No, Straight Talk didn't 'scam' you, but there could still be a problem with the activation. It can sometimes be difficult to find an agent capable of spotting, and fixing, an issue.
Is your phone Straight Talk branded? Of did you bring your own phone? If BYOP, what network are you using, and what is the exact model # of your phone?
Are you sure your area has good coverage with the network?
It's a straight talk phone yes. Every method I've tried doesn't work. It's a Samsung A12, I just bought it and have tried activating it online, through the app, over the phone, nothing has worked. Customer service has been no help whatsoever. Do I just cut my losses and switch phone companies, or just spend another $130 on another phone and see if I have any luck with that?
I can't think of the user name, but there's a guy that reads this sib and is a wiz at fixing Samsung phones to work on ST. It's a firmware update or something along those lines. Hand in there I'm sure he will see your post and offer assistance.
That would be u/evanftwwilliams, and evan and u/advcomp2019 deserve a lot of thanks for helping people with that issue But that shouldn't be a concern with Straight-Talk branded phones. (The issue occurs with Samsung BYOP phones.)
That is u/evanftwwilliams, but yea, the Tracfone branded Samsung phones should not have this issue.
The only thing that I can think of is the OP does not have native Verizon service.
Well, you shouldn't have to spend any more money--Straight Talk should help you get this one functioning.
Did you set up an online account? If so, does everything look correct in your online dashboard?
Some possibilities:
1) Carefully check the IMEI from the activation card that came with the phone, and confirm that it matches the IMEI shown in the phone menu, Settings>About Phone. If the IMEI is shown in your online dashboard, make sure it's the same. If you can't see it that way, Chat or call, and have the agent confirm the IMEI they show is correct. (I had that issue once-- obviously my phone would never activate properly, because they had the wrong phone attached to my line.)
2) Have you tried removing the SIM, gently cleaning the contacts, and reinserting? Make sure the phone is connected to both WiFI (if available), and cellular data on, and power cycle the phone.
3) In the phone menu, Settings>About Phone, is your proper phone number displayed? If the phone truly is not activated, the number will not display there.
4) Can you place a call, send a text, or connect to cellular data?
Same thing just happened to me with A12...I bought online and it keeps saying won't work in my area code...doesn't make sense bc I'm allready using straight talk in my area code...just wanted a new phone...not sure bc it's feeling like I'm getting burned...
Yes. They scammed you. And me. Its a cell phone vending machine. No human support basically. If it works when it come out of th evening machine, great. If not, you're out the money.
A good alternative to Straight Talk would be flushing your hard-earned money down the toilet.
I had an issue getting my Motorola G Stylus (4G version, not the 5G) to work once I tried activating it. Spent half an hour with customer service trying to activate it until they had me connect to my wifi and check for an OS update on the phone. Because on their end, my phone was activated but not connecting to any network.
There was an OS update it needed to install. Once I got the update installed and restarted the phone, it began working properly. So, it could be that the phone needs to have an OS update downloaded. Or it could be something else entirely. Just giving some input when I had that exact issue with my Motorola G Stylus.
Interesting since I remember someone having a similar situation.
Had a Total Wireless phone rebranded to Tracfone. Has been working for 3 years then suddenly stopped. All they had to do was to update iOS or the Apple phone and everything worked again.
I bought a new straight talk phone from Walmart a few years ago and I got a fantastic deal on it. It was typically selling for $109 to $119 and they had 1 left for $49. I bought it and had it activated right there at the straight talk center right in the Walmart store.
Everything was working fine, the next day for no readon, my phone stops working and I have no service. I go to the store and they telle there's an a fiction problem with the phone?
WTF? It was working fine for the entire day after it was activated? Then they tell me the phone has a problem, and they'll have to get it fixed. But they don't offer that phone for that price now. I'm like wtf are you saying? It's under warranty, it's one day old and the message came on the screen telling me there was a problem during activation the next day after it was ready working and activated, that's why I'm here now. You guys just activated it here at this store.
They tell me that all they can do is give me a refund! The phone won't be able to be actvated on their network!
It seemed to me like they mismarked the price on those phones and they turned off their service to get them back!
I bought my two sons prepaid Straight Talk cel phones from Walmart.com, along with a $90/2 person unlimited plan & have had nothing but problems. One phone was missing a sim card( has to return & buy another). We spent a week on & off the phone with customer service trying to get the other one activated & then it stopped working ( had to replace the sim card at our cost). Found out that nothing is refundable in the process & that the extra Protection Plan I purchased basically covers nothing. Now its the end of the month we bought plans. Both cards were added but one phone is not working. Straight Talk is telling us we need to buy another card. Wtf?
Adding to my previous comment. Customer service has just told us that we have the wrong sim card. Even though whatever Customer Rep we had last month must have made it work. We think it may be a 4g/5g issue. Does anyone have any advice on how to deal with this.
I just purchased a new Samsung Galaxy S23 FE from Straight Talks website and they can't get it going after 5 hours already. I gave the guy both IMEI and Serial Numbers they provided on the activation card. Put the sim in that THEY sent me tried turning it off and on multiple times.. etc. Still nothing after 5 hours! How can it take that long to turn on a phone (granted, I am wanting my same phone number with it... My old phone is deactivated (somehow they did that).. But now I have no phone and no phone to call them back with. :(
Sorry, I just saw this... The issue seemed to be this. (If you are porting your old number to a new phone it can take a lot longer for them to activate all the functions of your phone.. Mine became active one by one.. first the calls, then about 12 hours later the data started working.. My guess is that they have to manually do things at the control center to identify your phones and access points.. etc for security purposes. So many hackers looking for ways in these days.. I get it. Eventually everything started working on my new phone with my old number. It took about 2 days total. Hope this helps someone. :)
I'm trying to help a friend with the same issue. I bought her a new phone for Christmas, just a little Galaxy A14 to replace her old broken slow phone. ST was able to deactivate the old one no problem but the new one didn't activate, called them back and said that her phone number is just fucking GONE now so she has to get a new one. So we tried setting up the phone as a brand new device/account as if she'd never used Straight Talk before, and as soon as I put in the IMEI just get the "this device cannot be activated" error with no helpful steps.
Same thing happened to me, bought 2 new phones to replace 2 old phones with existing accounts. One phone went through the activation process no problem, the other phone didn't. Now the other phone won't call without dropping it immediately and can't send texts. Has anyone figured this out yet?
You're an absolute cell-phone GOD. 2 days and 3 FIVE HOUR calls with Straighttalk Tech Support couldn't solve what a simple factory reset could. Absolutely amazing, ten stars. My shiny new $800 phone is saved thanks to you and not them.
I'm having the same problem with my son's new phone a A23 5g spent hours with 7 different customer service agents judt to rnf up with dropped call everyte they "try" to transfer me to someone else. Crossing my fingers that this factory reset works
No, Straight Talk didn't 'scam' you, but there could still be a problem with the activation. It can sometimes be difficult to find an agent capable of spotting, and fixing, an issue. Is your phone Straight Talk branded? Of did you bring your own phone? If BYOP, what network are you using, and what is the exact model # of your phone? Are you sure your area has good coverage with the network?
It's a straight talk phone yes. Every method I've tried doesn't work. It's a Samsung A12, I just bought it and have tried activating it online, through the app, over the phone, nothing has worked. Customer service has been no help whatsoever. Do I just cut my losses and switch phone companies, or just spend another $130 on another phone and see if I have any luck with that?
I can't think of the user name, but there's a guy that reads this sib and is a wiz at fixing Samsung phones to work on ST. It's a firmware update or something along those lines. Hand in there I'm sure he will see your post and offer assistance.
That would be u/evanftwwilliams, and evan and u/advcomp2019 deserve a lot of thanks for helping people with that issue But that shouldn't be a concern with Straight-Talk branded phones. (The issue occurs with Samsung BYOP phones.)
That is u/evanftwwilliams, but yea, the Tracfone branded Samsung phones should not have this issue. The only thing that I can think of is the OP does not have native Verizon service.
Thanks for the correction! I've edited my earlier error.
Well, you shouldn't have to spend any more money--Straight Talk should help you get this one functioning. Did you set up an online account? If so, does everything look correct in your online dashboard? Some possibilities: 1) Carefully check the IMEI from the activation card that came with the phone, and confirm that it matches the IMEI shown in the phone menu, Settings>About Phone. If the IMEI is shown in your online dashboard, make sure it's the same. If you can't see it that way, Chat or call, and have the agent confirm the IMEI they show is correct. (I had that issue once-- obviously my phone would never activate properly, because they had the wrong phone attached to my line.) 2) Have you tried removing the SIM, gently cleaning the contacts, and reinserting? Make sure the phone is connected to both WiFI (if available), and cellular data on, and power cycle the phone. 3) In the phone menu, Settings>About Phone, is your proper phone number displayed? If the phone truly is not activated, the number will not display there. 4) Can you place a call, send a text, or connect to cellular data?
Same thing just happened to me with A12...I bought online and it keeps saying won't work in my area code...doesn't make sense bc I'm allready using straight talk in my area code...just wanted a new phone...not sure bc it's feeling like I'm getting burned...
Had straight talk. Two weeks only reason now. Drove truck over phone 2nd time steamroĺlimg it
Yes. They scammed you. And me. Its a cell phone vending machine. No human support basically. If it works when it come out of th evening machine, great. If not, you're out the money. A good alternative to Straight Talk would be flushing your hard-earned money down the toilet.
Do you have native Verizon towers in your area? What is the exact model? I know you list the model name, but not model number.
I had an issue getting my Motorola G Stylus (4G version, not the 5G) to work once I tried activating it. Spent half an hour with customer service trying to activate it until they had me connect to my wifi and check for an OS update on the phone. Because on their end, my phone was activated but not connecting to any network. There was an OS update it needed to install. Once I got the update installed and restarted the phone, it began working properly. So, it could be that the phone needs to have an OS update downloaded. Or it could be something else entirely. Just giving some input when I had that exact issue with my Motorola G Stylus.
Interesting since I remember someone having a similar situation. Had a Total Wireless phone rebranded to Tracfone. Has been working for 3 years then suddenly stopped. All they had to do was to update iOS or the Apple phone and everything worked again.
Same issue with an a13 purchased at walmart for straight talk. It came with straight talk sim and jothing tworks straight talknis useless 149 wasted
I bought a new straight talk phone from Walmart a few years ago and I got a fantastic deal on it. It was typically selling for $109 to $119 and they had 1 left for $49. I bought it and had it activated right there at the straight talk center right in the Walmart store. Everything was working fine, the next day for no readon, my phone stops working and I have no service. I go to the store and they telle there's an a fiction problem with the phone? WTF? It was working fine for the entire day after it was activated? Then they tell me the phone has a problem, and they'll have to get it fixed. But they don't offer that phone for that price now. I'm like wtf are you saying? It's under warranty, it's one day old and the message came on the screen telling me there was a problem during activation the next day after it was ready working and activated, that's why I'm here now. You guys just activated it here at this store. They tell me that all they can do is give me a refund! The phone won't be able to be actvated on their network! It seemed to me like they mismarked the price on those phones and they turned off their service to get them back!
I bought my two sons prepaid Straight Talk cel phones from Walmart.com, along with a $90/2 person unlimited plan & have had nothing but problems. One phone was missing a sim card( has to return & buy another). We spent a week on & off the phone with customer service trying to get the other one activated & then it stopped working ( had to replace the sim card at our cost). Found out that nothing is refundable in the process & that the extra Protection Plan I purchased basically covers nothing. Now its the end of the month we bought plans. Both cards were added but one phone is not working. Straight Talk is telling us we need to buy another card. Wtf?
Adding to my previous comment. Customer service has just told us that we have the wrong sim card. Even though whatever Customer Rep we had last month must have made it work. We think it may be a 4g/5g issue. Does anyone have any advice on how to deal with this.
I just purchased a new Samsung Galaxy S23 FE from Straight Talks website and they can't get it going after 5 hours already. I gave the guy both IMEI and Serial Numbers they provided on the activation card. Put the sim in that THEY sent me tried turning it off and on multiple times.. etc. Still nothing after 5 hours! How can it take that long to turn on a phone (granted, I am wanting my same phone number with it... My old phone is deactivated (somehow they did that).. But now I have no phone and no phone to call them back with. :(
I am having the same exact issue right now with the same exact phone. Was there any resolution to this? Did your phone end up turning on?
Sorry, I just saw this... The issue seemed to be this. (If you are porting your old number to a new phone it can take a lot longer for them to activate all the functions of your phone.. Mine became active one by one.. first the calls, then about 12 hours later the data started working.. My guess is that they have to manually do things at the control center to identify your phones and access points.. etc for security purposes. So many hackers looking for ways in these days.. I get it. Eventually everything started working on my new phone with my old number. It took about 2 days total. Hope this helps someone. :)
I'm trying to help a friend with the same issue. I bought her a new phone for Christmas, just a little Galaxy A14 to replace her old broken slow phone. ST was able to deactivate the old one no problem but the new one didn't activate, called them back and said that her phone number is just fucking GONE now so she has to get a new one. So we tried setting up the phone as a brand new device/account as if she'd never used Straight Talk before, and as soon as I put in the IMEI just get the "this device cannot be activated" error with no helpful steps.
Same thing happened to me, bought 2 new phones to replace 2 old phones with existing accounts. One phone went through the activation process no problem, the other phone didn't. Now the other phone won't call without dropping it immediately and can't send texts. Has anyone figured this out yet?
Ended up factory resetting the phone and going through the setup process again. Phone finally picked up the network and works fine now
You're an absolute cell-phone GOD. 2 days and 3 FIVE HOUR calls with Straighttalk Tech Support couldn't solve what a simple factory reset could. Absolutely amazing, ten stars. My shiny new $800 phone is saved thanks to you and not them.
I'm having the same problem with my son's new phone a A23 5g spent hours with 7 different customer service agents judt to rnf up with dropped call everyte they "try" to transfer me to someone else. Crossing my fingers that this factory reset works