Activating Upgrade

hamfam08

My son had a previous Gabb phone that was lost. We upgraded to the Gabb Phone 4 and now I can't activate it. It says the QR code is invalid, when I put in the IMEI number manually it says I need a plan but when I go to my app and dashboard it says I already have a plan. It basically keeps going around in circles. We don't have his old phone to pull the SIM card so not sure if that's part of the issue? When I unassign his old phone from his account, then try to assign a new device it only shows me his old phone as an option. What am I missing?

Gabb Product

Hello @hamfam08,

Thank you for this post! We're sorry to hear about the trouble you're having when activating your new Gabb Phone 4. That sounds like a frustration experience and would love to help!

After successfully activating your new upgrade or replacement device through gabb.com/activate, you will want to pair your new upgraded/replacement device to your MyGabb app. When attempting to pair immediately after activation, you and others may receive an "Error when checking for plan" error notification. If you are receiving this error, please follow these troubleshooting steps:

1. Close out the MyGabb app on your parent smartphone and Gabb Phone
2. Wait one hour
3. Restart the Gabb Phone by powering it off for 30 seconds
4. Open the MyGabb app on your parent phone and Gabb Phone
5. Pair to the Gabb Phone

We're actively working on resolving that error message that some customers have reported. We apologize to any customers who have seen this error when pairing their new upgrade or replacement Gabb device when pairing with the MyGabb app.

-Gabb Product Team

Csanders

I go to the MyGabb app on my phone, it says welcome, I click on the hamburger icon in the top right corner, then i click add device, then I click it again, I click on all other devices when it asks what type of device are you pairing? Then I add his name, birthday, and gender, then I click next, then scan QR code. I go to the MyGabb app on my son's phone. I click Show QR code, it says "Failed to get Activation code" with an option to try again below it. I click that and it doesn't work. So instead, i enter the IMEI code in the option below scan. I click next and it brings up a Time to select a plan page, which I already did. I click check again, it does nothing. I go to the link that it provides and scan the box. It says " Your service is already active, You need the MyGabb app on a parent phone to set up the Gabb Phone 4. So I go back to the app and click check again. doesn't do anything. I click activate device and it brings me to a page that says, activate service for a new device, you will need to purchase a phone plan and activate it on your new device. It says " Your service is already active, You need the MyGabb app on a parent phone to set up the Gabb Phone 4. BUT THAT WAS ON THE APP, so it brings me to the app store and i click on open MyGabb, and It brings me back to the EXACT SAME PAGE, THIS IS SO FRUSTRATING. it is a continuous loop. I tried the solution to the problem similar to this. I closed both apps for an hour, i powered it off for 30 seconds, and i turned it back on and the EXACT SAME THING HAPPENED. THIS FRUSTRATES ME SOOOO MUCH. I just want to activate my son's device. Very complicated and very annoying

ReaganKowal

Hi @Csanders,

So sorry to hear about this experience. Your post was merged into this one as others have experienced a similar situation and troubleshooting steps have been posted.

Hope this helps!

-Reagan

mbwilson

We are experiencing the exact same thing trying to set up our new Gabb phone—we’re told that my child’s account has been activated but her phone is saying I need to activate her account—this cyclical struggle I’ve read from several other customers! The troubleshooting tips on this forum didn’t help me. I’m very frustrated!

jason_414

Brand new phone, just pulled it out of the box, it does not appear to be connected to the wireless network. And attempting to do the QR code activation just gets repeated error messages.

Yes I've pulled the sim and put it back, powered it off and on, uninstalled and reinstalled the My Gabb app on my own phone... And nothing is working. Not off to a great start here.

ReaganKowal

Hi @mbwilson and @jason_414,

Sorry to hear about the experience you had activating your new upgrade devices. It's great to see that you both were able to contact our Customer Support team and receive the assistance needed to fully activate your devices and ensure they were properly synced to your account. After the troubleshooting, we're happy that your devices are now paired to your MyGabb app and working properly for you!

Thank you for working with our team to help.

-Reagan

Brandonv

I just received my Sons Gabb Plus 4. EXACT same issues as the posts above. Just a continuous loop. Back and forth, contradicting instruction .I consider myself fairly tech savvy. But nothing works. Gabb has been around long enough to make this process more seamless Id think. Similar issues happened when I upgraded from Gabb phone to the Gabb 3 pro.

ReaganKowal

Hi @Brandonv,

Apologies for any trouble you have experienced with your new upgraded device. If you are still experiencing this error after successfully activating your device through gabb.com/activate and following the troubleshooting steps, our Customer Support team may need to ensure the device is properly activated in your MyAccount. Please contact Customer Support by Live-Chat through www.gabb.com, or by phone call at 385.235.6646 Monday-Friday from 7:00 a.m-6:30 p.m., MT or Saturday from 7:00 a.m.-3:00 p.m. MT.

Thank you!

-Reagan

mbwilson

It will call and receive calls, text and receive texts, but my parent phone will still not pair to the Gabb phone. This has been a headache.

SunnyFlowers

I’ve activated the account but I haven’t been able to link the phone to my account. I keep getting the same message I’ve logged out of Gabb, uninstalled and reinstalled the app and restarted the Gabb phone. What’s wrong with?

mbwilson

My comments will not post. We are experiencing this and more. Gabb phone will not pair with parent phone, the biggest selling point of this phone doesn’t work, our daughter won’t use it because of that. We’ve been told that our case is “an ongoing problem” that Gabb does not currently have a solution for. We are very frustrated with the lack of successful support Gabb has shown.