Help Tracfone

[DWFII]

Sorry this is so long...

My wife only uses a smartphone occasionally and until recently had a fairly old and puny LG that she bought as part of a "package" when she began using Tracfone.

It bricked about a week ago.

She wanted another Tracfone because she liked the economy and the rollover. So I bought her a Samsung Galaxy S4 on Swappa (price was right) that was listed as a Tracfone. Turns out is was...and it wasn't. Samsung manufactured it as a Tracfone but it was "locked" to Straight Talk (a subsidiary of Tracfone) and cannot be "rebranded" as a Tracfone. Dead end, bad buy.

In the 6-8 hour process of trying to activate it as a Tracfone we bought a BYOP Tracfone Activation Kit that included a number of sims...one of which was specifically labeled as being for "AT&T compatible and unlocked GSM" phones. That's the one the sales clerk put into the S4.

So with all that in mind...I have two questions:

1) If I buy another S4 (she likes the phone, prices are good) that has been used with AT&T can it have the sim replaced and work with Tracfone? The activation kit suggest "yes."

2) If I put the sim that I used to try to activate the original S4 I bought, will it work in the new one if the new one is unlocked or AT&T, or was it altered or "damaged" by the attempted activation? Do I need a new activation kit, IOW?

 

[Clementine_3]

Have you contacted the seller and/or Swappa for a return/refund since you can't use it? That's too bad, ugh.

1) yes, it should work with no trouble

2) honestly not sure. My initial guess is it should be fine but I *think* Tracfone does things a bit differently, maybe not though. My only experience with them is through my sister (kid line) and a friend. Neither has run into such a situation. As far as "damage" goes, no, there shouldn't be any, there is nothing to really hurt on the SIM itself. If they tied that SIM to that phone they still should be able to switch it, I'd think. Since it wasn't a useable phone though it'll be like starting from scratch. It could be a fun call to Tracfone

Good luck, sorry you are having such a time. Ugh again.

 

[DWFII]

Have you contacted the seller and/or Swappa for a return/refund since you can't use it? That's too bad, ugh.

1) yes, it should work with no trouble

2) honestly not sure. My initial guess is it should be fine but I *think* Tracfone does things a bit differently, maybe not though. My only experience with them is through my sister (kid line) and a friend. Neither has run into such a situation. As far as "damage" goes, no, there shouldn't be any, there is nothing to really hurt on the SIM itself. If they tied that SIM to that phone they still should be able to switch it, I'd think. Since it wasn't a useable phone though it'll be like starting from scratch. It could be a fun call to Tracfone

Good luck, sorry you are having such a time. Ugh again.

I got the phone from the Swappa seller on Thursday and tried to activate it on Saturday. By Saturday evening I knew it wasn't going to work. I immediately emailed the seller and posted a comment to Swappa staff and am now waiting some sort of response before initiating a PayPal dispute.

Well, sometimes these things happen. The seller apparently deals in used phones so it is possible he didn't know simply because he didn't try (or have the need) to activate the phone. He didn't test it, IOW. So I don't blame him. If I get a full refund from him, I'll be happy, scratch it up to experience and start over again.

Again, thanks for your help.

 

[DWFII]

Do all AT&T phones have removable sim cards? The Tracfone Activation Kit says "AT&T compatible or unlocked GSM" devices--it's not 100% clear (at least not in my mind) what is meant there. I know all AT&T phones are GSM but on Swappa, it seems that not all are unlocked. I am wondering if a "locked" AT&T phone can be used with the Tracfone sim? It would be safer to purchase an unlocked AT&T phone but it does narrow the options a bit.

 

[Jfalls63]

It would be safer to buy a unlocked device.
I have several AT&T S3's that that I have used with Straight Talk on the AT&T network without a problem that I thought were unlocked. A co worker wanted one to use with T-Mobile and I had to try each till I found one that was carrier unlocked and would work with the T-Mobile sim.
The model number you listed in your other thread is for the TracFone/Net 10 variant. The Straight Talk model is the S975L
Item VI covers Straight Talk's unlocking policy.
https://www.straighttalk.com/wps/portal/home/h/legal/terms-and-conditions

 

[Jfalls63]

From what I can find, the S975L is GSM (AT&T and T-Mobile network)and the S970G is also GSM.

 

[kate]

All AT&T phones have a SIM card.

"AT&T compatible or unlocked GSM" probably means an AT&T phone will work without being unlocked. Unlocking an AT&T phone means it will work on other networks like T-Mobile.

If the phone needs to be unlocked, AT&T phone unlock request:
https://www.att.com/deviceunlock