Selling a Verizon phone before having another to activate

March 28, 2016 8:52 AM

I just sold a Verizon iPhone on Swappa much more quickly than I thought I would. I shipped it today and the buyer should receive it tomorrow (Tuesday). I have done this before, but only when I had another phone to activate in its place. However, this time, I will not have the new phone until this Thursday. My question is this: If I have not deactivated the phone I sold and activated the new one, what will happen when the buyer tries to activate the phone I just told to him, which is currently active on my account?

Thanks, as always for your help.

posted by 4ster to Technology (2 answers total)

Best answer: I had a similar situation. I called Verizon and first asked them what to do in the situation when there was a gap. The answer was, deactivate the old phone, let them know you will be activating a new phone in several days and could they suspend service on that number until you notify, but in less than a week. It worked like a charm. If I recall, they actually offered, if I could go to a Verizon company store, to lend me a phone for the 3 days.

Call Verizon, deactivate the old phone, tell them it was sold or given away, and tell them you will be reactivating on a different phone in a few days. If they try to activate an already active phone on a different account, it will not go smoothly for them. More importantly, if the phone you shipped them is still active, they can just run up the bill or usage on your account. Presumably, you do not want that.
posted by AugustWest at 9:17 AM on March 28, 2016 [2 favorites]

Response by poster: Boom. That worked perfectly. Thanks, AugustWest!
posted by 4ster at 12:45 PM on March 28, 2016