Cell Phone Question

[SHADOWFOX]

About a year and a half ago me and me wife got two Motorola E815 cell phones and signed up for Verizon family plan with two year contract.. Contract was no big deal since our previous cell phones, we've had it for 4 years. Well two days ago LOML accidentally dropped her cell phone on a pool of water and I thought I could just let it dry . The phone is dry and it powers up but we can't hear anything. My question is, if I buy an unlock cell phone can I just take that to Verizon and have them activate the phone ? I cannot believe how expensive these phones are if you are getting it without a plan. Anybody familiar with these things? I don't think LOML could go 6 mos. without a cell phone and I would really hate to spend over $100.00 for a cell phone.

[jAngiel]

You can find a cheap one one ebay, my BIL does that all the time.

I found a code online to unlock my old LG phone myself. It was an AT&T phone but since I unlocked my SIL can use it with whatever provider she has. Ironically she dropped her previous one in a "pool" of water too (the potty)...

[ChrisD]

I don't think LOML could go 6 mos. without a cell phone and I would really hate to spend over $100.00 for a cell phone.

C'mon, Chris: THE CEO/COO/CIO/CFO NEEDS A TOOL. No questions asked, my friend. Get her what she wants.

[LCHIEN]

About a year and a half ago me and me wife got two Motorola E815 cell phones and signed up for Verizon family plan with two year contract.. Contract was no big deal since our previous cell phones, we've had it for 4 years. Well two days ago LOML accidentally dropped her cell phone on a pool of water and I thought I could just let it dry . The phone is dry and it powers up but we can't hear anything. My question is, if I buy an unlock cell phone can I just take that to Verizon and have them activate the phone ? I cannot believe how expensive these phones are if you are getting it without a plan. Anybody familiar with these things? I don't think LOML could go 6 mos. without a cell phone and I would really hate to spend over $100.00 for a cell phone.

Actually, if its a GSM phone, and its unlocked, then you can probably just move the SIM card to the new phone and it will work w/o having to go to verizon to do anything.

P.S. OK, I agree that Verizon is CDMA and not GSM. So it won't work.

Incidentally, CMDA phones have an ESN which is unique and the phone is identified to the network by said ESN.

In GSM, the unique identifier is on the SIM card, which maks the SIM card portable to any GSM phone and still identifies the SIM/Phone combination to the network by the unique SIM card ID.

Locking however, is a stupid marketing thing to restrict phones to certain networks, so a phone sold by cingular can't be used on another compatible network. It's a software trick in the phone that says, I'm supposed to be (i.e.) Cingular phone so will refuse to work with another network. The locking and unlocking can be done with certain secret codes entered into the keypad.

[SHADOWFOX]

Actually, if its a GSM phone, and its unlocked, then you can probably just move the SIM card to the new phone and it will work w/o having to go to verizon to do anything.

How would you know if it is a GSM phone. I cannot find a SIM card on this phone so I don't think the Motorola E815 is a GSM phone. I am not really up to speed with cell phone technology. I think the Motorola E815 is a CDMA phone.

[Slik Geek]

Well two days ago LOML accidentally dropped her cell phone on a pool of water and I thought I could just let it dry . The phone is dry and it powers up but we can't hear anything.

LOML had the same thing happen recently with her Nokia. Won't tell you what "pool of water" it was - suffice to say you wouldn't (and couldn't) swim in it...

She called me on the landline right away. I told her to remove the battery (to prevent damage due to unintended current paths). When I got home that evening, I removed the SIM card and cleaned the contacts. Then I put the phone (not the battery or SIM card) into the toaster oven at the lowest "oven" setting and baked it for several hours. (I measured the temperature, it was about 140F).

I reassembled everything and it works fine still many weeks later. Note, our phone spent just a couple seconds in the water, so fluid ingress was possibly minimal. IIRC, there was evidence of moisture in the LCD display area, however, that was driven out by the drying process.

[nadz]

verizon = CDMA

im no expert, but as far as i know, verizon's CDMA network only supports CDMA phones...so a cingular or t-mobile phone(both GSM networks) wont for verizon...i have a good bit of luck going into the verizon stores and asking for their cheapest retail priced phone...usually it has no camera, no internet, etc...but it still makes phone calls...and for around $120-$150

i have a friend who buys phones off of ebay, he has terrific luck...

hope this helped,

-a

[Mrs. Wallnut]

My question is, if I buy an unlock cell phone can I just take that to Verizon and have them activate the phone ?

I worked in a cell phone place for a while and I came to learn that even though there are numerous phones to chose from to have Verizon or any other company activate that phone the phone has to be specifically for that company, for example, a Verizon phone must be made for Verizon.

Unless things have changed in the last few years. But that was my understanding from working there. We had numerous people come in with the same kinds of problems and that is what they would always tell and I have heard that with other companies also.

If you have one of your old phones then you can activate that, or the other thing is do you have insurance on the phone through the company, if you do you might be able to replace it that way.

[buckeye95]

I work in the industry, and concur with the last posting that your Verizon phone should be CDMA, and not GSM.

I am with Sprint as my provider now, and was able to purchase a couple extra phones (same model as mine at the time) a few years ago from a friend who was upgrading. When the inevitable drops, etc. happened and one would go out, I would call Sprint Cust. Service and have them change it over to one of the other phones. The critical part they need is the ESN (Electronic Serial Number) found on the phone, usually under the battery cover. This is completely unique number, and what is required for them to activate your new phone.

Here is my take on how to approach this:

1.) Call Verizon or stop by one of their phone stores and explain the situation. Since you are close to your contract end date, they may still give you a pretty good rebate. If not, ask if you can get the # switched over if you get your own phone (they will probably say yes).

2.) Look around for another phone. Remember, if your contact is coming up and you are planning to renew, you really only need one for a few months, so I would not spend much. Check out Ebay, Craigslist, etc. Another idea might be to post something on the forum here. Most people I know have phones laying around, maybe someone has a couple year old Verizon phone they would be willing to cut you a deal on.

3.) This is CRITICAL. If you do buy a used phone, ensure the ESN is "clean". In other words, if someone left Verizon with unpaid bills, the ESN will be locked and unable to be reactivated until the bill is settled (at least this is the way it worked a year ago). A reputable buyer should be able to assure you of this.

Pete

[SHADOWFOX]

K, Just remembered that BIL is an engineer for Motorola and it looks like he might be able to help us out.. We both might end up getting the Q I called Verizon and they said to just dial *228 from the Motorola Q or just walk in to a verizon store and they should be able to activate the new phones for free.

[radhak]

If there's no SIM Card, its a CDMA.

For getting a 'temporary' phone, try

(a) your local craigslist. you'd easily find somebody giving (or almost giving away) verizon phones. or, just advertise for one such (many have such phones lying around, and your advt would remind them).

(b) if you (or BIL) find a CDMA phone that is not verizon, you need to unlock it to make it work for verizon; and it's easier done than thought : the device owner should call the original carrier company and ask the phone be unlocked ('as i don't use it now'). i have had two such unlocked once by AT&T, once by Verizon, no questions asked. (sorry, questions will be asked, just to ascertain you did not steal the phone )

(c) if you don't mind renewing the contract ahead of time, your friendly verizon rep would be happy to lock you in and give you some sort of rebate to boot!

DAMHIK! (have had so many such mishaps that i have used all of the above )

[Pappy]

I 'lost' my phone on Halloween night. We had recently upgraded to new phones but kept the wife's old phone (Mine had died). I switched my # to the back up until I bought a new one off E-Bay. Was able to upgrade to a better phone for about 1/2 the replacement value of the original.

If the seller won't give you the ESN #, pass since the phone can't be activated (at least with Sprint) if it has been reported lost, stolen, or there is money owed on the account it was on.

[parnelli]

(c) if you don't mind renewing the contract ahead of time, your friendly verizon rep would be happy to lock you in and give you some sort of rebate to boot!

Agreed. If you like your service and want to keep it, they'll have no problem signing to a year or two and along with that a discounted phone.

Try the store and if they don't want to, call the 800 number. Often the retentions department is a lot more willing to work with you.

Note that they won't be as willing if you've already gotten a couple new phones under your last contract. eg- a kid who loses there phone every 6 months.

[scorrpio]

I upgraded to a new phone a while ago, but my old phone had really nothing wrong with it, except I wanted something fancier and my 2-year upgrade came up.

Then, a friend also on Verizon, lost her phone, and rather than buy a new one, I gave her my old one - she had no problems activating it at nearest Verizon office.
So yes, if you can get a Verizon phone that has been disconnected, you should have no problem.
I am fairly sure, however, that if this is a non-VZ phone, even if the chip is unlocked to be VZ-compatible, the company will not activate it.

[radhak]

I am fairly sure, however, that if this is a non-VZ phone, even if the chip is unlocked to be VZ-compatible, the company will not activate it.

My experience has been that the company will not bother too much (that you are asking to activate a Vz account on a 'non-Vz' phone) - they will go ahead and activate it.