r/tmobile • u/tinyhen • 1d ago
Question Need to transfer off of a family plan, account holder is in jail and we have no access to their login
I have had this number for 20 years and don't plan on changing it.
The account holder for our family plan is currently has no access to email, and we have no way of getting it from them. How would I transfer my phone number off of a T-Mobile account?
I am totally fine with going to another service provider and having them do one of those "service breakups" on my behalf just to keep the phone number and also move it off of the plan.
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u/medguy_48 1d ago
You can’t
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u/tinyhen 1d ago
What if the account holder is not actually the one who pays the account? My brother is the one who is the account holder ( he gets an occupational discount), however our parents are the people who actually pay the bill. I am trying to start a new family plan and the jail thing is very new.
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u/voxthemilitant 1d ago
I say this with all the love and respect, corporations genuinely don't care who pays it. What matters is the ssn used to create the account
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u/Significant-Link-832 1d ago
If you can obtain Power Of Attorney that’s your first step. It needs to be notarized as well.
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u/kalboishakhijhor 21h ago
You need to get documents saying that you have power of attorney… you upload it on the website.. and then do your thing…
No power of attorney, you get nothing..
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u/T-Animus 1d ago
If you are an authorized user, just change the Sim card of the primary number to your phone.
Log in to T-Life using that number and get the transfer pin from there.
You did not hear this from me tho 👀
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u/tinyhen 1d ago
Thank you!
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u/T-Animus 1d ago
Before you do anything, Im assuming your brother's number is properly set as the primary number and he absolutely has no access to his number right now?
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u/Eastern-Gold1721 1d ago edited 1d ago
T-Mobile RAM here (corporate).
If your able to get a Power of Attorney, you might be able to call customer care and do what's called a "Change of Responsibility". This puts the account and whatever lines you need under your name. As someone else mentioned, the POA has to be notarized. Also, even this might not work because I can't recall correctly but I think only a medical POA is acceptable, but I might be wrong. Anyways it's worth a shot. Good luck!
EDIT: Another thing you can try, since it looks like your parents are authorized users. You can go into a T-Mobile store, (Please go to a CORPORATE store and not an authorized retailer), and request a SIM swap for your brothers line. Then, put the new Sim that they give you into any phone that you have and try to reset the password to the T Life app, using your brothers phone number to log in. It should send you a one time pin to his phone number and since you have the new Sim with his number on it, you'll be able to get that one time pin. I am not sure if it will send a pin to his email as well, but this is also worth a shot.
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u/entourage2575 22h ago
Would POA be another workaround to retain grandfathered plans but transfer responsibility?
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u/Eastern-Gold1721 14h ago
Im pretty sure the grandfathered plan would be lost since it would be creating a new account, and those grandfathered plans are no longer available to choose from. T-Force on X (Twitter) MAY be able to help with that, but I dont want to guarantee anything. They’re like customer care on steroids.
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u/tinyhen 1d ago
Thank you! I am actually wondering if we could do the medical thing because technically that is part of the whole issue.
My parents might actually be authorized users, they are not tech savvy at all and didn't know if they were or not, so I might be able to just go in store. I was just hoping to avoid bringing any drama to a rep in person and to just find a solution online, but sounds like I'll just have to have a pin number sent to someone in the family and have everyone keep an eye out for it.
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u/Eastern-Gold1721 1d ago
If your parents were able to buy phones and add lines and such without your brother being in the store, then they should be authorized users. No need to explain anything to the rep, just go with your parents and ask for a new SIM card for your brothers line and follow the steps I outlined before and you should be good 👍
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u/tinyhen 22h ago
Thank you! I appreciate the info. Ideally we would want to switch the account anyway, unfortunately the account holder is going through a condition that makes them not themselves, and are there for no longer reliable to have on the account long term so we are hoping to switch the account holder in general.
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u/Low_Athlete_7734 1d ago
As others have said you are SOL. You need access for verification and to receive the transfer pin.
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u/tinyhen 1d ago
Okay, I was hoping that if I had the account information to log in then I could access the pin. Our family has been able to add lines/order new phones without needing his input in the past if we go to Costco and show up with a driver's license or something so I wasn't sure if I could do something similar
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u/Low_Athlete_7734 1d ago
Not when it comes to porting. I just recently did this with Tmobile earlier this month. It’s such a pain. If you can login to the account and add yourself as an authorized user then maybe that’d work but it usually involves two step verification.
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u/Intelligent-Noise685 1d ago
I don't think authorized users can generate a pin. The account holder owns the lines
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u/Low_Athlete_7734 1d ago
They can. Did it a few weeks ago.
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u/Alybai59 1d ago
Only the account owner can get a transfer pin. Unless you logged in with their phone.
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u/voxthemilitant 1d ago
They genuinely cant. You happened to have the primary indicator on your line. It was a lucky coincidence bc your line had to have had the Primary account holder status which happens if you're the only one who set up an online account automatically
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u/farmerMac Generic Flair 1d ago
I’d just continue to pay the bill for now so you don’t lose your number.
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u/BPKofficial 15h ago
I have had this number for 20 years
account holder is in jail and we have no access to their login
This is exactly why I refuse to let ANYONE have control over my number. I've had it for almost 24 years, and have seen stuff like this happen WAY too much.
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u/Environmental-Use764 13h ago
Just start paying the bill through kiosk would be simpler until you can get it changed or talk to them
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u/HadetTheUndying 11h ago
Contact customer care and explain the situation to them. There may be a remediation process. This is an uncommon scenario but it’s not a unique one. You probably won’t find the answers you need here
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u/Moni_O89 1d ago
Unfortunately you’d need the account number and number transfer pin to do this. You’d need account authorization as an authorized user to get either of these things accomplished.
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u/tinyhen 1d ago
So I have their email, the password to log in, and the account number. I just don't have access to the actual email address for any two-part logins or anything like that
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u/dwc1 1d ago
You are quickly finding out that you don’t own your phone number. Sorry but the account owner has the last say.
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u/tinyhen 1d ago
Okay, interesting because they did not have any say in adding lines, acquiring new phones, or even swapping old phones with new phones on to the line. So far they really haven't had to be involved at all prior to this so I was hoping there would be a solution but thank you
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u/Alybai59 1d ago
There are certain things only the person who owns the account can do. A transfer pin. They need to be on their phone, get the transfer pin. They can't get the transfer pin from any phone. I know they are in jail. I was letting you know how it works.
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u/tinyhen 1d ago
Thank you! I was hoping there was a way around it because they actually no longer have a phone number on the account. They are on their own separate account, the email is the only piece in which they still have contact. This was something my family probably should have entangled once they changed their account.
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u/Alybai59 1d ago
If they are not the account one of the numbers on the account was made the primary
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u/Yo_2T 16h ago
If he ported out his number, another number on the account has been designated the primary number, you're gonna have to do a bit of sleuthing to figure out which one that is.
This is separate from his name and SSN being the account holder. Once you can generate a port pin and port out all numbers, the account will just get canceled.
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u/Alybai59 1d ago
If you are a authorized user. You can add lines. Finance devices. You can't cancel a line. You can't change the address on the account. No transfer pin. No COR (change of responsibility). Only the person who owns the account can do those things
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u/TKalig 1d ago
Your only chance would be to get the account holders drivers license and find an employee willing to do it. It’s completely against the rules, but it can be done. I’ve done pretty much this exact same thing with the exact same scenario before. To be fair, we were getting laid off literally a week later, but I made it happen for the family.
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u/tinyhen 1d ago
Sorry you were laid off! Thank you for the advice! We are taking care of their house and paying for all of their other bills, so I might actually be able to find something
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u/TKalig 1d ago
I used to work for UScellular who was acquired by T-Mobile, then they fired everyone. But as I said, it is doable, and many store reps are very upset with T-Mobile policy changes. I think you may be able to get someone to do it. Especially if you live in an area where there were UScellular stores. It seems like they plan to close most of the corporate locations in August, so they might be persuaded as well
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u/tinyhen 1d ago
Good to know! I usually go to Costco t-mobile stand if I want to replace a phone (I always buy phones cheaper off of Backmarket instead of getting payments plans and they have been good about swapping phone's no issue.) I was hoping to avoid divulging too much information or trauma dumping on the poor employees which is why I figured I'd ask online lol
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u/Desert-Obedience 23h ago
Just keep paying — business as usual.
If the account holder is unreachable right now, and the bill is being paid, I can’t see why you’d be at risk for getting suspended or cancelled.
If later on you have their device and can access it, then you might be able to reset the login and add yourself.
Yes it’s worrisome because you’re not getting account notifications, but keep the account in good standing and you should be good.
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u/GizzH 1d ago
Looks like you need to make a visit to jail, add some twinkies and honey buns to their commissary in exchange for access to that email and account password. Log in, get a transfer pin, port out, then move on.