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talz13
join:2006-03-15
Avon, OH

talz13

Member

[T-Mobile] Stocking up on prepaid $$$? Will my balance expire?

So I just got an email from callingmart with their newest promo code (5% off t-mobile prepaid cards / codes), and it's going to be overlapping with my discover card 5% cash back on all online purchases. Sounds like a good deal to lower the cost of my $30 "monthly 4g" plan a little more!

Is there an expiration on your balance? If I buy, say, $150 in credits (roughly 5 months worth), will it expire before I use it all?

brg
Premium Member
join:2001-01-03
Chicago, IL

1 edit

brg

Premium Member

Re: [T-Mobile] Stocking up on prepaid $$$? Will my balance expir

I don't know the answer to the question you directly posed (balance expiration), but why don't you purchase the PIN and just set it aside to use when needed? I use Page Plus myself, and have purchased PINs at discount from CallingMart, just as you are planning to do. IIRC, CallingMart states that the PINs "should be loaded within a year" which is another way of saying they have a shelf-life of up to a year. IOW, you can buy it at discount, sit on it, and use it later. I've done that twice with no problem. Indeed, I've been informed that the "shelf life" of an unused PIN is probably much longer than a year...
ttfg
join:2000-09-27
PlantationFL

ttfg to talz13

Member

to talz13
If you spend $100, you get into the Gold Club, which gives you a year on the minutes you buy, and it also resets your current minutes for another year - so they all expire at the same time, a year from now. You then only need to buy minutes again right before they all expire, which resets them again for another year - and that's no matter how few minutes you buy after that first minimum $100 purchase. So, $10 per year could keep your minutes alive indefinitely, theoretically. I've been doing it for six years now.

As for the PIN mentioned by the other poster, I seem to remember a 90-day shelf life on PINS, but I could be wrong. I did buy from CallingMart a couple of times, but I don't remember how long I had to activate the PIN, since I used it immediately. Each company might have a different shelf life, so make sure first.

djdanska
Rudie32
Premium Member
join:2001-04-21
San Diego, CA

djdanska to talz13

Premium Member

to talz13
Once you get gold, Make sure you renew once per year BEFORE it expires, and then your set. My grandma does this every year.
adrman
Premium Member
join:2007-08-23
New York, NY

adrman to talz13

Premium Member

to talz13
I posted the following over on xda-developers about a month ago in answer to the same question.


Exactly. However, I was finally able locate the following statement and verbally confirm it with a customer rep this afternoon.

" For customers on Monthly4G plans, the account balance expiration date is extended 90 days when rate plan is renewed."

Therefore the funds I added today have an expiration in November. However, when my plan renews in September, the 90 day period is reset and the expiration date is moved to December. It just keeps going like that month to month. I think by adding over $100 at once, you became a Gold Rewards customer and are given an expiration period of one year. I hope this clears things up.



djdanska
Rudie32
Premium Member
join:2001-04-21
San Diego, CA

djdanska

Premium Member

It's a year on prepaid. It's 90 days on no contract/prepaid monthly plans. (aka monthly4g)

If your paying per minute, its a year once you spend $100.
adrman
Premium Member
join:2007-08-23
New York, NY

adrman

Premium Member

Exactly. I use the monthly $30 prepaid plan. The question came up at xda because people were stocking up at callingmart, myself included. When I went to enter my first pin, I noticed an expiration date popped up, so I did some digging and came up with the above.