iPhone and T-Mobile question.

[Namcot]

My nephew has an iPhone 5.

He only had it for not even a year and he has a 2-year contract with T-Mobile.

He being a teenager didn't buy any insurance or protection plan to go with it.

Also being a teenager, he is not careful with his phone and the entire screen is cracked and even one side of the phone has a crack in it.

I've seen him having difficulty at times just trying to pull up an iMessage or open an APP or even tapping the screen to answer an incoming call.

If I were to go to T-Mobile and buy him a new iPhone 5 or 6 and give it to him, can he take it to T-Mobile and have them switch his current phone number to the it?

Will T-Mobile store sell me one without activating it if I explain the situation to them?

I know his phone number but I don't have his T-Mobile account number so I doubt they will activate it to his account for me and even if by any chance they will, wouldn't that suddenly make his iPhone 5 inactive before I get to meet up with him to hand him the new phone?

I see even Fry's Electronics or Best Buy or Wal Mart have iPhones you can purchase and many of them says no contract needed, just pay the full price and take it to any cellular carrier of your choice.

Thanks In Advance.

[alexora]

Hi Namcot,

It shouldn't be a problem for your nephew to register a new phone with his provider.

However do bare in mind that it may well be possible for his device to be repaired: this would be much cheaper than buying a new phone outright: from what you have said, it looks like he has a cracked screen and casing. These are not impossible to replace.

[Namcot]

Hi Alexora.

I have suggested to him to see if he can get it repaired by like I said, he being a teenager he has been procrastinating on even finding out that information and considering that option.

As long as I can remember from the first time I noticed his phone being in that condition, it has to have been at least 3 months or longer now.

[kenshinbo]

yeah Alexora is right to buy the phone out right no contract is 700+ dollars. There r stores (some in malls) that will fix in for cheaper. Being a t-mobile customer myself there shouldnt be anymore 2 year contracts. They r doing payment plan on the phone if u leave u pay for the balance of phone which take about 2 years to pay off.

[Namcot]

No contract with T-Mobile?

I need to talk to him.

He is totally clueless!

I just looked on Apple website and the small iPhone 6 is $849 to buy.

Even the 5s is still over $500.

UGH!

Thanks kenshinbo!

[alexora]

My advice remains the same: fix it (it's do-able), don't buy a new one.

[Booster Gold]

Get out of the contract if you can and switch to a prepaid plan. Basic prepaid plans are really cheap but you can also get unlimited talk/text and a good data plan for a good price. You should also be able to retain your phone number even if you switch providers.

I find it amusing that most people sign these contracts thinking they can get a new iphone for $200 but in reality they are actually paying the full price of the phone over two years plus several added "fees" and a mandatory data plan.

If you don't want to end the contract, I would suggest buying a cheap replacement phone instead. Nokia Lumia 635 is only $100 off contract but provides the same functionality as an iphone.

http://anonym.to/?http://amazon....pf_rd_i=507846

[alexora]

Originally Posted by Ptenisnet

Get out of the contract if you can

Once you are signed up, you can't withdraw.

Having said that, I am more than happy with my contract (The One Plan). It is no longer on offer from Three, but existing customers retain their mohly privileges:


5,000 voice minutes to other Three accounts.

5,000 text messages.

2,000 voice minutes to any network.

All-you-can-eat-data: no fair usage clause.

[kenshinbo]

no problem namcot. I just finish paying off my samsung galaxy s5 so now i can either leave t-mobile or start another 24 month payment plan for the samsung galaxy note 4. If i choose iphone 5 i pay like 99 bucks i believe and the rest will be the cost of the phone split in a 24 month period. 199 for the iphone 6. So not a contract just a commitment that if u leave u pay the balance of the phone.

[Namcot]

So anyway we went to T-Mobile and y'all are correct, he doesn't have a contract.

BUT the T-Mobile idiot said that because he didn't buy any insurance or protection plan, after prorating he still had to pay $175 to replace it with a new exact same model iPhone 5.

They said the cracked screen and cracked case is not repairable.

So I told my nephew let's wait and go to the Apple Store first.

I went online and found the Apple Store nearest to the T-Mobile store we were at and made an appointment for repair for 1 hour later.

We arrived to the Apple Store about 4 min before our scheduled appointment, checked in, waited about 10 min and they called us.

The lady looked at the phone, went through several secret screens and took some numbers and codes off them. They she put those number and codes into her iPad and after a few minutes, she said it was not repairable.

Then she went to the back, brought out a brand new iPhone5s, turned it on, punch it some more codes on it and on her iPad.

She told my nephew to log into it using his Apple ID and PW.

Then after that the thing went through some reboots and downloads.

The Apple Lady said it was still under manufacturer warranty and regardless that my nephew didn't purchase extra insurance or protection with T-Mobile, Apple will honor the warranty.

My nephew got a new iPhone 5S for free and I bought him an nice protective anti-shock OtterBox case.

He also received a BONUS: the 1 YEAR manufacturer warranty on his NEW iPhone 5S restarted from ZERO days this week instead of just continuing on the remaining number of warranty days he had left on the broken phone.

T-Mobile is a rip off!

They either get you with an overprice protection plan and if you don't buy it, they get you with an expensive unnecessary repair bill.

They should had told my nephew it's still under warranty and gladly replace it right there on the spot and then get the claim from Apple by returning the broken phone to Apple.