Help Question about Carrier options

[munsonedinomaha]

Hello. I got my wife an LG Volt after I found that I really liked mine - we're both on Virgin Mobile.

She promptly dropped it before we got her cell phone case in the mail. The screen is shattered.

Looking at replacing the phone, the prices have shot up after the holidays when I originally purchased it for her. The cheapest I can get the LG Volt for Virgin Mobile is $130. However, the same places also sell the same exact LG Volt, but for other carriers, with the cost of about $80.

I've read it's not possible to use different branded LG Volts with different carriers. I can understand that the carriers want their branded software on the phones and such. That's fine by me.

What I would love to try, however, is to use the SIM card from the broken Virgin Mobile LG Volt in a cheaper Boost Mobile LG Volt. Think this would possibly let me get by with using it on Virgin Mobile, or should I not even try?

Thanks in advance!

 

[DrJonJ]

Alas, your only option is to buy it at the VM price.

 

[munsonedinomaha]

Alas, your only option is to buy it at the VM price.

As I'm a curious one, what do the carriers do, and/or what is the difference in the phones (internally, Android version, or with SIM cards) to not let them work with one another? A $50 difference is a tough pill to swallow without details.

 

[DrJonJ]

As I'm a curious one, what do the carriers do, and/or what is different in the phones (internally, Android version, or with SIM cards) to not let them work with one another? A $50 difference is a tough pill to swallow without details.

The phones are different variants. The Nexus 5 for example is the same variant no matter the carrier.

As for the price difference, one can only guess why.

 

[kwknott]

Actually with Sprint, Virgin Mobile and boost mobile the phones are exactly the same. Sprint actually puts a program called chameleon on them that will personalize the phone based on which network it is activated on. The issue with that though its each carrier keeps a database of authorized phones, so therefore they won't activate phones that aren't branded to them. Even though they're the same phone Virgin Mobile knows which phones are sold for their service therefore if you try to get a boost mobile phone it will not be in Virgin Mobile's database.

 

[derousse]

Another option to consider is purchasing one of those other carrier models and activating it on Ting. I got a Sprint prepaid version and activated it without any problems. Depending on your wife's usage patterns, it's possible that you could save on your monthly bill too. I'm actually saving about $10/month compared to my previous Virgin Mobile fee.

 

[munsonedinomaha]

Actually with Sprint, Virgin Mobile and boost mobile the phones are exactly the same. Sprint actually puts a program called chameleon on them that will personalize the phone based on which network it is activated on. The issue with that though its each carrier keeps a database of authorized phones, so therefore they won't only activate phones that they sell. Even though they're the same phone Virgin Mobile knows which phones are sold for their service therefore if you try to get a boost mobile phone it will not be in Virgin Mobile's database.

Ah, this makes sense. Thanks for the explanation.

I have seriously pondered getting one of the screen replacement kits, but I've read varying results on either the kits being iffy, or people's installation not going well, making the phone do weird stuff.

Might have to suck it up and pay the extra money.

Thanks again!

 

[mikeca]

Paying the extra for the VM model definitely seems like the least problematic way to go! It is very frustrating though as Boost, Virgin and Sprint are all the same company and the same phone! Not sure why it's so much cheaper on Boost other than the fees are a bit higher for any of the plans that might work for me, so there you go!

 

[n0tall0wed]

If you call virgin mobile and tell them the phone is not working you can get a free replacement phone. Just don't tell them the screen is cracked. By default even without insurance you are covered by a year warranty on the phone

 

[aml1025]

If you call virgin mobile and tell them the phone is not working you can get a free replacement phone. Just don't tell them the screen is cracked. By default even without insurance you are covered by a year warranty on the phone

There is now a $25 warranty replacement charge through Virgin Mobile - still cheaper than buying a new phone. However, there is a chance they won't accept the broken screened phone as the warranty return, and they may end up charging her account for the full price of a replacement or suspending it altogether until the undamaged replacement is received.

 

[bg4m3r]

There is now a $25 warranty replacement charge through Virgin Mobile - still cheaper than buying a new phone. However, there is a chance they won't accept the broken screened phone as the warranty return, and they may end up charging her account for the full price of a replacement or suspending it altogether until the undamaged replacement is received.

On what grounds would they be able to deny the warranty? Try exchanging it through lg directly.

 

[aml1025]

On what grounds would they be able to deny the warranty? Try exchanging it through lg directly.

They do deny warranty exchanges for phones that have physical damage. I just don't know how stringent they are about including damage that is said to have occurred during shipping to their facility.