Tutor
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7 Messages
Need to Activate Phone When Upgrading?
I am sitting on a cellphone upgrade. I have a good friend that uses an ATT Go Phone, and he has been considering getting a fancier phone (mainly to use to play games he downloads while on wifi). Since I really don't need the upgrade (I love my current smartphone), can I just go in and pick up a sealed phone, then give it to him? Do I need to actually have the phone opened activated? I plan on doing this at Wal-Mart, so I would like to know if this would be possible there. If not, I could probably make the long drive to the nearest ATT store.
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sandblaster
ACE - Expert
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64.7K Messages
11 years ago
The issue here is not the phone, it is the sim. When you upgrade, you get a new sim and it is that sim that needs to be activated. Once it is activated, the sim in your old phone is deactivated. If the new sim is the same size as the old sim, no problem, just take that new sim and put it in your old phone. However, depending on what new phone you get and what you currently have, they may not have the same size sim. Your best bet would be to go to an AT&T store and explain to them what you are trying to do. They should be able to give you the new phone without activating a new sim, thereby leaving your current phone "as is" and then you can do whatever you want with the new phone. Just realize you will be agreeing to a new 2 year contract and won't be elibigle for another upgrade for 2 years.
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21stNow
Professor
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2.7K Messages
11 years ago
I don't know what the policies at Wal-mart are. According to the one of the AT&T reps that have helped me, the reps have to at least make sure the phone works before you leave the store. This hasn't always happened, but he told me that this is why those reps that helped me in the past are no longer at the store. So you wouldn't be able to give the person a sealed device.
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vegeta13613
Tutor
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7 Messages
11 years ago
Any official word on ATT's policy on this?
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vegeta13613
Tutor
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7 Messages
11 years ago
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