Tracfone's iPhone SE 3rd Gen

**haydeecm1** · 08-10-2023, 09:37 AM

Quick update, I was on the phone for over an hour yesterday and they were finally able to activate the iphone 3, but when I got off the phone I realized the phone disappeared from my account, and I cannot add the line to my account. Also they changed the expiration date and texting "unlock" is showing its not a tracfone, so I suspect this will take many more calls to straighten out.

**brg** · 08-10-2023, 11:38 AM

Originally Posted by hpham

When you log into your TF account that has the SE3 phone and select Manage Lines-->Device, does it show a picture of the SE3 and its IMEI number, or it says "Unknown Device" and shows the SIM number?

(Been having problems posting, here and in another thread, yesterday and the day before, so I'll try again. Cloudflare intercepts.)

Thanks to your suggestion to rebrand, @hpham, after rebranding a new $149 Walmart SE3 from Straight Talk to Tracfone via chat, when I later -- using the website (via desktop and Win10) -- activated with transfer from my then active SE2, my account does indeed show a picture of the SE3 and its IMEI number.

**hpham** · 08-10-2023, 12:28 PM

Originally Posted by brg

when I later -- using the website (via desktop and Win10) -- activated with transfer from my then active SE2, my account does indeed show a picture of the SE3 and its IMEI number.

Good to hear you got that out of the way. I'm not sure what vwnut13 sees for his SE3 that was not rebranded.

**vwnut13** · 08-10-2023, 03:00 PM

Originally Posted by hpham

Good to hear you got that out of the way. I'm not sure what vwnut13 sees for his SE3 that was not rebranded.

It shows the picture of the phone, "Apple iPhone SE (3rd Gen)" and the IMEI.

**hpham** · 08-10-2023, 03:56 PM

Originally Posted by vwnut13

It shows the picture of the phone, "Apple iPhone SE (3rd Gen)" and the IMEI.

Good deal.

**cwshop** · 08-11-2023, 09:01 AM

Mine shows unknown device... at least it's working.

Sent from my SM-S515DL using Tapatalk

**hpham** · 08-11-2023, 10:29 AM

Originally Posted by cwshop

Mine shows unknown device... at least it's working.

Let us know how it turns out when/if you want it unlocked.

**vartanarsen** · 08-11-2023, 11:59 AM

Originally Posted by haydeecm1

Quick update, I was on the phone for over an hour yesterday and they were finally able to activate the iphone 3, but when I got off the phone I realized the phone disappeared from my account, and I cannot add the line to my account. Also they changed the expiration date and texting "unlock" is showing its not a tracfone, so I suspect this will take many more calls to straighten out.

Call the phone number in that Unlock Text. They will see it and tell you how many days left to unlock

Sent from my iPhone using HoFo

**SlowLoris** · 08-30-2023, 03:39 PM

Originally Posted by haydeecm1

Definitely still having trouble, I purchased over a week ago and still have not been able to activate. I would return it if it had been my own money but like you I used reward points and I dont think I can get those back. The website is still not recognizing the IMEI this morning. Looks like some people have been lucky and found a knowledgeable rep, but chances it will be a hassle.

Sadly, this is still an issue. When the SE3s went out of stock for a few days, I had hoped the new stock wouldn't have the same problem. When I try to activate on my own, with the physical SIM, it gives me an error message that I'm giving an esim. When I try to activate with esim, it gives me a zip code error with whichever zip I use. 30 minutes on chat could do nothing, then the callback agent told me he was fixing the SIM, but apparently he did nothing. Then, he said I have to activate online, which still gives the same error messages. Now, I will try the tip above to call the activation number. Hopefully, I will finally get someone who can activate this.

**SlowLoris** · 08-30-2023, 04:10 PM

Originally Posted by ChristInMe

I got my device successfully activated today by a CSR. As with all things TF, YMMV!

So this morning I decided to give customer service a try. I called the toll number, 800-867-7183, chose option 2 to activate a new device. The system prompted me to enter the IMEI and zip code which I did. I was then transferred to the appropriate CSR. Luckily, the CSR was knowledgeable and explained to me what was going on. The device was erroneously registered as eSIM; however, the device is not provisioned to work with eSIM on TF. The agent asked for my email address to setup a new account and then asked for the IMEI, SIM ID, and zip code. She then removed the wrong registration and properly re-register the device. I then gave her the code for my service plan and she activated the device. In all it took about 20 minutes. The only snafu was that somehow the activated device was not linked to the account she initially created. I could care less about that since I could do that myself online.

My advice is that don't call Corporate. You need to reach a knowledgeable CSR who knows about the issue. Call the 800 number and choose option 2 and follow the prompts. Good luck!

Unfortunately, no luck with this method either. She could see it was erroneously registered, but was unable to fix it. Then, while she was trying to figure out alternatives, she disconnected. I may just try the BBB complaint because after three tries, I don't have another call in me.

**SlowLoris** · 09-01-2023, 04:21 PM

Originally Posted by SlowLoris

Unfortunately, no luck with this method either. She could see it was erroneously registered, but was unable to fix it. Then, while she was trying to figure out alternatives, she disconnected. I may just try the BBB complaint because after three tries, I don't have another call in me.

Filed a BBB complaint on 8/30, and received a call back on 9/1. The agent said the device was showing up as a BYOP. I provided the order number so he could see it was purchased directly from Tracfone.

He was unable to change the status, but said he would escalate it. I haven't yet received a call back, but after a few hours, I decided to give activation a try and success! I was able to activate online with a 90 day/$19.99 card.

**PaulCrawhorne** · 09-01-2023, 08:28 PM

I love it when they just fix it behind the scenes without letting us know.

Patience, patience and more patience

combined with perseverance ...

**Nudle** · 09-06-2023, 11:55 AM

DP: Bought 3 SE 3rd Gen, all Total branded

1st: from WM, activated onto existing TF line w/o issues
2nd: from Target, problems activating (e-sim errors, etc..) Took 2 phone calls, last one with Corporate where rep had to reset phone in system, took 30m doing that but finally got it.
3rd: also from Target; don't want to activate yet, fingers crossed that they sort the e-sim issues soon

**AMCJ** · 09-25-2023, 08:48 PM

In case your SE3 phone shows up as "BYOD" when texting "UNLOCK" to 611611, I was able to call them after 60 days and do a manual unlock request. Took about 2.5 days but it did eventually show up as "no sim restriction". No too bad as a backup phone if you have points to spend or purchased it for about $150 from Walmart.

**ChristInMe** · 09-25-2023, 09:18 PM

For the new iPhone SE3s purchased in July that were not properly registered in the TF system and had to be manually activated by customer service, I was able to get them unlocked today. The devices were not automatically unlocked 60 days after activation like other iPhones. I had to call the unlocking dept for them to manually process the unlocking request. The first device was unlocked within one day. The second one took 3 days since the request was escalated to an 'analyst' because the device was re-branded (I will spare you the details!).