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EVO V activation process

odledm

Lurker
Jun 3, 2012
4
11
I got my EVO V yesterday at Radio Shack and thought I would post some info on the ordeal it took to get it activated. I was on the old $25 plan so it took way more effort than one would think to be able to spend more money on their network.

On Friday I stopped by the local RS and asked if they had any in stock expecting the answer to be no. He went back and checked and said not now but they were expecting a shipment to arrive that night with them in. The salesman agreed to hold the phone for me if any came in. The next day I went in after recieving a call that they in fact did get a shipment in. I thought it was going to be a quick in and out, but the salesman tried to setup the phone for me and I stupidly let him. After 2 hours waiting around with my not so happy wife and screaming child I had to leave with the "Virgin should give you a call when things are working line". Apparently there were some problems because I had to upgrade my account first to the $35 plan, before they could activate my phone.
***Lesson 1: Switch plans first ahead of time (it may take a couple of days, but when I got home and did it myself online it was almost instantaneous)

I spent a few hours today getting Virgin to fix my account balance before I upgraded to the new plan, but once that happened the first major hurtle was done.
***Lesson 2: Don't let some sales guy set it up for you unless you don't have enough web sense and patience to deal with VM. Topup cards suck, just stick with a Credit Card

Finally my account was setup and ready to switch my phone. I entered the info powered on the phone and waited, but no luck. After a couple of phone calls and repeated efforts to activate, I found a couple of pieces of info that may be useful. Supposedly it could take between 20min and 2 hours for the EVO V to be recogniseable on the network. After 3+ hours I was trying one more time. This time I pulled the battery to make sure the MEID was correct, and when I booted up it worked.
***Lesson 3: give it 20 min to 2hr first
***Lesson 4: you may need to pull the battery if it still doesn't work for you.

Very pleased with the phone so far. Much better than the OV that I've been using for the last year. Still getting to know sense and the phone in general, but nice that I can actually use it to make calls now :) Sorry for the long story, but thought it might be helpful to some.
 
ALWAYS switch your plan before you put this phone on your account. This is a known system issue they are addressing at this time.

Also, When putting any new phone on your account make sure your current handset is powered all the way off. This will help prevent any errors in the transferring process.

Another tip: Keep the new phone you bought powered off until you plan to activate it. I know this is hard but if it fails to self activate (handsfree activation), it sends an error to the server. This can cause you all sorts of headaches later!

Any other questions message me.
 
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Agreed from above. Make sure your Evo V is off while activating. Will make things run a lot smoother afterwards. I actually ported my number back to VM from Boost, didn't switch plans but ported. The port actually went relatively quick and was ready in about 2 hours but activation was difficult since I already had my phone on.

As I posted somewhere else, about 2 calls to VM and waiting around an hour or two, I got the phone activated with hands free and it's been working fine since.

~Novak
 
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Ok I have a few questions. Like the above poster, I ported in from boost. I got my Evo at the Radio Shack in Hartsville SC. It's crazy that they sent the phones to the outer markets first. None in Columbia on Saturday but they had them in Hartsville and Sumter.

Anyway, when I tried to activate my phone (It was on as well) i got network errors and when talking to tech support, still could not get it activated. I got cut off at 12AM and could not call them back because they closed for the night. I then tried to activate via the website but it would not recognize the MEID.

Are you guys saying that if I turn the phone off (Battery Pull) and wait awhile, then turn it back on, it may complete the activation? Do I still need to call Virgin back? Phone seems awesome so far. can't wait to actually use it.
 
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Ok I have a few questions. Like the above poster, I ported in from boost. I got my Evo at the Radio Shack in Hartsville SC. It's crazy that they sent the phones to the outer markets first. None in Columbia on Saturday but they had them in Hartsville and Sumter.

Anyway, when I tried to activate my phone (It was on as well) i got network errors and when talking to tech support, still could not get it activated. I got cut off at 12AM and could not call them back because they closed for the night. I then tried to activate via the website but it would not recognize the MEID.

Are you guys saying that if I turn the phone off (Battery Pull) and wait awhile, then turn it back on, it may complete the activation? Do I still need to call Virgin back? Phone seems awesome so far. can't wait to actually use it.


If it didn't recognize the DEC/MEID number your phone may have had an error during the transfer from Sprint to VM. Keep the phone off for now and then try the activation again through customer service.

Worse case scenario, They ask you to send it to the manufacturer because they are unable to free the DEC number for use on VM. I doubt this will happen but it's possible.

You could always return it from where you got it but tell them the reason so they'll send it back to the manufacturer instead. Then you'll get a new one.

You are already able to access your Virgin Mobile account right?
 
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If it didn't recognize the DEC/MEID number your phone may have had an error during the transfer from Sprint to VM. Keep the phone off for now and then try the activation again through customer service.

Worse case scenario, They ask you to send it to the manufacturer because they are unable to free the DEC number for use on VM. I doubt this will happen but it's possible.

You could always return it from where you got it but tell them the reason so they'll send it back to the manufacturer instead. Then you'll get a new one.

You are already able to access your Virgin Mobile account right?

Got it from an out of town Radio Shack. Could I return it to any Radioshack as long as I have the receipt? (and they have the EVO in stock)
 
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ALWAYS switch your plan before you put this phone on your account. This is a known system issue they are addressing at this time.

Also, When putting any new phone on your account make sure your current handset is powered all the way off. This will help prevent any errors in the transferring process.

Another tip: Keep the new phone you bought powered off until you plan to activate it. I know this is hard but if it fails to self activate (handsfree activation), it sends an error to the server. This can cause you all sorts of headaches later!

Any other questions message me.

I don't have an Evo V yet, but am eager to get one. What exactly do you mean by "ALWAYS switch your plan before you put this phone on your account. This is a known system issue they are addressing at this time."

Do you mean switch from the $25 to $35 plan? I'm confused, I thought this was an automatic thing when upgrading to new phones now.

Or do you mean something else?
 
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I don't have an Evo V yet, but am eager to get one. What exactly do you mean by "ALWAYS switch your plan before you put this phone on your account. This is a known system issue they are addressing at this time."

Do you mean switch from the $25 to $35 plan? I'm confused, I thought this was an automatic thing when upgrading to new phones now.

Or do you mean something else?

Yes, that's what she meant. Apparently the Virgin Mobile system has trouble and it's not "automatic".
 
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Yes, that's what she meant. Apparently the Virgin Mobile system has trouble and it's not "automatic".

But if you switch from the $25 plan to the $35 plan BEFORE you get the phone, won't they make you pay the $35 the day you activate the phone? Don't you have to pay for the plan you switch to when you switch it?

I've had the rumor touch, samsung intercept, and I'm currently using the lg optimus v. Each time I got a new phone I activated it with the same plan ($25) and phone number with no issue at all. Is this only an issue if your switching to a new plan? :thinking:
 
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But if you switch from the $25 plan to the $35 plan BEFORE you get the phone, won't they make you pay the $35 the day you activate the phone? Don't you have to pay for the plan you switch to when you switch it?

I've had the rumor touch, samsung intercept, and I'm currently using the lg optimus v. Each time I got a new phone I activated it with the same plan ($25) and phone number with no issue at all. Is this only an issue if your switching to a new plan? :thinking:

Same here. I also wonder how will they charge me as well if I upgrade from $25 to $35 the day before the pay day.
 
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If you switch from a grandfathered plan, you lose whatever was left on that month and your new month on your new plan starts today. That's why people are trying to get close to the end of their month before switching. If you don't explicitly get your plan switched first, then your phone swap won't work. I had a couple reps claim they could do it, but it didn't work either time. Only after I had my plan changed first, was I then able to swap successfully to the evo.
 
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If you switch from a grandfathered plan, you lose whatever was left on that month and your new month on your new plan starts today. That's why people are trying to get close to the end of their month before switching. If you don't explicitly get your plan switched first, then your phone swap won't work. I had a couple reps claim they could do it, but it didn't work either time. Only after I had my plan changed first, was I then able to swap successfully to the evo.

So there shouldn't be any problem switching from the $25 plan to the $35 plan THEN swapping my optimus v to the htc evo 3d in that order on the same call, right?
 
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Not that I know of. The main problem with customer service, and this goes for most companies, not just virgin, is a lack of standards. Call 3 different reps and you'll get 3 different versions of the story, what works, what doesn't, what the rules are, different ways to do the same things, etc. So yeah, you SHOULD be ok.

I actually had one rep tell me that I should wait until my new month starts, and then if I switch the phone then, I won't have to get off the $25 grandfathered plan. I'm almost certain he was just messing with me and didn't bother with his "tip". I'm pretty sure if I had done what he suggested, I would have wasted $25. 2 others both said I don't need to switch plans, just swap the phone, which they tried and claimed it worked. It didn't work.
 
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