Switched to $2/day Plan on Kids' Phone; No Service Today for Child in Need!

Question

I clearly don't understand how billing for the $2/day plan works.

A couple of months ago we switched from a monthly plan to the $2/plan on the "spare" phone we keep at home for our kids in case of emergency. It seemed silly to keep paying $25/month for a phone that was almost never used. Today my daughter was going to be home alone for an hour or two, so we made sure the phone was charged and left it with her (she does not have her own personal phone). When we returned 1.5 hours later, we found her miserably sick, and she said she had tried to text and call us to ask us to come home.

When I noticed that I had not received any texts from her, we started poking around the spare phone and found that it would receive texts but not send them, nor would it make or receive calls. I have just now been on our GoPhone account page and see both "$0.00" balance and a big "PAY NOW" message. I had assumed that we would be billed monthly for any accumulated $2/day charges. Now I'm wondering if we're supposed to keep a cash balance in the account to debit the $2/day from? I will say that I can find NO information online about how to pay for the $2/day plan payment works, and my first try with customer service went nowhere.

Any help? I am still kicking myself that we have been counting on an "emergency" phone that the kids wouldn't have been able to use after all. I'm just glad my daughter wasn't seriously ill today. Thanks for any help!

sandblaster · Accepted Answer

No, you are not billed. Prepaid does not bill. Yes, you must maintain a positive balance on your account in order to pay for any usage. Just realize that any money you add to your account has an expiration date and if not used by that date, it is lost. A $10-$24 refill expires in 30 days, a $25-$99 refill expires in 90 days, a $100 or higher refill expires in a year. Also, when you refill, you extend the expiration date of the existing balance to match the refill. When your balance gets to $0, you have 60 days to refill before your account is closed and your number is lost.