Kako zamijeniti SafeLink TracFone

U 2015., Nacionalni istraživački centar Consumer Reports otkrio je da su 2,1 milijuna Amerikanaca ukradeni telefoni tijekom prethodne godine. Korisnici SafeLink Wirelessa dobivaju uslugu koju sponzorira vlada pod nazivom LifeLine, u kojoj članovi koji ispunjavaju uvjete dobivaju besplatan telefon, SIM karticu i uslugu. Ispostavilo se da je program prilično prikladno nazvan SafeLink jer također pruža pokrivenost u nesretnom slučaju da vaš telefon treba zamijeniti – što može biti stvarno spas u svijetu koji sve više ovisi o tome da imate svoj pametni telefon nadohvat ruke.

SafeLink i TracFone razjašnjeni

Idemo odmah prekinuti ovu zabunu. Nije neuobičajeno vidjeti da se "SafeLink" i "TracFone" koriste naizmjenično, ali zabuna je razumljiva. Ukratko, TracFone je matična tvrtka SafeLinka, a sam SafeLink je usluga koju pruža TracFone Wireless, Inc. Što se tiče LifeLinea, oni koji primaju pomoć od Medicaid ili Medi-Cal, WIC, SNAP, TANF, Supplemental Security Income, Veterans Pension pogodnosti ili drugi slični programi ispunjavaju uvjete za uslugu. Iako vaš SafeLink telefon tehnički nije "TracFone", robna marka se s vremena na vrijeme malo pomiješa. To je isto kao da se Pepsi naziva "Cola", iako u slučaju SafeLinka i TracFonea, same marke nisu ni približno toliko udaljene.

SafeLinkova pravila zamjene

Ako ste ljudsko biće, postoji prilično velika vjerojatnost da ste, kada ste se prijavili, pregledali SafeLinkove uvjete pružanja usluge i pritisnuli "prihvati" bez razmišljanja. Tu nema srama. Prema studiji koju su 2017. proveli profesori komunikacija Jonathan Obar sa Sveučilišta York u Torontu i Anne Oeldorf-Hirsch sa Sveučilišta Connecticut, samo oko četvrtina nas zamara se čitanjem sitnog tiska.

Srećom po vas, to je naš posao. Odjeljak 13 SafeLink Wireless Odredbi i uvjeta usluge jasno izlaže politiku tvrtke o izgubljenim ili ukradenim telefonima. U osnovi, SafeLink nudi jedan zamjenski telefon po korisniku – i to samo u slučaju da je vaš telefon izgubljen ili ukraden. Dakle, oprostite što moram reći, nemate sreće u smislu besplatne zamjene ako vam telefon ispadne u WC školjku ili ga pregazite automobilom.

Isporučeni telefon također neće biti nov, jer SafeLink nudi samo obnovljene telefone kao zamjenu. Nažalost, neke od minuta koje se lopov vašeg telefona uspio ušuljati također mogu biti izgubljene; SafeLink će nadomjestiti samo 10 minuta izgubljenog vremena kada dobijete zamjenski telefon.

Slično tome, politika TracFonea – i, kao proširenje, politika SafeLinka – pruža zamjenski telefon i vrijeme emitiranja kao jednokratnu uslugu u slučaju da se vaš telefon izgubi ili ga ukradu dok je bio u transportu do vas – što kradljivce paketa čini mnogo manjim zastrašujući prijedlog.

Što je s neispravnim telefonima?

SafeLinkovi uvjeti pružanja usluge navode da ste također pokriveni u slučaju da primite neispravan uređaj. U skladu s politikom jamstva, ako vaš novi ili obnovljeni SafeLink Wireless telefon doživi kvar proizvoda tijekom normalne upotrebe (izbacivanje telefona zbog frustracije zbog neželjenih poziva ne donosi vam novi uređaj), imate pravo na popravak ili zamjenu unutar jednog godine od datuma kupnje telefona. Ovo se jamstvo odnosi samo na izvornog vlasnika i nije prenosivo.

Kako biste unovčili jamstvo, morate dokazati datum originalne kupnje i priložiti kupoprodajni račun ili račun s pojedinostima – stoga taj račun spremite na sigurno mjesto.

To ensure that your SafeLink Wireless warranty service is active, give tech support a call at 800-378-1684. This is also the number you call when you need to take advantage of the warranty if there's a tech defect. Once you've been given a ticket number by a technician, you'll include that number with the phone, which you can send to a SafeLink Wireless Service Center for either repair or replacement (at SafeLink's discretion). The technician will fill you in on the shipping details, which may vary on a case-by-case basis.

In the case of a replacement, you'll receive a refurbished phone of the same model as your current phone, or a comparable model. Though the warranty covers all of the phone's hardware, be warned that you may lose any personal information – including passwords, contacts, photos, videos, music or apps – stored on the old phone. Now may be a good time to get started on those cloud backups you've been meaning to get around to.

Contact Customer Support

When your phone is lost or stolen, contacting SafeLink should be at the top of your list (right after filing a police report, in the latter case). SafeLink's technical support department handles these requests, and you can reach them at 800-378-1684, seven days a week between 8 a.m. and 7 p.m., EST. Keep in mind that calls to customer support still count as airtime.

Before you call, make sure you have your basic account info on hand. On their website, just hit the "Account" tab at the top of the page. You'll likely need your SafeLink Wireless serial number and your current SafeLink phone number to expedite the process.

Once you report your phone as stolen, SafeLink immediately and permanently deactivates the device. From there, the technician on the line with you will guide you through the replacement process, provided you qualify.

Upgrade Your Phone

Losing your phone or having it stolen are never fun, but there's one way to replace your SafeLink phone that's a whole lot more enjoyable:Getting a shiny new device upgrade.

If you're still rocking the flip phone or the brick phone as an active SafeLink recipient, you're eligible to upgrade to a new smart phone while retaining your account and all of your LifeLine benefits. As of 2019, the cost to upgrade to a smart phone starts at $39.

Be aware, though, that when you replace your SafeLink phone via upgrading, you're buying from a third-party cellphone merchant. Even when you use SafeLink's very own site, the SafeLink Phone Store simply acts as a venue to connect you to a cellphone merchant. That means that any problems with the sale will have to be worked out between you and the merchant in question.

Get an Unlocked Replacement

In addition to replacing stolen, lost or defective phones and offering upgrades, SafeLink also provides a slightly more obscure phone replacement policy. As of May 1, 2016, the company has agreed to provide all SafeLink customers with an unlocked replacement phone (meaning a phone that isn't tied to a specific carrier contract) under certain conditions.

To qualify, you must request unlocking from SafeLink and you must be the original service subscriber. Your current device must be a locked phone that's been in service for at least 12 months and, of course, your SafeLink service must be currently active. Your current locked phone must also be in working condition, since you'll need to turn it in to SafeLink. You can redeem this perk only once every 12 months.

To get the process started, give SafeLink a call and submit an unlocking request at 888-442-5102.

SafeLink Smart Phone Options

Whether your SafeLink smart phone was lost or stolen, there's at least one silver lining to losing it – getting a new one (or at least a refurbished one). Think of it as hitting the reset button on all those screen scratches.

Based on the 2019 outlook in central Los Angeles, SafeLink offers 74 different Android and iOS smart phone models from popular manufacturers. This provides a good idea of what to expect when you upgrade to a smart phone at SafeLink, too. These include, but aren't limited to:

Alcatel

• Cameox
  
• Revvl
  
• Tetra
  

Apple

• iPhone 6
  
• iPhone 6S
  
• iPhone 6S Plus
  
• iPhone 7
• iPhone 7 Plus
• iPhone 8
• iPhone 8 Plus
• iPhone SE
• iPhone X
• iPhone XR
• iPhone XS
• iPhone XS Max

BLU

• Grand XL
• S1
• Studio J8
• Studio M5
• Studio M6
• Vivo GO
• Vivo One
• Vivo One Plus
• Vivo S
• Vivo XL+

Google

• Pixel 2
• Pixel 3
• Pixel 3 XL

LG

• Fiesta 2
  
• G4
• G6
• K20 Plus
• Phoenix 3 5.0
• Q6
• Rebel 3
• V30 Plus

Motorola

• E4
• E4 Plus
• E5 Play
• E5 Plus
• G6
• G6 Play
• X4
• Z3 Play

Nokia

• Nokia 2
  
• Nokia 3.1
• Nokia 6

Samsung

• Galaxy Alpha
  
• Galaxy Express Prime 3
• Galaxy J2
• Galaxy J2 Pro
• Galaxy J4
• Galaxy J6
• Galaxy J7 Prime
• Galaxy J7 Star
• Galaxy J8
• Galaxy Mega 2
• Galaxy Note 5
• Galaxy Note 8
• Galaxy Note 9
• Galaxy S4
• Galaxy S5
• Galaxy S6 Edge
• Galaxy S6
• Galaxy S7 Edge
• Galaxy S7
• Galaxy S8
• Galaxy S8+
• Galaxy S9
• Galaxy S9+

A Crucial Lost-Phone Tip

While it's comforting to know that, within some reasonable limits, SafeLink has your back in terms of replacing a lost or stolen phone, the ideal situation is to avoid losing your device in the first place. In 2018, tech solutions company Asurion found that making one simple change to your phone can actually triple your chances of getting it back when it's lost, making it among the most effective casual insurance policies around.

That change? Adding an emergency contact number to your phone's lock screen. Think about it – the vast majority of us (71 percent, according to Asurion) keep our phones locked behind a password, fingerprint scan or facial recognition. If a good Samaritan can't get past those safeguards, how do they know who to contact? And yet the catch-22 is that you don't want just anybody rifling through your info. This tip addresses both concerns.

To make the change on iOS, enable the "Find My iPhone" feature as follows:

1. Access your phone's Settings menu, then choose your name.
   
2. Tap "iCloud" and turn on the feature called "Find My iPhone."
3. In the event that your phone is lost or stolen, sign in to iCloud.com, where you'll have the option to put your phone into lost mode and display the message of your choosing on the phone's lock screen.

Android users can get in on the additional protection, too:

1. Head to your phone's Settings app.
   
2. Choose "Security &Location."
3. Tap "Settings," located right next to "Screen Lock."
4. Tap "Lock screen message," then enter your message when prompted.
5. Hit "Save," and you're good to go.