Old CN number

I was never able to activate my CN number on Red Pocket. Now I want to port the # to Tello but am not able to find the port out info. I am unable to receive text on the device, the device shows active (assuming under Red Pocket)... what should I do? Currently on hold with Red Pocket Online chat but really don't think they'd be of any help...

I would say that there isn't a chance at all, but....
If it still shows active somewhere, somebody's in possession of the MEID. Have you tried some of the services like FreeCarrierLookup to see if you can identify the carrier? (I think I remember they'll only identify Sprint, but some of the other sites used to be more specific about MVNO......)
Have you asked RedPocket to look at the MEID for you?

Got it!
I went on the online chat with Red Pocket, provided phone number, device ID, etc... Agent had me create the account and try to add the line to my account... but since I could not get the confirmation code to validate the number, the agent was able to provide it to me.
Apparently, it's still on the CellNuvo Paygo plan.
:slight_smile:

it's still on the CellNuvo Paygo plan"

So it is lost?

Wow-- that's amazing.
My devices, one successfully transitioned to Red Pocket (and then cancelled), and one never successfully transitioned, both had clear MEID's long ago. (One currently on Tello.)

No, it's on Red Pocket with the CellNuvo paygo plan name. Looks like I can add $2 to get some text capability - trying to reset password on an acct that had that number registered. Glad to see the phone number and phone plan stuck around. :slight_smile:

Was this number one that should have been transferred back in August of 2017 when the migration happened?

I had a few that should have but were said to be lost both by Red Pocket support and CN. Were you ever told that this was lost?

I was able to. Workedfor me

Able to what? What worked for you?

Cn. Number on rp

Worked

Are you saying that it successfully transferred from CN to RP?

Yes

I had that happen also, for two out of five numbers.

I thought this topic was about Pew getting an old number that never transferred properly in 2017 retrieved here in 2019.

Yep, I gave them some info and they were able to retrieve it. Guess it's been stuck in RedPocket's system all this time and no one noticed. :slight_smile:

quote="PEW" post=36039]Yep, I gave them some info and they were able to retrieve it. Guess it's been stuck in RedPocket's system all this time and no one noticed. :slight_smile:
[/quote]
And that is the most amazing factoid I've seen come out of the CN-to-Red-Pocket transition. CN couldn't find the #, Red Pocket didn't originally acknowledge they had the #. The # stayed safe and secure at Red Pocket for 2 years without a payment being made, on a plan that didn't exist. I guess Red Pocket's scattered and inconsistent account management pays dividends once in a while.
And when PEW realized the phone still indicated as assigned to a network, he also managed to find a CS agent who was capable of digging it out of the Twilight Zone.
Amazing.

@Gethome-- I think the key to identify a similar potentially reclaimable number would be the phone MEID still currently unavailable for use elsewhere on the Sprint network. I don't think a number can stay active in the Sprint network unless it's tied to an MEID.

@Gethome-- I think the key to identify a similar potentially reclaimable number would be the phone MEID still currently unavailable for use elsewhere on the Sprint network. I don't think a number can stay active in the Sprint network unless it's tied to an MEID.
[/quote]
KentE,

You've always been a great help (going back to the R+ days). Thanks for your input.

Not sure if I am following you properly, by "currently unavailable for use elsewhere on the Sprint network", do you mean that the MEID is not active on Sprint? It is my wife's number that didn't transfer. Both RP and CN said it did until after many sessions of contacting both support crews and a couple of months later, they all said it was un-retrievable. I eventually got her a new number and the MEID is active on RP still at least for a few weeks more until I move it to Tello.

@Gethome
On the Sprint network, both a number and an associated MEID are required to establish an active line. If you remove either (by porting away the number, or by removing the device without replacing it), the active line should be cancelled & both will disappear from being assigned to & active on the Sprint network.

(eg, if the phone number was actually permanently lost and no longer on the Sprint network, the phone would have been immediately available to sign up again on a Sprint-network provider. If the phone number was just 'misplaced' and forgotten about, as with PEW, the phone MEID should still show as active somewhere on the Sprint network, and not available to start another line of service on Ting/CDMA, Tello, Red Pocket/Sprint, etc.)

Specifically for your details-- if your wife's phone is the same phone that was on CellNuvo, and is now active on Red Pocket/Sprint, it appears the old number was permanently lost, as the service agents described. You would not have been able to re-activate the phone on the Sprint network again while it was still tied to the old number.

If, however, your wife's phone was a multi-carrier phone & you elected to activate it for her on Red Pocket Verizon/AT&T/T-Mobile, we still may not know for certain whether the old number still exists in the deep dark areas of Red Pocket. (I believe it's possible for a multi-carrier phone to be active on the Sprint network, and one of those other networks, at the same time.) In that case, you could explore by checking the MEID for Ting/CDMA or Tello activation, where it would be rejected for new activation as currently in use on the Sprint network.

Thank you for the clarity. It does address my questions. Her phone was activated on the Sprint side of Red Pocket.
When dialed now it still has the same message as it did when the CN service disconnected it. It may be in limbo and possibly retrievable through the mother company Sprint. That seems to be the last recourse.

@Gethome :
To make sure I understand your situation correctly, I think:

  1. Your wife's phone number was 'lost' when transitioning from CellNuvo to Red Pocket/Sprint.

  2. You were able to activate the same phone, with a new #, on Red Pocket/Sprint. (Indicating that the phone MEID had been disassociated from the original phone #.)

  3. (And this is where I'm not certain I'm tracking you.....) If you call the original/lost #, you hear an error message indicating the user is not available, or the number is inactive, or something similar? (The same basic message you heard when the number was originally lost by CN.)

If that's all correct, can you try entering the old phone # on https://www.freecarrierlookup.com/
or
https://www.cid.ninja
Either should return the carrier ID as Sprint-- I am not aware of a carrier lookup tool that currently shows MVNO ownership, but only the mother network.

You might be right that the number is in limbo, without a phone MEID attached. I don't think this is supposed to be possible on the Sprint network, but I think we've also seen it happen before anyway. If that's the case, I believe you are correct that only Sprint might be able to dig it out...... (But the carrier lookup tools above can't eliminate the possibility that the number isn't, or hasn't been, in a different user's hands since it was lost to you.)

KentE,

Answers -

  1. Yes

  2. Yes

  3. Yes

From your links; CID Ninja shows one (geographically distant) company (AT&T) and FreeCarrierLookup shows another (closer) company (a baby Bell).

The message is the same as it has been since the eclipse of 2017: "The person you are trying to reach is not accepting calls at this time, please try your call again later." It repeats in Spanish then gives a "message code 24 MD02UL", then disconnects.

Thank you for the links and your reply.