In my experience, she needs to be okayed for the phone number transfer and loss of contract at Verizon, but first should check with Tracfone to see if they do normally handle phone number transfers from Verizon.
I did that a couple years ago, but it took getting a phone company tech on a call.
Call Tracfone Customer Service, and they should be able to help you.
When I switched to Redpocket, I just notified Verizon I was porting my number and Redpocket synched it to my new phone.
Not an expert, but Verizon customer since Alltel
There should be an online activation, under her account, (which you may have to set up, will need an old bill for account info) that allows ‘bring your own device’ or equivalent. The ESN Hex number identifies that phone.
Or call Verizon. Or go to Best Buy geek desk. (Best Buy does Verizon, and others. Everyone working in cellphone department can do this.)
You will have to call the phone companies - Verizon will have to release or transfer the number to the new company, and the new company will have to know to accept it and where to assign it to. Call the new company first - they may be able to do it without you having to call Verizon.
She was using a 20 year old flip-phone Seriously?
Since the old and new are with different carriers, you likely will need to call Tracfone.
This should be under the topic of ‘bringing your phone to Tracfone.’ The Tracfone website might offer better instructions.
It does to me. Years ago I had an AT&T Go Phone. I didn’t use it much and I kept losing money, and it would go out of service, only to pay for more service so I would have a working phone, and the same thing over and over again. So, we decided to go with Pure Talk, and to keep my number, I had to call AT&T to get the “account number” not the phone number, of my phone to give to Pure Talk. So, that may be what you need to do, get the “account number” of the phone. Good luck!
I located the IMEI number under "Settings" on the new phone.
I just went through something like that dealing with tracfone. Mine was a tracfone to tracfone number xfer BUT it shouldn’t make a difference,
The key is after talking to two tracfone agents in the Philippines I was then transferred states side. That took about an hour of mostly waiting.
Start the tracfone activation process by calling their 800 number. Doing it online didn’t work.
The new service should be able to port the number over. It normally takes a couple days.
Do not cancel the Verizon account. The moment you cancel an account the number is gone.
It should just be a matter of going to Tracfone > Activate My Phone > Keep My Number.
Once activated, and you verify that the number is now connected to the new phone, it’s safe to cancel Verizon. If you keep the Verizon account open they should just issue a new number.
Keeping a contacts list is a little more involved.
A big “Thank You” to all who jumped in trying to help.
I think that I am going to have to do what I wanted to avoid .. call Verizon.
Oh, for those that don’t know .. Verizon now owns Tracfone.
Good luck luck trying to get through the Tracfone maze. Tracfone wants to keep its shrinking user base and will frustrate any attempt to leave the Tracfone reservation. If you do get through to a live Tracfone help line, he/she/it will speak ancient Egyptian or a dialect from a lost Pict tribe.