T-Mobile appears to be actively trying to force users off the Legacy PAYG plan. It used to be that I would get a warning text a few days before my annual renewal was due, but that stopped a few years ago. Then, after getting the Account Suspended text without any warning, I would get my previous balance reinstated by refilling and calling Support. This year I had a balance of $70.65 when I missed my renewal date. I was told by more than one offshore support person that I could only get my money back if I changed plans. Minimum plan is $10 per month. WHAT A RIPOFF! I have requested unlock codes for my phone.

Many thanks @hellokitty04! I ended up calling customer service and spent 45+min on hold and then another half an hour getting the situation resolved. It looks like they were able to correct it in the new system and my balance expiry is in 2024 now. 

Like you, I also get charged 10c quite often but it seems to be happening whenever I log in and need to get a OTP. So I guess I'm being charged for the text message that is used to verify my T-Mobile ID.

Thanks again for sharing your experience - all the best!

Hello Hiccup

I think you will have no choice but to call customer care…..I know, I know…...I dread it as well.

After finally getting set up with my new phone last June I started to see my PAYG balance going down EVERY DAY and get this: the phone is shut OFF

My balance dropped fast, and customer care added 10 bucks back to my account -twice but the problem persists even after they sent a new SIM card. It seems the phone is actually sending messages to NO ONE and  I'm getting charged 10 cents every time, sometimes as much as 10 times a day!

After many phone calls to CC, trying to explain what the phone is doing and getting nowhere I finally got the right person who was able to send a "work" ticket to the tech dept. Let's just say the messages have slowed to maybe one every other day even though  it hasn't stopped. Every couple of months I add a 10 dollar refill just to be sure.

One of the reps asked if I wanted to convert my PAYG to their new ten dollar a month prepaid plan I almost said yes but then thought the better of it. Ten bucks isn't bad if it's your main phone but I'd rather pay 10 bucks every few months. I know once you change plans you can never go back lol

 I just added 10 dollars March 1st and it now says my  balance expires Feb 29, 2024.

As I said, I think you have no option other than calling and explain the situation. Hopefully you get a rep who helps the first time and you won't  have to make multiple calls. You certainly don't want to lose this plan.

Please give us an update and good luck

Hi, are folks still having trouble with the expiration on the Legacy Pay As You Go Gold Rewards plan? I refilled $100 on Jan 2, 2023 and the balance expiration date shows April 20, 2023 when it should be one-year later. I live mostly abroad and am trying to avoid having to call customer care to resolve this…

Thanks in advance for any tips you can offer.

hellokitty04 wrote:

Just want to follow up on my experience changing phones.

Yesterday my new, cheap Nokia bar phone arrived from ebay. I took it along with my current phone to the T-Mo store here in town.

After explaining the situation (of course the man I spoke to last week wasn't there lol) a nice woman tried to do the SIM swap but for some odd reason there was an issue with my zip code. Why, I don't know, maybe because I don't have a billing address and only use refill cards.

Anyways, they had to call the store manager, He was at another store and said he would drive over and do the SIM swap himself.After he arrived the whole swap only took about 5 to 10 minutes.

I'm very happy with my new, cheap phone and I am indeed still on the Pay As You Go plan. Checked my expiration date which is Feb. 2023.

 

So a huge thank you Peter, magenta y the T-Mo employees at my local store. 👍

Thank you for the update, Ms. Kitty! 😉 Glad everything worked out for you! -Peter

Just want to follow up on my experience changing phones.

Yesterday my new, cheap Nokia bar phone arrived from ebay. I took it along with my current phone to the T-Mo store here in town.

After explaining the situation (of course the man I spoke to last week wasn't there lol) a nice woman tried to do the SIM swap but for some odd reason there was an issue with my zip code. Why, I don't know, maybe because I don't have a billing address and only use refill cards.

Anyways, they had to call the store manager, He was at another store and said he would drive over and do the SIM swap himself.After he arrived the whole swap only took about 5 to 10 minutes.

I'm very happy with my new, cheap phone and I am indeed still on the Pay As You Go plan. Checked my expiration date which is Feb. 2023.

So a huge thank you Peter, magenta y the T-Mo employees at my local store. 👍

Hola Peter,

Ok I understand it now. Thanks for your help. I've learned more from you than the t-mo website.

 I found that there's a T-Mo store just a few miles from me and i just called them. Spoke a a really nice young man who said they could swap out the SIM card for me no problem and not to worry, I can stay on my Pay As You Go. He said "don't worry, we won't take your plan away from you" LOL

I explained that I’ve had this plan for many, many years and keep this as a back up emergency phone and the new one I just bought is a cheap Nokia.

He told me to wait until I get the new phone and bring it in along with my old Samsung with the huge SIM and they will take care of it in the store.

If the carriers weren't dropping 3G I'd still keep this old Samsung. It's a rugged flip phone, built like a tank LOL

Thank you again Peter for your excellent advice. I will update next week after i get the new phone and visit the T-Mo store.

hellokitty04, you are correct. about the IMEI number, it's tied to the device and is actually the device serial number. However, your SIM card has a Serial Number, also. This Serial Number and your cell phone number are tied to your Pay-As-You-Go account. Call T-Mobile and order a new SIM card for your phone number. They'll send you a card preprogramed with your phone number. This SIM card will have its own Serial Number (the Serial Number is on the back of the card you will receive). Your new SIM Card says to go to t-mobile.com/SIM for setup instructions. I've attached an image of the card I received with my new SIM Card. As you can see in the image, there are three different sizes you can use. I needed the smallest size, so I just pushed/punched out that size from the card. The Serial Number is on the back of this card. So, again, call T-Mobile and order a new SIM card for your phone number. They'll send you a card preprogramed with your phone number. I hope all this helps?

Thank you both for the swift replies. I tried calling CS but didn't feel like sitting on the phone for an hour so I hung up.

I just bought a Nokia 225 4G bar phone pretty cheap that I checked with the T-Mo website “Bring You Own”  IMEI STATUS CHECK and got these three messages:

*Este dispositivo es totalmente compatible con la tecnología de red de T-Mobile.

*El uso de este dispositivo no está bloqueado en nuestra red.

*Tu teléfono utiliza una tarjeta SIM física para guardar información de la cuenta móvil.

Obviously the SIM in my old Samsung is HUGE and is not going to fit into the new phone.

But I confess I’m confused by what you mean by the SIM having the IMEI.

I understand the IMEI is tied to the SIM yes, but  If I have to buy a new SIM card from T-Mo, (which I am sure I'll have to) how will my Pay As You Go continue with this new phone? Isn't the Pay As You Go plan tied to that old, huge SIM?

Thanks again for your help 😀

hellokitty04 wrote:

"I too have had a Pay As You Go legacy plan now for I figure at least 15 years. It's a back up phone I only use rarely but for 10 bucks a year it's nice to have."

 

I agree with magenta9868641, above. I recently went from a bar phone (don't laugh. LOL) to a flip phone and needed a smaller SIM card. I tried cutting the larger SIM card down as others have done, but it didn't work for me. So, I ordered a new SIM from T-Mobile which works great. When I added $10 to my account to, the minutes were updated to another year.

As magenta9868641 wrote, “It does not matter how many times you swap that SIM to a new phone, the SIM is the thing that has the IMEI.”.