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Ana428's profile

Contributor

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3 Messages

Friday, May 24th, 2013 5:18 AM

Rate plan expiration (Prepaid GoPhone)

Hi

 

I have an ATT GoPhone number for my occasional trips to the US. My account summary is as follows:

 

 

 

Main Account Balance

$35.68

Account Status

Active 

Account Balance Expiration Date

02/28/2014 

Cancel Date

04/29/2014 

Rate Plan

$50 Monthly Unlimited Plan 

Rate Plan Status

Expired

Rate Plan Expiration Date

05/19/2013 

 

 

 

My questions are:

 

1. By when do I have to refill my account so that I can continue with the same number and rate plan?  And with how many dollars? 

 

2. My next trip to the US will not be for another 6 to 8 months at least, in the meantime, do I have to keep refilling my account with 50 bucks every month/ few months? Is there a way to maintain the same number that allows me to re-filI only when required? 

 

My main concern is maintaining the same number. 

 

I have read most of the literature available on the forum/ ATT website regarding this, but wasn't able to figure out a definite answer.

 

Thanks!

Scholar

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110 Messages

11 years ago

oh is it? sorry didnt know about that. wild_banchi just a question. If i purchased $25 last week, and today theres $1 left, then i decide to add $10 to make it $11. would i still follow the 90 day expiry of my previous refill or would i have a new expiration date? thank you

Former Community Manager

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10.4K Messages

11 years ago


@LG_21 wrote:
wild_banchi, just a question , the lady has a 50 monthly plan rate, so if you refill a 100 on the account it will still take 50 when it renews and another 50 the next month it renews, when she comes back her accounts gonna be close, right?

Hi LG_21,

 

If the account balance get's to $0, the account will be closed in 60 days. I recommend switching the rate plan to $.10 per minute, that way it'll last 1 full year and, as long as it's refilled before the expiration date, balance will roll over. Then it can be switched back to $50 unlimited plan at any time.

 

Dmitriy

Master

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10.2K Messages

11 years ago


@LG_21 wrote:
oh is it? sorry didnt know about that. wild_banchi just a question. If i purchased $25 last week, and today theres $1 left, then i decide to add $10 to make it $11. would i still follow the 90 day expiry of my previous refill or would i have a new expiration date? thank you

Yep. I see that drumn_bass elaborated a little more on your example.

 

As far as your own personal account, the $10 refill should add an additional 30 days on top of original 90 to your expiration date. 

Scholar

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110 Messages

11 years ago

@ATTDmitriyCM That was what i was wondering about, if the balance gets to $0 then it would be closed in 60 days. Thats the problem of the lady above, she has $50 monthly plan. After 2 months it would take all of the $100 in her account balance, then it would start the grace period of 60 days, soon it will close. Thats just 5 months. The lady said she wont be back in the US for 6-8 months. When she will be back lo and behold her accounts closed. I was also thinking of the answer which is switching to .10c/m plan but i was not so sure then, but i think that's the best thing to do.

So for example given she changes to .10c/min plan and when its expiration date of 1 yr comes, and the $100 still remains intact. If she decides to refill for the minimum which is $10 to save the $100, then it would total $110 roll-over right? So will the expiry be good again for another full year? because it says in the at&t website the new expiration date will apply to all money in the account, (My understanding is the total amount) but i'm not so sure that is what it meant. Can you please shed light on this. Thank you

Master

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5.9K Messages

11 years ago


@LG_21 wrote:
@ATTDmitriyCM That was what i was wondering about, if the balance gets to $0 then it would be closed in 60 days. Thats the problem of the lady above, she has $50 monthly plan. After 2 months it would take all of the $100 in her account balance, then it would start the grace period of 60 days, soon it will close. Thats just 5 months. The lady said she wont be back in the US for 6-8 months. When she will be back lo and behold her accounts closed. I was also thinking of the answer which is switching to .10c/m plan but i was not so sure then, but i think that's the best thing to do.

So for example given she changes to .10c/min plan and when its expiration date of 1 yr comes, and the $100 still remains intact. If she decides to refill for the minimum which is $10 to save the $100, then it would total $110 roll-over right? So will the expiry be good again for another full year? because it says in the at&t website the new expiration date will apply to all money in the account, (My understanding is the total amount) but i'm not so sure that is what it meant. Can you please shed light on this. Thank you

If she refills with only $10, she will receive the new expiration timeframe that is associated with that refill amount (it's 30 days I believe for a $10 refill).  The entire $110 account balance will roll over if she refills before the original balance expires, but she will only receive the additional time associated with the refill amount.  So at the end of the second expiration period she would have to refill again to keep the account balance alive.

Contributor

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2 Messages

11 years ago

 

Great posts, very helpful to me as well... Thank you everyone so far!

- I'd love to confirm 2 points:

 

- Say I have put $130 on Sept 1st 2013, used up 2 months of prepaid monthly usage (at $60/month) by Nov 1st, switched to a per minute plan on Nov 1st  before going out of the country,  and kept the remaining $10  (non $0 balance) on my account:

Could you confirm that I then would be able to keep my cell number until Aug 31 2014 ?

 

- On my account summary there are several dates: "account balance expiration date" , " cancel date" and "rate plan expiration date": which one is associated with my phone number expiration?

 

many thanks

Best

LA

Master

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5.9K Messages

11 years ago


@ptitelaure wrote:

 

Great posts, very helpful to me as well... Thank you everyone so far!

- I'd love to confirm 2 points:

 

- Say I have put $130 on Sept 1st 2013, used up 2 months of prepaid monthly usage (at $60/month) by Nov 1st, switched to a per minute plan on Nov 1st  before going out of the country,  and kept the remaining $10  (non $0 balance) on my account:

Could you confirm that I then would be able to keep my cell number until Aug 31 2014 ?

 

- On my account summary there are several dates: "account balance expiration date" , " cancel date" and "rate plan expiration date": which one is associated with my phone number expiration?

 

many thanks

Best

LA


I don't have access to a prepaid account summary at the moment, but it should be the "cancel date" - is that the date that is furthest out?  The "rate plan expiration date" is going to be the date associated with your current month's monthly rate plan payment, the "account balance expiration date" is the date associated with your last refill - so it may extend beyond the rate plan expiration date depending on the timing/size of your last account refill; and the "cancel date" should be 60 days beyond the account balance expiration date.

 

So yes, given the scenario you present, your account will remain active until 8.31.2014, assuming you made a $100 refill on 9.1.13.  And the cancel date that should be reflected on your summary would be 10.30.14 (60 days after account balance expiration).  If that is not what your summary indicates, I would contact customer service. 

Contributor

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2 Messages

11 years ago

Hi

 

Thanks Doug

Unfortunately the cancel date shows nov 2014... although I called customer service yesterday...

What's the best way to reach customer service btw? 611 makes it very hard to have an operator on the line...

 

thank you..

Laure

Master

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10.2K Messages

11 years ago


@ptitelaure wrote:

 

What's the best way to reach customer service btw? 611 makes it very hard to have an operator on the line..


You can, in fact, reach a live customer service representative by dialing 611. When you get to the main menu, say "customer service." Ignore all of the other automated voice prompts and keep repeating "customer service." The system will eventually give up and transfer your call to a CSR that should be able to help you with your inquiry. 

Master

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5.9K Messages

11 years ago


@ptitelaure wrote:

Hi

 

Thanks Doug

Unfortunately the cancel date shows nov 2014... although I called customer service yesterday...

What's the best way to reach customer service btw? 611 makes it very hard to have an operator on the line...

 

thank you..

Laure


Hopefully a member who is currently using at&t's prepaid service can confirm, but the November date may actually be correct since you say you added $130 on 9.1.13.  If you made your refills as a $100 refill (365 day expiration period) and two $15 refills (30 day expiration period).  The $100 would take you to the end of August 2014, and I believe at&t may tack the new refill period on to the end of the existing one if you refill prior to the current period end.  (It used to be that wasn't the case, so you needed to refill right before an existing period was getting ready to expire to get the maximum benefit of the new refill period.)  If I'm correct about that, then the additional $15 refills would take you to 9.30.14, and then I would expect the account cancellation date to be 11.29.14.

 

Customer service should be able to confirm/clarify, and I would keep an eye on the information within your on-line account as well.  One thing that has bit me before with prepaid service is the number of days - when at&t says 30 days, they mean 30 days, not one month, which is important when the period extends over a 31 day month. 🙂

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