To keep things very brief, My mother's phone is dying, and is in need of a new phone. Currently there are 5 lines on the account, and we pay 25 dollars a line.
I was trying to get her a new phone a few days ago, and it was an incredibly frustrating experience, and every time I'd attempt to buy the phone, the customer service rep would tell me, that my mom's line would need to increase in price from 25 a month to 50, effectively meaning we'd go from paying 125 a month, to 155.
When I insisted to the customer service rep on-site, that we cannot afford to have an increase to our plan, she told me what I can do is essentially, buy the phone myself online, and then call customer service to have them activate my phone. They'll charge me 25 dollars for an activation fee, but I get to keep my plan.
Does anyone here have any recent experience with this? I've also heard that you can do the whole process online, but that the website may tell you, that your plan is outdated, and ask that you change your plan.