Why Is My Phone Not Working If I Paid Straight Talk?

Straight Talk is a no contract cell service plan used in the United Sates. The company also has shops where they sell phones of every kind.

Since it is a no contract plan, Straight Talk is a prepaid service where you have to pay the company or load your phone before you enjoy their services. Unfortunately, you can pay straight Talk or load your device but your phone will still not operate as it should.

You can use a Visa or MasterCard credit or debit card to purchase a service plan form Straight Talk or to refill your account. You may also put the card on auto refill so that your account is automatically refilled when depleted or on your service end date.

Check Balance on Prepaid Menu

If you bought minutes, messages or data from Straight Talk but your account was not refilled and hence your phone is not working, you can rectify the issue. The first step is to check if your phone has a prepaid menu.

If it does, it means that you can check your minutes' balance or your service end date. The process is as follows:

1. Open the main menu

2. Select the 'Prepaid' option

3. Select either the 'Airtime Info,' 'Balance Info' or 'Service End Date' option.

If your device is subscribed to the unlimited service plan, your phone will display the service end date or '0.00.'

If your device does not have a prepaid menu, you can only check your account balance online or by calling customer service.

If your balance shows that you are running low on balance, it may be that your payment or refill has not yet been reflected and you also need to call customer service for assistance.

Upgrade Device

Another reason why your Straight Talk device may not be working is if your device software is not up to date. It will impede your phone's ability to function optimally.

To fix the issue, you will have to upgrade the device software. Since your mobile data probably isn't working, you will have to connect to Wi-Fi to perform the upgrade.

Troubleshooting Solutions

If your phone is not working after you have paid Straight Talk, it may be due to some basic device issues. Such issues are usually solved by simple troubleshooting solutions.

The simplest troubleshooting solution in the book is to turn off your device, wait for 30 seconds and then turn it on again.

3rd party apps may also be the reason for your device's malfunctions. To rectify this issue, you will have to reboot your device in 'Safe Mode.' Wiping your device's cache should also help.

Another troubleshooting solution you can try is a hard factory data reset. A factory data reset will revert the device back to its original settings. You should only perform this action if all other troubleshooting solutions have not yielded any results.

The process of performing a hard data reset is as follows:

1. Pick up your device and press the 'Home' button

2. Select the 'Apps' icon

3. On the next screen, choose the 'Settings' icon.

4. Select 'Backup & Reset'

5. Select 'Factory Data Reset'

6. Subsequently choose 'Reset Phone'

7. Select 'Erase Everything.'

If none of the above solutions work, you should contact Straight Talk customer service for assistance. You have several options as it pertains to contacting them.

The first is calling them which guarantees a quick response. You will have to call them using another phone since yours isn't working.

The other two methods are via email or live chat which means you have to get online on another device. The live chat is faster but sending an email is more comprehensive.