Forum Discussion
Costco Problems Activating New Line Grandfathered Plan
Just spent 5 hours at Costco Wireless Advocates kiosk trying to purchase 2 iPhone 14 under the BOGO promo and activate 2 new lines to my Familytime Basic plan (yes it's almost 20 years old). First I purchased an SIM card and added 1 new line (with my old device) to satisfy a Bring Your Own Device promo. Next I wanted to add a second new line and get the BOGO iPhone 14 promo. I took my first new iPhone and upgraded an existing line on my account. The problem came when I tried to add the second new line and activate the second new iPhone 14. At first I thought I had maxed out the new voice lines that I could add to my old plan. So I asked T Mo to cancel my first line activation under the BYOD promo, so I could still qualify for the BOGO promo instead. They did that and assured me that they could cancel it in a way that wouldn't prevent me from re-adding the line and getting another promo. But when they tried to add the line again and activate the phone, the Wireless Advocate system said the device wasn't compatible with my service. At first this didn't make sense since I had already activated the first new iphone as an upgrade to an existing line. But after I left the store, it occurred to me that when I add any new line to my old plan, that line does not come with data. It needs to be added as a separate service to each line. When I upgraded an existing line with my first new iphone, that line already had data service attached. Then when I added the first new line via SIM card, since the card isn't in the phone I'm guessing it wasn't an issue. But because the iphone 14 has a built in SIM and needs service with data attached, I'm wondering if that is what caused the problem. Does this make sense? If it does, is there a work around? The Wireless Advocate people are saying that they can't override their system. They weren't going to even try to call the T Mo customer service phone number that was part of the error message, but since they felt sorry for me they did try. The call wouldn't go through tho, so they gave up. Any help would be appreciated!
That promo is if you have a magenta max plan. Grandfathered plans aren't eligible for most of the free phone promos. I have a grandfathered One plan and I'm not eligible for them.
You better check that your plan wasn't changed.
Actually the BYOD promo worked. And T Mo said the BOGO is eligible too. But yes I will check to make sure that my plan wasn't changed.
Aema wrote:
Actually the BYOD promo worked. And T Mo said the BOGO is eligible too. But yes I will check to make sure that my plan wasn't changed.
Please report back. I thought grandfathered plans were not eligible to add lines since those plans are no longer available. If you managed to get lines added without altering your grandfathered plan, I would definitely like to know how.
Nope I've added a line before. It depends upon your plan though how many lines. I've done it through Costco about 2 years ago without problem.
Aema wrote:
Nope I've added a line before. It depends upon your plan though how many lines. I've done it through Costco about 2 years ago without problem.
You may have capped out on eligible lines on your plan since you are grandfathered to an older plan. Also from what I remember you can't cancel a line within 6 months of any add a line BOGO and not cancel a line during the credit period or else you'll lose the bogo.
Exactly what grandfathered plan are you on?That's what I thought too at first. But written in the description for my plan in my account is that I have 5 voice lines available. So it should be fine...unless they are counting my internet as one of my lines. My plan is the Familytime Basic. I haven't added any other lines in 1.5 years prior to yesterday.
how many of those lines are tied to a device promotion? There is a max number of promotions on an account for the account to be eligible. Doesn't matter if it's watch, tablet, or phone. That includes BYOD promotion counts as a device promotion.
Had not thought about that! That's a good question. Right now 2 of the 3 voice lines have a device promo tied to them. It's the last 6 months of a 24 month credit for 2 free phones. I'll ask T Mo next time I talk with them. Is the max number of promos different for every plan? The BYOD went through though (before I reversed it)…so I know my plan supports at least 3.
I am pretty sure the newest plans is 6 total, but you can have a max if 12 lines(high credit score needed) before having to move to a business plan. Unsure if they always had 6 or if it's limited to the plan or total lines available.
Well, T-Mo said my current device promos that are already on my account aren't the issue. Then they tried to add 2 lines with the iphone 14 device to it without completing the transaction. Wasn't an issue, so it's not the fact that the add-on data isn't automatically on the line.
