a NEW SIM kit the next business day! Hip, hip, hooray. I stayed on there for quite a while and got passed around to a few different people. I also asked why another Tracfone cell, used by another family member, was not working. As predictable as the sun rising, I was told that Tracfone needed a new SIM card. They also said the minutes needed to be refreshed because they had expired. I ordered new minutes right there on the phone. Nothing happened. They said that old phone was not compatible with the Verizon network. Well, great. Th\at old phone is now a brick. I asked for a refund. They said the order was in the system and could not be revoked until it was processed. I had to call back the next day to revoke the order, but they said it would take time.
Finally, a few days ago, a new SIM card kit arrived with a shiny new SIM card. I installed the new card in the iPhone SE. I followed their procedure to activate the SE and to deactivate my old Motorola. Nothing happened. This morning, I received a notification on my Motorola that my service had been discontinued. I checked the iPhone to see if it was now active... nope...
I called Tracfone this afternoon. After being passed around again, they still cannot activate the new phone. They claimed I needed to purchase new minutes. I tried to check my phone app, but now neither phone works so I couldn't check anything. Tracfone tried to walk me through a lengthy authentication process to confirm I was really me and my phone was really my phone. But since neither phone worked, they could not send me any text messages to confirm any authentication.
Then it turned hilarious: they had me dig into my old SIM kit that I bought from Amazon (the one that they said was outdated) and had me install a SIM into the Motorola. BANG! All those messages they said they sent to me that I could not receive, there they were. They said they sent me e-mails as well, but I checked and checked and nothing ever arrived. I even looked for SPAM and still nothing.
Are there any good pay-as-you-go, minutes-based cellular services out there that don't suck totally? I'm not sure I can put up with Verizon and Tracfone becoming Veracfone. My family already puts up with lackluster service from Verizon for landline and DSL, and Verizon loves to nickel and dime its customers to death while providing lackluster service at best.
I don't want to throw away a couple thousand Tracfone minutes, but their support personnel don't have a clue and even the supervisors can be impossible to deal with. And at this moment, my iPhone SE still doesn't work.
This is an unusual issue, so it doesn't really fit into any specific forum on the MacRumors site. This forum was the closest, so here goes...
I just bought a brand-new unlocked iPhone SE (2022) from Apple's web-site. I was thrilled to receive it.
In the past, I had bought a couple of other unlocked smartphones (Motorola G series phones, running Android) and bought SIM card kits from TracFone Wireless (pay-as-you-go, minutes-based plans) for "bring your own phone" contingencies. This may seem really cheap to many on this forum, but I live in the hills and even with more cell towers going up it never seemed worth it to go with regular monthly-payment cellular plans; most of the time, my smartphone is used as a WiFi device anyway. The Tracfone "bring your own phone" kits worked, so I kept using them.
Now for the trouble part...
I bought another Tracfone ("BYOP") SIM kit off of Amazon the same night I bought the new iPhone SE. It arrived and I tried installing the SIM into my new SE. It didn't work. I got on the phone with Tracfone Technical Support, whose service was barely adequate in the past, and told them about my problem. I learned from Tracfone's automated phone tree that Tracfone "is now part of the Verizon family", in other words, Verizon bought Tracfone.
When I go to speak to a human, I learned that "those SIM cards won't work", and, of course, Tracfone was going to send me a nice new Verizon SIM card. (Couldn't you see that one coming?) Tracfone said they would send it out right away. Over a week passed, and nothing arrived. My shiny new iPhone SE languishes...
I decided to call Tracfone and ask them what gives. They said they would send me out a NEW SIM kit the next business day! Hip, hip, hooray. I stayed on there for quite a while and got passed around to a few different people. I also asked why another Tracfone cell, used by another family member, was not working. As predictable as the sun rising, I was told that Tracfone needed a new SIM card. They also said the minutes needed to be refreshed because they had expired. I ordered new minutes right there on the phone. Nothing happened. They said that old phone was not compatible with the Verizon network. Well, great. Th\at old phone is now a brick. I asked for a refund. They said the order was in the system and could not be revoked until it was processed. I had to call back the next day to revoke the order, but they said it would take time.
Finally, a few days ago, a new SIM card kit arrived with a shiny new SIM card. I installed the new card in the iPhone SE. I followed their procedure to activate the SE and to deactivate my old Motorola. Nothing happened. This morning, I received a notification on my Motorola that my service had been discontinued. I checked the iPhone to see if it was now active... nope...
I called Tracfone this afternoon. After being passed around again, they still cannot activate the new phone. They claimed I needed to purchase new minutes. I tried to check my phone app, but now neither phone works so I couldn't check anything. Tracfone tried to walk me through a lengthy authentication process to confirm I was really me and my phone was really my phone. But since neither phone worked, they could not send me any text messages to confirm any authentication.
Then it turned hilarious: they had me dig into my old SIM kit that I bought from Amazon (the one that they said was outdated) and had me install a SIM into the Motorola. BANG! All those messages they said they sent to me that I could not receive, there they were. They said they sent me e-mails as well, but I checked and checked and nothing ever arrived. I even looked for SPAM and still nothing.
Are there any good pay-as-you-go, minutes-based cellular services out there that don't suck totally? I'm not sure I can put up with Verizon and Tracfone becoming Veracfone. My family already puts up with lackluster service from Verizon for landline and DSL, and Verizon loves to nickel and dime its customers to death while providing lackluster service at best.
I don't want to throw away a couple thousand Tracfone minutes, but their support personnel don't have a clue and even the supervisors can be impossible to deal with. And at this moment, my iPhone SE still doesn't work.
