Tracfone's iPhone SE 3rd Gen

[vartanarsen]

Yes, activating a new iPhone SE3 on the TF website is broken. I'm also trying to activate as a new TF iPhone SE3 with a new number using a physical SIM. Once I put in the IMEI I get an error message:
"Ooops! It appears you entered a digital SIM IMEI. Please enter a physical SIM IMEI."

It appears that TF has mashed up the IMEIs in their system.

I won't even bother calling customer service about this. They would end up creating more problems.
https://www.reddit.com/r/TracFone/co...i_is_for_esim/

How are you solving ?

[ChristInMe]

How are you solving ?

I'm not solving it
I would however be monitoring other forums for solutions. The SE3 only came back in stock this week after a long hiatus. Once buyers received their devices next week and run into the activation problem, TF would have to provide a solution.
Luckily for me I don't need to use the device right away. I bought it with reward points for my daughter whose current device, SE2, is working just fine.

[vartanarsen]

I'm not solving it
I would however be monitoring other forums for solutions. The SE3 only came back in stock this week after a long hiatus. Once buyers received their devices next week and run into the activation problem, TF would have to provide a solution.
Luckily for me I don't need to use the device right away. I bought it with reward points for my daughter whose current device, SE2, is working just fine.

Thanks I’ll keep my eyes on this


Sent from my iPhone using HoFo

[sillyette]

Yes, activating a new iPhone SE3 on the TF website is broken. I'm also trying to activate as a new TF iPhone SE3 with a new number using a physical SIM. Once I put in the IMEI I get an error message:
"Ooops! It appears you entered a digital SIM IMEI. Please enter a physical SIM IMEI."

It appears that TF has mashed up the IMEIs in their system.

I won't even bother calling customer service about this. They would end up creating more problems.
https://www.reddit.com/r/TracFone/co...i_is_for_esim/

Thanks for this info, ChristInMe - I'll surely pass this on to my friend (she wanted to buy the SE3) because I don't think she will want any activation hassles!

[ChristInMe]

I found this on reddit:
https://www.reddit.com/r/TracFone/co...n_iphone_se_3/
Apparently, it's a general problem. Avoid purchasing the iPhone SE3 since TF does not know how to activate the device!

[Crazy8SD]

It's strange that people were able to activate SE3 from TF sister companies, with a transfer of existing TF service.
DP 1 and DP 2

[SlowLoris]

It's strange that people were able to activate SE3 from TF sister companies, with a transfer of existing TF service.
DP 1 and DP 2

I was able to activate a Tracfone branded SE3 with a transfer of service back in Nov 2022 when they were $349.99 (before redeeming the $300 coupon code). I did it for my father from afar, so glad that it all went smoothly back then!

[Slepy]

Same thing happened with an Apple Factory Unlocked version as well, earlier this year. This is the main issue with Whitelists.

https://www.howardforums.com/showthread.php/1927508

Also, tomseys had to fight with them to get it activated as well.

Initially tried to activate them using the chat but the reps were unable to do it because the system would not allow them to pair the sim number with the SE3s IMEI. Tried different sims.

Called the Tracfone corporate office and same thing. Finally after some calls this "system error" was escalated to an offline network support specialist who manually paired the sim with IMEI. Took a while.

https://www.howardforums.com/showthr...9#post17234989
https://www.howardforums.com/showthr...r-some-iPhones

Tracfone seems to be the ugly step child of the family. Getting the old hand me downs from Total Wireless and Straight Talk. There's probably some error/delay for this new batch of iPhone SE3 coming from the factory. It was out of stock for a few weeks from Tracfone's own store. The information entered into Tracfone's servers determine which brand it's under and the SIM pairings.

So you can either wait a few months and hope the problems solves itself or try to fight and escalate it like tomseys.

[Crazy8SD]

I was able to activate a Tracfone branded SE3 with a transfer of service back in Nov 2022 when they were $349.99 (before redeeming the $300 coupon code). I did it for my father from afar, so glad that it all went smoothly back then!

Very strange that TF is able to activate TF-branded SE3 with a transfer of existing service, but has problem activating new services/lines. It seems they somehow recognize the IMEIs for certain activations.

[AMCJ]

Same problem as everyone else with the SE3 when trying to activate it on the website. Something something eSIM vs. physical SIM. I had to call into the phone support and took them like 20 minutes to figure things out. I pre-bought a $20 PIN from Target.com and was able to finally activate it and attach to my normal user account.

[tftess]

Like SlowLoris, I activated a Tracfone SE3 (purchased with points) with transfer from phone, in April. It was shockingly fast and easy.

[AMCJ]

Tracfone CSR are a bunch of id*ots. I talked to a total of 5 people (including 2 transfer which immediately dropped me) and no one knows what is going on. At this point, I would suggest NO ONE buys an iPhone SE3 from Tracfone because you can not activate it. I tried transferring my existing spare number and unlike SlowLoris or tftess, it is still the same eSIM error. Not only is the transfer not working, now my spare phone number is dead and they lost all of my credit in the process.

To add insult to injury, now CSR is closed after they once again dropped my call (I am beginning to think this is on purpose and there is no real 2nd-level support).

Once again, DO NOT BUY an iPhone SE3 from Tracfone. Unless you enjoy talking to endless supply of clueless people.

[capri17]

I bought(with Rewards points) a SE3 about a month ago when they lowered the price to $189 .Activated with a $20/3month card bought from Target with no problems with a new number.(plan to keep this number ,since last four numbers are the same) .

[ChristInMe]

Once again, DO NOT BUY an iPhone SE3 from Tracfone. Unless you enjoy talking to endless supply of clueless people.

Totally agree. At this point nobody should buy the iPhone SE3 from Tracfone.

For fun and giggles, I chatted with an agent yesterday:

Agent: With regard to this, this new phone that you have is currently not available for this brand.
Me: But I bought the phone from Tracfone this week, order number 1089xxxxx.
Agent: I do understand, however, this phone is currently not available for this brand.
Agent: Please contact one of our customer care representatives at 1-800-867-7183. For your convenience, our representatives are available Monday-Sunday from 8:00 A.M. to 11:45 P.M. EST. You may also text the key word HELP to 611611 to view our self-service menu with a list of help key words with valuable information.

Save yourself the trouble of dealing with clueless CSRs and incompetent corporate managers. Again avoid purchasing the iPhone SE3 from TF.

[sillyette]

I think I'm detecting a pattern, based on people's experiences above. Here's my theory --

-- When the SE3 was expensive, activation worked fine.

-- Then TF got a whole bunch of SE3 devices for cheap from somewhere, (maybe iffy IMEIs?), and dropped the price of the SE3.

-- Activations stopped working for these lower-priced SE3s. And Tracfone being Tracfone, couldn't care less.

The scary part with this theory is that if it's true, then so long as the price of the SE3 is at $190, anyone who buys the phone is sorely out of luck, no matter how long he/she waits because TF just won't get around to correcting those rock-bottom-priced iffy IMEI devices they got from who knows where.