My son moved to AT&T, ported his number from Straight Talk, and got a new iPhone 6. He had an S4 that he had used up until about 6 months ago (he had upgraded to an iPhone5c before porting). He gave me the S4; currently I have an S3 that is showing some signs of age (battery not always fully charging).
Yesterday, I tried to move my service to the S4 using the ST web portal. I was given a message that I needed to call in to complete the transaction. That began a three hour round of frustration with ST tech support, who basically said that I was lying, that the phone was never, ever used on ST, that it was "not activated". They even accused me of jailbreaking the phone.
I had reset the phone: my son's name and phone number (the one that he had ported over to AT&T) are still in there. The only way for that data to be entered into the phone is by jailbreaking or activation. The phone has never been modified.
Next, they told me that I had to take the phone back to Walmart to have it rescanned, because since it was never activated or used on the ST network, Walmart made mistakes when originally selling the phone. They also said that if I had the original receipt that they could use that information to properly activate the phone, and that if I didn't have the original receipt that Walmart would give me a copy.
I went to Walmart. The associate told me that ST always does this, send the customer back to Walmart if there is a problem that they can't solve. He said that there is no process to "rescan" the phone. He also said that there is no way to get a copy of a receipt more than a year old, and that it takes a court order to search for it within the first year anyway.
I am so frustrated with ST right now that I am considering moving to AT&T myself. I do not appreciate the attitude that I got from ST customer support or tech support, both insisting that the phone was never, ever used on the ST service, and for making me look like an idiot by sending me on a wild goose chase at Walmart. I KNOW FOR A FACT that the phone was used on ST. I was basically told that this $350 phone is a brick and might just as well be thrown into the trash if I can't find the original receipt.
Does anyone have any advice that will help me get this S4 working again on the ST network???
TIA
Alex
Yesterday, I tried to move my service to the S4 using the ST web portal. I was given a message that I needed to call in to complete the transaction. That began a three hour round of frustration with ST tech support, who basically said that I was lying, that the phone was never, ever used on ST, that it was "not activated". They even accused me of jailbreaking the phone.
I had reset the phone: my son's name and phone number (the one that he had ported over to AT&T) are still in there. The only way for that data to be entered into the phone is by jailbreaking or activation. The phone has never been modified.
Next, they told me that I had to take the phone back to Walmart to have it rescanned, because since it was never activated or used on the ST network, Walmart made mistakes when originally selling the phone. They also said that if I had the original receipt that they could use that information to properly activate the phone, and that if I didn't have the original receipt that Walmart would give me a copy.
I went to Walmart. The associate told me that ST always does this, send the customer back to Walmart if there is a problem that they can't solve. He said that there is no process to "rescan" the phone. He also said that there is no way to get a copy of a receipt more than a year old, and that it takes a court order to search for it within the first year anyway.
I am so frustrated with ST right now that I am considering moving to AT&T myself. I do not appreciate the attitude that I got from ST customer support or tech support, both insisting that the phone was never, ever used on the ST service, and for making me look like an idiot by sending me on a wild goose chase at Walmart. I KNOW FOR A FACT that the phone was used on ST. I was basically told that this $350 phone is a brick and might just as well be thrown into the trash if I can't find the original receipt.
Does anyone have any advice that will help me get this S4 working again on the ST network???
TIA
Alex
