suspending cell phone service

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Permalink Reply by John Fahy on December 7, 2011 at 2:04pm

I have Verizon and just had to go on-line to suspend my daughters phone when she was in Boot Camp and again now hat she's in Japan. I had to create an account but that took only minutes.

Permalink Reply by Chris H. on December 7, 2011 at 2:24pm

Perhaps a little different, but we've "managed" our daughter's account during boot camp, then her deployment last year for seven months.  We just explained she was in the Navy, and gave them a shut-off and reactivation date, then called a couple days in advance to make sure they had the record to reactivate the phone.

 

We did NOT tell what ship she was on, nor the date for the shut-off in advance.  That's no one's business, and as far as we were concerned shutting the service down the day after was just fine because she couldn't use it the 24 hours before anyway.

Permalink Reply by V. Michael Roberson on December 7, 2011 at 7:42pm

With T-Mobile you just have to inform them of the date that you want the phone suspended and as long as you check the account periodically and restore the phone to service there is not an issue... also need to check and see if there is a restoration fee on the account - don't like them hidden charges.

Permalink Reply by NavyDads Co-Admin, Gary on December 8, 2011 at 12:42am

Kent,

Wireless providers are normally used to getting the "my phone was lost or stolen" routine calls but not military suspension calls.

From reading online regarding suspending mobile phone service, it can be smooth sailing or a nightmare to deal with. Of course it varies from provider to provider and also who you actually deal with on the phone if that particular person is up to speed regarding suspension service policy. Per others suggestion, you may be able to suspend the service yourself online if this option is available of course.

I found this link http://forums.att.com/t5/General-Care-and-Support/Military-Suspensi... for AT&T it may or may not apply in your exact situation but it's very interesting to read through the threads. This is something I myself need to think about and chat with my son before he deploys so he can avoid a potential mess when dealing with mobile providers in the near future...

Permalink Reply by Theresa on December 12, 2011 at 7:02pm

I have AT&T and all you have to do is suspend it. I've spoken to them about my son's line and all I have to do is suspend it. You have 36 months to have it suspended then can disconnect if longer than that without service fees. At least that's what they've told me.

Permalink Reply by Becki Bohan on December 22, 2011 at 9:22pm

One thing in AT&T's defense.  They tried to purchase T-Mobile and were going to bring operations back to the U.S.  Unfortunately, the Justice Department blocked the sale and left 1000's of jobs overseas.  With all of the military returning home, it would have been nice to be able to offer them some of those now non-existent jobs.