Free upgrade

[Shelly]

Hi mstiger2. My name is NET10 Shelly. Sorry that you're having a problem with your phone. Please check your Forum inbox for a message. Thanks.

[Sluggo]

Hi! I got the free upgrade offer and, after checking it out, went ahead. The phone they sent is "OK". Not that great but that's another story. What has happened since has been a series of problems that, quite frankly, make me say, "Beware!" If you want to keep your number, use autopay, use online tools, and don't have hours to spend because your account is so screwed up. Don't accept the offer!

The first problem I had was the "upgrade" was anything but seamless and I had to fight with them to keep my phone number. My phone worked and then didn't work. I finally got a live person and she told me I needed to but more time. Problem was, I had just paid for 30 days service a few days before. It was not until someone on this forum gave me a direct line to a person that I got it fixed. Turns out they never linked the phone to my existing account so my autopay wasn't being credited to the phone. So keep this in mind if you accept the offer and be prepared for several days without service.

The next problem, and this may be a benefit if you hate your current coverage, they changed my carrier. The new phone was ported to T-Mobile while my old phone was on ATT. I called to complain that I had no service where I previously had a connection and all I heard was crickets. Finally, I got the "customer service" person to confirm that they flipped me to another carrier but said she wasn't allowed to say to what carrier my phone was now being ported. I only found out because I suddenly started getting banner advertising for my "T-Mobile phone."

The next problem was, and this kind of relates to the above, I had no online tools for my phone. I could log in to my account but, for example, my transaction history was blank. After the new phone, the online portal was essentially useless and, when it came to managing transactions, I was essentially in the dark.

While this is getting a bit wordy, the point I want to make is that, once I accepted my new phone, I essentially had one phone on two different accounts. This caused problems when I first got the phone and is still causing problems a year later.

Yesterday, my service was shut off. Again, my account portal was useless. There was no information whatsoever. I finally was able to determine that there was a problem with my autopayment. Now instead of contacting me, they kept running the charge and the bank kept denying payment. Why? I don't know. Could be a new card, new billing address, recent fraud alerts, or any number of things. Regardless, I was able to manually process the charge and get confirmation it went through.

But my phone never came back on so I contacted customer service. Turns out my payment was not being credited to my phone. It also turns out that, in addition to the autopay from my recent manual transaction, my old auto pay was still actively trying to bill my account.

When I called, they said my bank denied the charges and I needed to buy more time. I was confused because I was sure that my charge went through so I went to my bank and it confirmed that the manual payment had indeed been processed. Unfortunately, I was not having much luck getting a customer service person to grasp (a) I had made payment; (b) my bank confirmed payment had been made; (c) I wasn't getting credit; and (d) there was a problem!

Today, I spent hours on the phone speaking with multiple customer service people who were awful! I understand mistakes happen but I spent hours on the phone with people who kept telling me I had to buy more time and wouldn't listen when I insisted that I wasn't being credited for time I had bought. It took more than 2 hours on the phone before I got an acknowledgement that the transaction had gone through but getting credit was another story.

Again, this is related to the new phone. In today's discussions, I learned that I was signed up to two autopay transactions for the same phone! I'm pretty sure this happened, like the lack of information in my online portal, because the new phone was never linked with my preexisting account.

So, my conclusion is that accepting their free upgrade offer might come with problems that will continue to haunt you. I would recommend that you DO NOT ACCEPT THE PHONE UPGRADE IF YOU WANT TO KEEP YOUR NUMBER AND/OR IF YOU USE AUTO-PAY AND/OR IF YOU WANT TO USE ONLINE TOOLS!

[Net - Larry]

Hi Sluggo. My name is NET10 Larry. We are sorry for the trouble this has caused you. We need to take this issue offline so we can address it further. I will contact you directly with a private message. Please click on "New Messages" beside User Control Panel to view your forum inbox. Thank you.

[Krayethomas]

I have type a warning 6 times! I have been logged off before completion every time.

The free upgrade will probably switch you to tmobile 's network. IT SUCKS!!!!!! I have to walk down tbe road to use my phone now and was told to deal with it. I used to brag about my service, not anymore. I live 25 miles from town with a tractor or bike for transportation except for Sat and Sun. With a phone that worked it wasn't a problem. Now it is.

I'm done now and can walk back home .

I. Thomas
A once happy customer.

[Net - Larry]

Hi Krayethomas. My name is NET10 Larry. We are sorry to hear that you are displeased with the product and service. For further assistance, please check your forum inbox for a message. Click on "New Messages" beside User Control Panel to view your forum inbox. We apologize for any inconvenience.

[swatiteke]

Great post