I am 39, and I plan to move next year. Do you think Tello will be with us for the next 30-40-50 years? I currently have Google Fi and want to switch for the savings, but if Tello closes, I will not be able to port my number back to Google Fi without going back to the USA and activating my card there. I am just thinking long-term here.
Tello’s 12-day number-retention policy is a pretty good reason not to move your primary number there
I use Tello for a secondary line and was considering moving my main T-Mobile number over. I’ve had that number for about 20 years, so before porting it I asked what happens if autopay fails.
Their Help Center says:
“If your monthly plan ends and isn’t renewed, you have 12 days to take action before the number expires.”
And:
“We cannot ‘bring back’ a number once it has expired.”
Tello Help Center:
https://tello.com/help\_center/account-payments/when-will-my-phone-number-expire
I then asked customer service whether I could add multiple payment methods as automatic backups, or use PAYG credit to protect the number.
Their reply:
“Unfortunately, there is no option to add multiple payment methods as automatic backups or use PAYG credit to extend the payment grace period.”
Their safeguard is basically: we’ll email and text you.
Which is fine if you are simply sitting around ignoring your phone.
But imagine a less tidy scenario. You are overseas for six months, the card on autopay expires, the replacement is sitting in your mailbox in New York, and around the same time you are in an accident or hospitalized. Maybe that combination never happens. It is also not remotely impossible.
I’ve had cards expire while I was barely using them and realized only later that a new card had been mailed. That is exactly why backup payment methods exist.
Yes, PayPal is one possible workaround because it can draw from backup funding sources. But even PayPal accounts can run into problems. Tello should not make customers engineer their own redundancy around a 12-day deadline.
For context, I have excellent credit, pay my bills on time, and have multiple cards. This is not about being unable to pay.
I have no issue with Tello suspending service immediately for nonpayment. What seems absurd is permanently losing a number you may have had for decades after 12 days.
Suspend the service. Fine.
Park the number for 60 or 90 days. Also fine.
Or, at the very least, allow a backup payment method.
Tello otherwise seems perfectly good, and I already use it. But I’m not moving a 20-year-old primary number there under this policy.
I’m curious how many Tello users actually know about this. It is exactly the kind of policy you probably discover only when it suddenly matters.