Contract Phone Help - Broken Phone

[tyniknate]

Hope someone can explain what I should do. My son has a phone through T-Mobile on our contract. His phone is voice, text, data plan. The phone got wet and no longer works. I cannot afford to buy a new phone. What do I do?

I am looking on Ebay for a phone, but I am totally lost. Can someone please explain what I should be looking for? Locked, unlocked, SIM, the terminology is mind-boggling to someone who only has a talk and text phone.

We have about 8 months left on our contract and then I cannot leave T-Mobile quickly enough! I would like to spend around $100 or less. Is this possible?

Once I get a phone, what do I do? Do I have to go to the store to activate it? We don't have a local store, so I would have to drive almost an hour away and I would prefer not to have to if I don't need to.

Technology has totally gotten away from me! I need Phone Buying Instructions for Dummies!

 

[wiigirl]

I would just get a phone that says it is for T-Mobile. I wouldn't mess with anything Unlocked, etc. Make sure it comes with a T-mobile sim card.

Once you have the phone just call in and they will ask for some numbers from the back of the phone. (Usually where the battery goes)

Thats about it. You might call T-Mobile to find out what specific to look for or if you have any questions about activation.

 

[tyniknate]

Is it really that simple? Some say non-contract. Are those phones OK eventhough I'm on a contract? I don't mean to sound stupid, but I need to make sure what I buy will work. I don't have another $100 to spend if the one I get is wrong.

Thanks!

 

[powellrj]

Have you tried the rice trick yet? I always have had good luck with that when the kids get their phones wet.

 

[leebee]

The rice trick being... bury the phone in a bowl of uncooked rice and leave it there for several days. The rice draws the moisture out of the phone. Worked at my house!

 

[HM]

The rice trick being... bury the phone in a bowl of uncooked rice and leave it there for several days. The rice draws the moisture out of the phone. Worked at my house!

Yes, you need to try this before buying a new phone. It works most of the time.

 

[johde]

I agree with trying rice. If that doesn't work, you should have no trouble buying a no contract phone as a replacement. Instead of going through ebay you could buy a blister packed prepaid phone from a big box store in your area. Then if it doesn't work you can return it.

Another thing to consider is I noticed you are considering switching carriers in 8 months. If you are considering switching to AT&T, you might want to buy an unlocked AT&T phone as a replacement. How well it works on t-mobile depends the exact phone. But that way, you either won't need to buy a new one when you switch or you'll have a spare when you switch.

 

[Swimalie]

I got mine wet this time last year. The rice trick didn't work I bought an out-of-contract phone for Verizon through ebay and it worked great. In fact my contract is up in 4 days now and I'm porting it over to Straight Talk since the phone still works well.

 

[kim929]

tmobile no longer has contracts. If you are still paying on a phone you can just pay the amount owned and be done with tmobile. If your phones are all paid off then you can just leave.
I have tmobile and have purchased the prepaid phones then just put the sim card from my broken phone in the prepaid one and your all set, no need to call them.

 

[ColoradoMom!!]

tmobile no longer has contracts. If you are still paying on a phone you can just pay the amount owned and be done with tmobile. If your phones are all paid off then you can just leave.
I have tmobile and have purchased the prepaid phones then just put the sim card from my broken phone in the prepaid one and your all set, no need to call them.

Not my experience. Yes, they are done attaching contracts to your phone purchase, but we bought a Samsung Galaxy 2 in Dec. 2011. We also changed our plan at this time, which kicked all four phones into a new 2 year deal. All phones are paid off, and we still are on the hook until Dec this year. We can cancel each line for a penalty.

I was so mad about this, and planned to change when I realized they still had the lowest plan available for our needs compared to Verizon and AT&T.

 

[tyniknate]

Rice didn't work. He went swimming and the phone was in his pocket. He was in the water quite some time before he realized what he had done. I kept the phone in rice for about 2 weeks and kept trying it, but it is dead.

I can buy a phone in a blister pack and it will work with my contract?

T-Mobile may not be offering contracts anymore, but my contract is still binding and valid for 8 more months. Believe me, I tried getting out of it, but they said not until the contract runs out. I hate my service with them. Dropped calls, no service at all, it just stinks.

 

[DryCreek]

I can buy a phone in a blister pack and it will work with my contract?

Yes. Just go to Walmart or Best Buy and look for the T-Mobile no contract phones there. Throw away the sim card in the blister pack, and insert the sim card from the wetted phone. Should be seamless. We do this all the time went we kill our AT&T phones - just buy a Go phone and insert your old sim card in it. No need to call or anything - it just starts working.

 

[tvguy]

Have you talked to T-Mobile?

I know with Verizon, DD's phone got destroyed, and they would replace it for free without extending the contract. I did have to pay the $8 shipping.

Now, they would only do it online, only provide a basic phone, and did mention that they noticed I had been with Verizon for 23 years.


Now, the is just my opinion, but if he is old enough to have a cell phone, he is old enough to pay for replacing it when he ruined it.

 

[ZehnJahren]

T-Mobile may not be offering contracts anymore, but my contract is still binding and valid for 8 more months. Believe me, I tried getting out of it, but they said not until the contract runs out. I hate my service with them. Dropped calls, no service at all, it just stinks.

If you documented your calls, you might have a leg to stand on.

T-Mobile jerked me around quite a bit about 5 years ago. My phone broke and I had insurance, and they actually sent me another broken phone! Then, they sent me another phone missing a piece after that one, and then the fourth phone they sent me didn't work after just a couple of days. My calls were dropping like flies on a windowsill and I was FED UP.

I wrote their customer service via email and snail mail with the same letter, detailing my many calls to customer service along with the call times (which I got from my phone bill and ex-DBF's phone bill, since I had to use his phone when mine kept arriving broken) and who I talked to, and told them that I shouldn't be expected to continue to bear their bad service and that I wanted out of my contract.

They ended up letting me out of my contract without a fee. They did send me a bill for the contract termination (OF COURSE, since they're incompetent) and I just made a copy and sent it via email and snail mail with a copy of their agreement to let me out of the contract. I finally received a "paid in full" letter - and you can bet I kept that one just in case they "forgot" in the future.

So sad; T-Mobile used to be the best carrier out there IMO.

 

[pixiewings71]

I gave my old phone to a friend with the same carrier so he can use it until he is able to get a new phone of his own, he has a terrible habit of breaking his phones. lol If you just get one that's a T Mobile phone with no contract you'll be fine. As for activating, we just go to the Verizon store and they activate it there. You can do it over the phone or online though. Good luck!

 

[quirty30]

I would just get a phone that says it is for T-Mobile. I wouldn't mess with anything Unlocked, etc. Make sure it comes with a T-mobile sim card.

Once you have the phone just call in and they will ask for some numbers from the back of the phone. (Usually where the battery goes)

Thats about it. You might call T-Mobile to find out what specific to look for or if you have any questions about activation.

This is good info. OP, I'm pretty much in the same boat as you. Less than a year left on our T-Mobile contract and DS15 cracked the screen on his phone. Went to 2 different T-Mobile stores and got the same advice. Purchase a T-Mobile "no contract" phone and switch out the SIM card.

I would not buy a used phone on eBay. Just go to Walmart...the cheapest T-Mobile phone is a flip phone for about $30 (wasn't crazy about this one.) There is a slightly nicer one with a slide out keyboard for about $50. Fortunately for me, my son's phone still works as a phone, he just can't use it to text. And he really doesn't use it much at all, period. I persuaded him to make do unless the phone function ceases to work.

 

[lisaross]

i've purchased phones on ebay and they are always good. just look for a reliable seller and you can get an older smart phone for a good price

 

[scrapquitler]

Rice didn't work. He went swimming and the phone was in his pocket. He was in the water quite some time before he realized what he had done. I kept the phone in rice for about 2 weeks and kept trying it, but it is dead.

I can buy a phone in a blister pack and it will work with my contract?

T-Mobile may not be offering contracts anymore, but my contract is still binding and valid for 8 more months. Believe me, I tried getting out of it, but they said not until the contract runs out. I hate my service with them. Dropped calls, no service at all, it just stinks.

Ask everyone you know if they have an old TMobile phone that they don't use anymore. If some relative or friend of yours has one in their basement somewhere they can give it to you and you can activate it and not spend any $ for a new one. If you are on Facebook I suggest just posting the request to your wall "Does anyone have an old TMobile phone they are willing to give/lend/sell cheap" You might get something that way.