T-Mobile To Go - Prepaid Refill Cards

In message <CdUKi.29752$eY.9874@newssvr13.news.prodigy.net> "Adam"
<adam.RemoveThis@no_thanks.com> wrote:

>What if people are buying refill cards as gifts (for X-mas, B-Day, etc.)?

Buy it close to the event, like any perishable good.

>Or, just not ready to activate right away.

Buy it when you are within three months of being ready to use it.

--
You can get more with a kind word and a 2x4 than just a kind word.

At 27 Sep 2007 21:56:37 +0000 Adam wrote:

> I think the terms "activate" and "redeem/redeemable" are
> becoming more clear to me now. Activating the refill card does not
> add minutes to the account.

Correct. This method is better for the stores selling the cards.
Unlike "real" inventory they have purchase upfront before they sell
it to you, the phone cards don't cost them anything until you buy
them- they essentially "buy" the PIN they're selling you from the
vendor when you buy it from them.



--

"I don't need my cell phone to play video games or take pictures
or double as a Walkie-Talkie; I just need it to work. Thanks for
all the bells and whistles, but I could communicate better with
ACTUAL bells and whistles." -Bill Maher 9/25/2003

"Todd Allcock" <elecconnec DeleteThis @AmericaOnLine.com> wrote in message
news:EMWKi.1508$mS5.1245@fe089.usenetserver.com...
> At 27 Sep 2007 21:56:37 +0000 Adam wrote:
>
> > I think the terms "activate" and "redeem/redeemable" are
> > becoming more clear to me now. Activating the refill card does not
> > add minutes to the account.
>
> Correct. This method is better for the stores selling the cards.
> Unlike "real" inventory they have purchase upfront before they sell
> it to you, the phone cards don't cost them anything until you buy
> them- they essentially "buy" the PIN they're selling you from the
> vendor when you buy it from them.
>
>
>
> --
>
> "I don't need my cell phone to play video games or take pictures
> or double as a Walkie-Talkie; I just need it to work. Thanks for
> all the bells and whistles, but I could communicate better with
> ACTUAL bells and whistles." -Bill Maher 9/25/2003
>

In that case, the following wording ...

"... Void if minutes not redeemed 90 days from purchase. ..."

might be more appropriate.

At 29 Sep 2007 15:32:44 +0000 Adam wrote:
> In that case, the following wording ...
>
> "... Void if minutes not redeemed 90 days from purchase. ..."
>
> might be more appropriate.
>

Not necessarily- often those 3rd party cards only assign you a "real"
PIN, which you then have to call the phone carrier to redeem (or
enter in the phone's WAP browser.)

So you could call on day 90 to get the PIN number, which you then
keep in a safe place until you actually need to use it.

(I don't know for sure how the cards at Target work, but that's how
the ones I've purchased at Office Max work.)



--

"I don't need my cell phone to play video games or take pictures
or double as a Walkie-Talkie; I just need it to work. Thanks for
all the bells and whistles, but I could communicate better with
ACTUAL bells and whistles." -Bill Maher 9/25/2003

"Todd Allcock" <elecconnec RemoveThis @AmericaOnLine.com> wrote in message
news:uOALi.6880$yW.1314@fe107.usenetserver.com...
> At 29 Sep 2007 15:32:44 +0000 Adam wrote:
> > In that case, the following wording ...
> >
> > "... Void if minutes not redeemed 90 days from purchase. ..."
> >
> > might be more appropriate.
> >
>
> Not necessarily- often those 3rd party cards only assign you a "real"
> PIN, which you then have to call the phone carrier to redeem (or
> enter in the phone's WAP browser.)
>
> So you could call on day 90 to get the PIN number, which you then
> keep in a safe place until you actually need to use it.
>
> (I don't know for sure how the cards at Target work, but that's how
> the ones I've purchased at Office Max work.)
>
>
> --
>
> "I don't need my cell phone to play video games or take pictures
> or double as a Walkie-Talkie; I just need it to work. Thanks for
> all the bells and whistles, but I could communicate better with
> ACTUAL bells and whistles." -Bill Maher 9/25/2003
>

The card I'm referring to is direct from T-Mobile.

"Todd Allcock" <elecconnec.RemoveThis@AmericaOnLine.com> wrote in message
news:bdHLi.275$UW5.93@fe091.usenetserver.com...
> At 29 Sep 2007 17:51:26 -0700 Adam wrote:
>
>
> > The card I'm referring to is direct from T-Mobile.
>
> Oops. I forgot they say that. I think I've only use
> a "real" T-Mo card once- a "free" $25 card came with a phone I
> bought from T-Mo's website last Christmas. While I wouldn't suggest
> this is "proof" you can ignore the 90 day warning, I didn't redeem
> that card until July- a good 6 or 7 months after I received it.
>
> Honestly, T-Mo would have no idea how long those cards sit on store
> shelves prior to sale, so I doubt they have any way to "enforce" that
> threat.
>
> I assume the 90-day requirement is a "CYA" thing to prevent someone
> from whipping it out years later after T-Mo's plans have changed, or
> they've been bought out by someone else, or who knows what else.
>
> For example, I remember after I closed my Cingular dealership, I
> found three old Southwestern Bell Mobile Systems Prepaid PIN
> "activation cards" that had cost me $10 each. I took them, and three
> of my old TDMA phones to a Cingular corporate store to active them.
> They told me those weren't good anymore, so I asked to trade them for
> modern Cingular airtime cards since the old cards had no expiration
> date on them. After no one there could figure out how to accomplish
> the exchange on their computer system, they agreed to just put a $30
> "courtesy credit" on my postpaid Cingular account and throw away the
> cards. If SW Bell had had the foresight to print "card expires in 90
> days" on those cards, Cingular could've stiffed me out of some money
> (much like they often did when I was one of their dealers!)
>
> --
>
> "I don't need my cell phone to play video games or take pictures
> or double as a Walkie-Talkie; I just need it to work. Thanks for
> all the bells and whistles, but I could communicate better with
> ACTUAL bells and whistles." -Bill Maher 9/25/2003
>

I would hate to lose the minutes IF there is an expiration though.