To those buyin the EVO on a line eligible for upgrade then switchin to personal line:

[NiCK Crush]

As many others, I will be purchasing the EVO on a line that is eligible for a full upgrade within my family plan and then switching it to my personal line. My question is... what is the easiest way to switch phones from line to line? I don't want to waste anytime on the 4th! I want that bad boy on my line ASAP.

I've been told you can do it at a Sprint store, over the phone, or online myself. I just don't fully understand the process. Do you have to de-activate a phone before switching? What about the de-activated phone that the upgradeable line was using before we bought the EVO?

Any help would be appreciated... 2 more weeks to go fellas!

 

[chum1600]

I'm glad you asked this because I was wondering the same thing. The 4th is my sister's 30th birthday and I am throwing her a party so I will not have much time at all that day. Nothing will stop me from getting my phone that day.

 

[devobail]

They'll probably tell u they can't do it in the store, unless u get a cool salesperson. Easiest why is go home and call CS on a land line, have the old phone from the upgraded line available.

Tell CS u bought the phone for that line but the line owner HATES the phone some CS reps will tell u they can't do it, don't waste ur time with them hang up and call back. They would rather someone on your plan use the phone rather then having it returned.

Ps I did this on my wifes line to get the Hero last year. Because of that my own line, the primier line is ready for upgrade now so I'm getting the Evo. Meanwell she's stuck with her Mogul and can't upgrade till next year! Lol

 

[NiCK Crush]

They'll probably tell u they can't do it in the store, unless u get a cool salesperson. Easiest why is go home and call CS on a land line, have the old phone from the upgraded line available.

Tell CS u bought the phone for that line but the line owner HATES the phone some CS reps will tell u they can't do it, don't waste ur time with them hang up and call back. They would rather u someone on your plan use the phone rather then having it returned.

Thanks for the response, I'm hoping I dont have too much trouble with this... I was under the impression it would be easy as pie.

 

[NiCK Crush]

Anyone have experience doing this online?

 

[TheBiles]

Go to the online activation thing, activate the old phone back on the line with the EVO, then activate the EVO on your line. Bam. If the online activation doesn't work (it never seems to for me), just get on the Sprint chat, and they will do it for you.

 

[NiCK Crush]

Go to the online activation thing, activate the old phone back on the line with the EVO, then activate the EVO on your line. Bam. If the online activation doesn't work (it never seems to for me), just get on the Sprint chat, and they will do it for you.

I see... so activating the old phone back on the line with the EVO will then automatically de-activate the EVO, am I understanding that correctly?

 

[neodorian]

I've never had a problem. The online activation just has you type in the ESN of the phone you want to activate on a particular line. You own the lines so you can put any compatible phone on any of them. Just buy the phone then go home and enter the old phone's ESN to activate it on the other line. Then go to your line and enter the Evo's ESN to activate it on your line.

If anything craps out, call customer service and tell them that you were trying to put the right phone on the right line and they can help you do that.

 

[JrHam]

If you purchase it at best buy they'll do it for you. Thats what I did with my wife's crapberry.

 

[DUBious]

ok heres the problem i see happening about doin this online. and i see it happen all the time with other carriers the same. your using a secondary lines upgrade meaning you will be placing that extra $10 charge on the second line. that charge is part of the 2 year contract for that line. the first line doesnt have that charge. now, Sprint is actually one of the nicer of the 3 that i have to deal with on a day to day basis, so im pretty sure the only real way to do this is either have the sales rep call their Sprint Help Line. or call it in your self when you get home. the 4th is going to be hectic so the ladder might be best. in addition when you the customer calls it is twice as effective because you have the final say on even keeping this company for services.

 

[NiCK Crush]

ok heres the problem i see happening about doin this online. and i see it happen all the time with other carriers the same. your using a secondary lines upgrade meaning you will be placing that extra $10 charge on the second line. that charge is part of the 2 year contract for that line. the first line doesnt have that charge. now, Sprint is actually one of the nicer of the 3 that i have to deal with on a day to day basis, so im pretty sure the only real way to do this is either have the sales rep call their Sprint Help Line. or call it in your self when you get home. the 4th is going to be hectic so the ladder might be best. in addition when you the customer calls it is twice as effective because you have the final say on even keeping this company for services.

If you're on a Family Plan though, the $10 charge will just be lumped in with the final cost of the plan... so what difference would it make?

 

[chum1600]

I would think the $10 fee would move with the phone. If you want the phone on another line your going to figure out how to move it.

The one problem I know of is with blackberries. I have never been able to do an ESN swap online because I have a blackberry. Hopefully they won't have the same problem with the EVO.

 

[DUBious]

If you're on a Family Plan though, the $10 charge will just be lumped in with the final cost of the plan... so what difference would it make?

that is the reason why they WILL do it. there really isnt a problem, it just wont be easily done online. even tho you have a family plan each of those lines can have there own start and end dates, so even tho they all share a service they are independent in a way. when you upgrade a line it extends THAT line another 2 years. and tags on the extra $10 for that line.

 

[Agent Jones]

you can do it in the store. or you can do it online at sprint.com/active or you can do it over the phone, just make sure you call sprint from a phone that has nothing to do with the swapping.

 

[clambert1273]

that is the reason why they WILL do it. there really isnt a problem, it just wont be easily done online. even tho you have a family plan each of those lines can have there own start and end dates, so even tho they all share a service they are independent in a way. when you upgrade a line it extends THAT line another 2 years. and tags on the extra $10 for that line.

sooo when I add my new line.. If I don't want to go through the hassle of switching everything around.. can I just forward my old line to it

 

[Painkillaz]

ive done this before...i went into sprint acting like i was buying 2 phones to surprise my parents(they were both eligible for upgrade). i told them it was a surprise so the guy activated the blackberries i bought and then i told him to reactivate their current phones so they wont know...after i left the store i gave one to my dad and activated the other for me. However, with the evo i preordered at RS and the lady checked my line for upgrade and said i wasn't eligible for upgrade but i said my moms line is so she said oh so you want to use her upgrade and then switch it to your line? and i said yea can i do that in store? and she said yes

 

[jmcging]

Just did this with my wife and you should be aware that you can mess up the MIR. I was to get a $100 MIR as she bought a BB Curve on a new line and then swapped it to her line and her old phone to thenew line. For some reason, they mailed me only $50 because I didn't have the new phone on the new line for 30 days.

A quick email to them straightened it all out, but apparently the mIR is hooked to the phone and line and swapping before the 30 days can cause the process to hiccup.

Also, I lost my premier eligibility for June as they swapped that from my line to my wife (not sure how) and now the earliest I can upgrade is 7/2/10 instead of 6/1/10, as putting my lihe back to premier takes a billing cycle.

 

[NiCK Crush]

Just did this with my wife and you should be aware that you can mess up the MIR. I was to get a $100 MIR as she bought a BB Curve on a new line and then swapped it to her line and her old phone to thenew line. For some reason, they mailed me only $50 because I didn't have the new phone on the new line for 30 days.

A quick email to them straightened it all out, but apparently the mIR is hooked to the phone and line and swapping before the 30 days can cause the process to hiccup.

Also, I lost my premier eligibility for June as they swapped that from my line to my wife (not sure how) and now the earliest I can upgrade is 7/2/10 instead of 6/1/10, as putting my lihe back to premier takes a billing cycle.

That's why I pre-ordered at Best Buy so I did not have to deal with the MIR.

 

[NiCK Crush]

Would Best Buy really immediately switch lines right after we buy the phone on the 4th? Obviously you have to buy (and activate) right then to get the upgrade price, so then after it's all finished can we just say... "Welp, time to change it to another line on our plan...can you do that for us?"

 

[Deleted User]

If you are going to do it this way, I'd suggest going to Best buy or radio shack to make the purchase. They can swap the lines around for you and their rebates are instant. There is fine print in Sprint's rebate that by doing this can invalidate the rebate.

 

[NiCK Crush]

If you are going to do it this way, I'd suggest going to Best buy or radio shack to make the purchase. They can swap the lines around for you and their rebates are instant. There is fine print in Sprint's rebate that by doing this can invalidate the rebate.

Yes, I am purchasing at Best Buy.

 

[Deleted User]

Would Best Buy really immediately switch lines right after we buy the phone on the 4th?

Yes they will, I've done this at best buy on multiple occasions.

 

[NiCK Crush]

Yes they will, I've done this at best buy on multiple occasions.

Great to know. I'd rather not deal with any eyebrow raising or difficulties. Just let me buy the damn phone and use it how I want! lol

 

[Boozeman]

I pre-ordered at Radioshack..I'm also switching off a family plan and the guy said just to come in when I buy the phone and they'll switch me over to my own plan right there in the store when I buy it.

 

[NiCK Crush]

Thanks for all the feedback so far guys. Topping for the evening crew.