No official cause reported but given that it's the fourth...don't be an idiot if you're going to light off fireworks.
Firefighters are busy enough already.
Everything in here should be current, though I haven't been able to test every worldwide offer.
Of the free data services in the US both Instabridge and Kite are working. I just signed up for a new Instabridge account and got the 3GB monthly data offer (though how they decide if you get the 3GB data offer or the phone offer is a mystery).
TextNow was added to the list because the eSIM offer went public a few weeks back. Along with this TextNow appears to be requiring ID verification. That may be a deal breaker for some, as it still requires the TextNow dialer.
As always, feel free to comment in the linked thread if anything needs an update.
What the title says.
Ended up buying a Total A17 at retail, but then needing a phone for Visible. Since they're both VV I gave the Visible trial a go on the A17 to see what would happen.
The eSIM installed and worked (I wasn't totally surprised, given reports about the expanded SIM lock perms on newer devices) but before setting it up with the regular account I decided to play around a bit.
Factory resetting the device with the Visible SIM installed walked through Samsung setup as a Visible native device (Visible Device Pulse installed, Visual Voicemail works, WiFi Calling option is enabled, etc.).
Checking the CSC, the phone shows that it defaulted to TFN (Tracfone) which is expected given that it was a Total device, but after booting up with a Visible SIM inside, the active CSC changed to TFV.
This was also a bit of a surprise because I thought Visible used FKR as a CSC.
I'm not sure of the differences between FKR and TFV, but I'm not seeing any obvious missing features with the TFV CSC.
Any other Visible users want to chime in with experiences using Tracfone native Samsung devices on Visible?
From the email:
>PG&E PCIA/FF represents the Power Charge Indifference Adjustment (PCIA) and the Franchise Fee surcharge (FF). The PCIA is a charge to ensure that both PG&E customers and those who have left PG&E service to purchase electricity from other providers pay the above market costs for generation resources that were procured by PG&E on their behalf. “Above market” refers to expenditures for electric generation resources that cannot be fully recovered through sales of these resources at current market prices. PG&E acts as a collection agent for the FF surcharge, which is levied by the California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC) on behalf of cities and counties in PG&E’s service territory for all customers. PG&E bundled customers pay the PCIA and FF fees associated with the most currently available vintage year. PG&E charges CleanPowerSF customers the PCIA and FF fees based on the year that they transitioned to CleanPowerSF service. Visit cleanpowersf.org for more information.
This likely won't apply to every single person, but many TMO customers had old plans with a price guarantee. Whether or not that was specifically in the terms, it was heavily advertised.
If you are being forced to a more expensive plan you likely have a valid dispute for arbitration.
Arbitration is your right under the Terms of Service and TMO has to cover nearly all of the costs of any arbitration claim unless it is frivolous (aka not legit and only filed to harass).
You start the arbitration process by filing a Notice of Dispute which gives TMO 60 days to try to resolve the issue. If it cannot be resolved in 60 days, then you can file for arbitration.
For low value disputes, arbitration has a natural tilt in favor of the consumer due to the fact that nearly all the fees are the responsibility of the corporation. This provides incentive for the business to settle legitimate cases early.
A few of us have been talking about consumer arbitration across various threads for a few months now (and some individuals have had great success with the process - an ATT user got a $3000 check!) so we kicked off a sub earlier this week to focus discussion on the topic and build up a resource.
Feel free to post any consumer arbitration questions in r/ConsumerArbitration.
Credit where credit is due, the web team at Total appears to still be working on new features for the site. It has started prompting me to create a passkey. I've never had this option on Total before.
The bad:
It is still impossible to remove inactive devices from your account. This functionality remains broken. Starting to think the web team has this flagged as the very last item on their ToDo list. :P
He figured out a solution six years ago.
Everyone else needs to get on his DIY level! 😀
In the "I didn't have that on my BINGO card" category, Total Wireless has dropped the Disney Plus benefit from all but its most expensive plan.
Verizon probably has marketing data I don't, but it doesn't seem like the smartest move to offer free international money transfers as a phone plan benefit. Especially with the prevalence of scammers who are always trying to get victims to send money.
Having to pay a fee (or deal with a trained bank teller) before sending a wire was always another bump in the road for these scams.
NOTE: This was posted in the Megathread and did not receive a response.
I've been a huge fan of the Sapphire Reserve since launch, but after last fall's benefit downgrade I'm not seeing the value that I used to see.
I've used the Reserve primarily as a travel card and the fact that I never had to plan to use the benefits was a great perk. But after last year's "refresh" and AF increase, the Reserve benefits feel more like a coupon book than actual benefits.
I'm trying to figure out if it is worth switching to the Preferred (and staying in the Chase UR ecosystem) or cashing out (before the 1.5x point multiplier expires) and swapping for a different travel card.
The benefits I used most were:
At the old AF and with these benefits, I could easily get more back in credits/points than I spent each year so holding the Reserve was a no brainer. I was lucky enough to have my yearly renewal hit right before the AF increase so I've been able to use the new benefits at the old AF and they just don't deliver the value.
I get that I may no longer be the target market for Chase (we use Netflix/Google Music and live in a major city, so we're just running down the street for groceries instead of DoorDashing everything) but for those who have the Preferred, is it a viable option for someone who just wants a travel card like the old Reserve was?
Or should I be looking at AmEx/Capital One to find something that's more akin to what the Reserve used to be?
I'm not adverse to an AF. I just want to ensure easy value for the $$$ spent and not have to plan out purchases like I'm using a coupon book.
It looks like Total made some updates to resolve the billing display issues on the website during last night's maintenance period.
The good:
My billing information is now displayed correctly (previously the website showed the next bill as being due in the past.
Also of note is that the per line billing breakdown is back.
When I first signed up for Total all my lines showed their individual cost + discount if applicable. This made it easy to see if the correct discounts were being applied. After the first website revamp this per line breakdown disappeared. It now appears to be back.
The bad:
It is still impossible to remove inactive devices from your account. This functionality remains broken. Hopefully it'll be resolved in a future update.
Was at a major airport on the East Coast this morning and got into the touchless line.
The touchless signs were up, the lane display said touchless, every indication it was working.
Spoiler - It was not.
The touchless machine was down and the touchless line was being merged with a regular precheck line, but with a single TSO.
The other Pre lines all had their own TSOs.
Touchless was slower than regular precheck, but it was also slower than regular security.
A traveling companion w/o Pre went though security and was waiting on the other side before I even made it up to the TSO.
Asked the TSOs about the signage if the machine was down and they said it wasn't TSA's responsibility to close a line or change a sign.
Seems kind of sus to advertise a feature as being the fastest way through security when it's slower than standard security.
Does TSA policy not have a section on closing a line when the machine is down? That's what contract security at SFO does and it saves people a lot of time.
FTA:
>A gray Chevrolet Camaro in the fast lane approaching the offramp clipped the left front of a Recology truck, sending both vehicles into the sand barrels at the top of the exit, Andrews said.
>While the truck was able to stop, the Camero was catapulted over the barrels, over the metal bridge railing and fell about 25 feet down into the San Francisco Police Department's impound lot at 450 Seventh St.
Just saw a Reddit ad promoting the deal.
Get an iPhone 16e with a port-in and 3 months of service at $60.
Runs 5/29 to 6/7.
Don't get too excited though.
The study is expected to be done in 2028.
Just the study. Not any actual work.
The first "study" for an extension started in 2014.
The original Central Subway study was started in 2000.
Voters first approved the Central Subway in 2003.
It then took 20 years before it opened.
Thought it was interesting that the major East Bay and South Bay papers block the Internet Archive, but the Chronicle does not.
I wonder how that will impact how the history of the Bay Area is told in the future, when historians are trying to look up old news stories.
Chronicle stories will be easily referenced, while others will be harder to find.
Source for the blocking claim is Nieman Lab. They tried to identify local news outlets across the country that blocked the IA from archiving them.
Joined the byod $15 business plan. No minimum line requirements like AT&T and great speeds in most areas.
Hotspot is limited to 2GB but don't care much for it.
There have been a rash of posts lately all asking the similar questions and the answer is always the same.
Red Pocket has a $30/year plan with unlimited calls, unlimited texts, and 200MB of data per month available for purchase on its eBay store.
https://www.ebay.com/itm/136840233242
Basically, if you just care about calls and text messages, this is the plan to get.
It seems there are multiple website display errors when it comes to billing.
u/BourbonGamer already noted that he was being "billed" for multiple lines he didn't have when he logged in. When I log in to view an account that was just renewed last week (I have the SMS saying that autopay was successful) the website tells me that payment is still due with a due date of last week.
Additionally, the inactive device bug is still present.
Not only that, inactive devices have reappeared on an account that they were previously deleted from.
u/verizon-jg any chance you can update the sub with an ETA on the bug fixes?
While those of us who have been with Total for awhile are aware of the...issues...that crop up on the website, new users are likely not. Seems like a fairly large oversight to have billing display issues on the same day the new plans launch.
No more signing up for BYOD and getting Disney+ included with an unlimited plan for only $30/month.
If you have that deal, you'll probably want to hang onto it.