FAQ
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Q. What is Modtones?
A. What is Modtones you ask? Modtones is THE place to get the latest in cool stuff to trick out your phone. If your phone supports it, we've got it: bass thumping ringtones, the coolest eye candy and even unmentionable sounds. We want your phone to make you smile and we've got thousands of ways to do so. Check out our catalog and follow the easy instructions to get all this stuff onto your phone. Well, not all the stuff, but you know what we mean. Enjoy!

Q. What is a ringtone?
A. Ringtones are compact versions of your favorite tunes, created especially for your mobile phone. They can be programmed to play on your phone instead of your normal phone ringer. You can set them to be default ringers or to identify specific callers.

Q. How are ringtones downloaded?
A. Depending on your carrier we either send ringtones to your phone via MMS, which means you'll receive a picture message that has your ringtone or wallpaper with it or via premium SMS which means you'll receive a text message with a link. Clicking on the link downloads the ringtone to your handset. For Verizon Wirless customers, you will need Picturing Message (MMS) to download the ringtone file.

Q. Why do I need to have a phone that has picture messaging or text messaging?
A. Modtones sends its ringtones and graphics to wireless customers through picture messages or text messages with a link, depending on your carrier and the requirements. If you don't have a subscription plan including text-messaging service, please contact your carrier and ask them to enable it. Picture messaging is only needed for Verizon Wireless customers at this time.

Q. Why is my carrier or my cell phone not listed yet as Modtones compatible?
A. Our technical department is working hard to increase our coverage and make new cell phone models compatible with Modtones. As we check the phone through our quality assurance and make sure specific requirements are meant we'll then add the phone to our list of compatible handsets. With the number of phones being released, this can take a several weeks to a few months so we recommend checking the site for updates.

Q. How do I find out what my phone model is?
A. The first place to look is on your phone manual or original box. You don't have those? No worries. Look behind the battery on the back of your phone. There will be a label with barcodes that should also list the model. Easy.

Q. What software do I need to preview ringtones on your website?
A. You need Windows Media Player or Real Media Player to preview our ringtones.

Q. Why can't I find the title or artist I was looking for?
A. Ah, so you can't find that song you want? We try hard to have everything anyone could want, but we have to license every piece of music for Modtones and some artists are not willing to license their songs out for ringtones. We respect the rights of artists to make these decisions. Let us know what you want and we'll do our best. Requests can be made by clicking Support at the bottom of the page.

Q. How come nothing happens when I try to preview a song on the website?
A. This may be happening because you don't have either Media Player installed on your computer. You can download the basic player for free through Microsoft.

Q. When I try to preview a song on your website, Windows Media Player opens but nothing happens.
A. If you are behind a large company firewall, you may need to change the settings on your Windows Media Player. Follow these instructions:

  1. Right click on the player to expose the menu
  2. Select Options
  3. Click on the Network tab
  4. Delete Multicast, UDP and TCP -- only HTTP should be selected.
  5. Click OK

If that doesn't work, please go to the Windows Media Player website for more troubleshooting help.

Q. I received the ringtone but it will not play.
A. Make sure your phone volume is set to ring. Some phones have the ability to mute or vibrate and will not play the ringtone if set accordingly. Make sure your tone has been set correctly. Cancel out of any menus and return to the menu where you set the tone to see if it is is listed there. If not, consult your user manual to make sure you have correctly followed the steps to set you ringtone. If the problem continues, you can contact Modtones Customer Support at help@modtones.com.

Q. Can I try a ringtone for free?
A. You can preview all of our ringtones for free. Select the preview option from the Modtones website.

Q. What do I need to preview wallpaper?
A. Simply click Preview and you will see the wallpaper in a pop up browser window.

Q. How do I search for more wallpaper?
A. There are several ways to find wallpaper. Check out the search box at the top where you can search by title or artist name. Looking for something more general? There is also a categories list on the left side. If you like what you see in a search result, click the name of the artist and you will see other wallpapers we have by that artist. Play around in there. We've got some good stuff.

Q. How do I download wallpaper?
A. When you find the title you want, click Buy. Make sure your phone model and carrier information is correct. Enter your mobile phone number. You have the some optional goodies available to you which you can check mark as well. Then just click submit. We send wallpapers to your phone via premium SMS, which means you'll receive a text message with a link. Selecting the link downloads the ringtone or wallpaper to your handset. For more information on how to do this, consult your phone's user manual.

Q. Why didn't I receive my test file?
A. If you didn't receive your test file, then most likely your phone does not support the type of file you're trying to get. Not all phones support all file types or delivery methods. Modtones provides test files so you can verify that your handset supports our mobile goodies before you're charged for them. You should receive your test file within seconds, but sometimes network congestion could cause it to take minutes. You don't have all day, right?
If you don't receive the first test file, you can try sending a second test file, but first, please double check that you've entered your phone number correctly. Also verify that you put in the correct phone model on the Modtones web site. Look in the right column under Help to be sure.
If you think it should work and it doesn't, you can email us at help@modtones.com with your carrier name, make, and model of your phone along with the name and ID number of the file you're attempting to purchase.

Q. I never received my download message. What happened?
A. There are a few possible reasons why you didn't get your message.
  • Depending on the carrier service you use, you should have a subscription to one of the following data services: mMode, Media Mall or MediaNET, or T-Mobile Web. If you're not on a message plan, or if you have used up the quantity that comes with your plan, you may incur high per-use fees by your carrier. If you aren't sure what you have, you should ask your carrier.

  • Also, make sure you didn't get the download message. Some phones have problems receiving the alert saying it has arrived. Also, you may not have alerts turned on to notify you that a WAP push arrived.

  • Check your messages. Sometimes browser messages are stored in a different area than your text messages.You may have to sign into your browser to locate a browser inbox. Here are some other common paths to find the browser message inbox on your phone.

    Menu > Messages > Browser messages >

    Menu > Services > Service inbox


  • If you received the reminder that you have a file waiting to download, you can use the pin# in that message at mod99.com. In most cases you can select the GoTo option in the corner of your screen while this message is open and it will take you directly there. If you didn't get a message please send me your cell#.

  • Finally, please make sure that WAP Push is enabled on your cell phone. Depending on the make of your phone, you need to set the WAP Push setting to "On", "Allow all", "Always", or "Receive all". Here is some information which may help you check this setting:

    Nokia:
    - Services > Settings > Service Inbox settings
    - Messaging > Settings > Service Msg.

    Motorola:
    - Messages > Browser Msgs > Menu Button > Browser Msg Setup
    - Messages > Browser Messages > Browser Msg Setup

    LG:
    - Internet > Push Messages > Receive

    Samsung:
    - Fun Box > WWW Services > Push Messages > Setting
    - Fun Box > Wap Browser

    Sony-Ericsson:
    - Messaging > WAP Push > Allow Push
    - Wap Services > Push Messages
    - Messaging > Wap Push

If in doubt, please refer to your phone's manual or ask your phone's manufacturer for assistance.

Q. How do I transfer my credits, ringtones or wallpapers to a new phone?
A. Customers must refer to their carrier for all matters of billing and credits since we have no access to account info, and no access to the credit system. It is in our contract with them. We must also contractually go through the carrier's set process to deliver ringtones. Ringtones are not transferable from one phone to another. We create our ringtone files specifically for each handset, so that their audio quality is the best possible for that phone. That means we deliver different files depending on which phone you have, and they're not transferable from one phone to another. We also pay licensing fees for each download to the copyright owner, so we can't transfer them even within the same handset. We hope you understand.

Q. What do you mean by 'Use'?
A. We don't charge you for using the ringtone at all. Use means credits or downloads. Typically one use or credit equals one downloaded ringtone. The exceptions are the 2 credit licensed tones that have 2X in the title. Once you download a ringtone, you can do whatever you want with it. Unless you manually delete it or switch phones, you can use the ringtone itself forever

Q. How much does it cost for a subscription and what does that get me?
A. A subscription is just $2.99/month and gets you three downloads of your choice PER MONTH. Any unused downloads will not carry over to the next month. This is on select handset only.

Q. What can I download with my subscription?
A. With your subscription you can download any of our polyphonic ringtones or wallpapers.

Q. How do I pay for my subscription?
A. Payment for your subscription is automatically billed directly to you carrier phone bill.

Q. How do I cancel my subscription?
A. Canceling is easy. Just text the message "stop monthly" to 66399

Q. Can I download songtones with my subscription?
A. Sorry. Songtones are not included. Just polyphonic ringtones and wallpapers can be downloaded.

Q. How long is the subscription cycle?
A. The subscription lasts until the same day the following month. You automatically get billed on the same day each month. Users who start a subscription on the 29th, 30th, or 31st of the month will be billed on the 28th of each month.

Q. Are subscriptions available on any other carriers?
A. Nope. Sorry but subscriptions are currently only available on Cingular Wireless.

Q. You used to offer a subscription at check out. Where did it go?
A. We've temporarily canceled our subscription service while we work on some maintenance. In the meantime, you can still download files from our site on a one-off basis.

Q. I was a subscriber, and I received a message that my subscription was canceled. Why?
A. We have temporarily canceled subscriptions while we upgrade our system to allow fancier subscriptions. Your downloads through the end of your billing cycle were not affected. We are not offering the subscription price plan at this time, but you can still download individual ringtones and wallpaper from this site.

Q. How do I contact customer service?
A. Please click the E-Mail Us link in our Support section.

Q. Can I call customer service?
A. The toll free customer service line is 1-888-663-0201.


Are you a Verizon Wireless customer who already has Modtones or Modtones Gallery on your phone?
Now Verizon Wireless customers can download ringtones and wallpaper from Modtones and Modtones Gallery from your phone or from www.modtones.com.


About Coupons

Q. How do I use a coupon?
A. Once you choose to download an item a purchase screen will be shown with the items you want to download and the price.  There are 2 options on that screen: 1. to download and 2. to use a coupon.  Select the coupon option and in the designated area enter your coupon code and complete your purchase.

Q. Why does my handset not support coupons?
A. This is a new feature and only supported on some handsets.

Q. How do I find out if the Modtones on my phone supports coupons?
A. When you choose a ringtone or wallpaper to download you will either be shown just the download option or a download and coupon code option.


About Wishlists

Q. What happened to my Wishlist on the Modtones website?
A. We have updated our website and application and have removed this feature. You can get your ringtone or wallpaper right away by downloading from the website. Instead of placing it on a Wishlist first before downloading it to your phone.

Q. Will the wishlist titles that were on my phone still be available? Or are they gone also?
A. The titles you had on your wishlist are now on your phone and still available, we just no longer have it on the website.


About Gifting

Please Note: Not all phones support gifting, if you have a newer phone or a version of Modtones that is blue and green not purple it will NOT have a GIFT ICON and will be UNABLE to send or receive gifts. It does not matter if you and your friend has the same phone, it's the Modtones application that is different.

The gifting feature has been phased out of the new Modtones application. As a result, there is no longer a link to activate new accounts for gifting. Only those accounts already established with gifting can send or receive gifts.

Q. What is the Gift Center?
A. The Gift Center allows you to send and receive ringtones to other Verizon Wireless users as gifts. To send and receive, you both need to have 'gift enabled phones'. (Select handsets only.)

Q. How do I send/receive a gift?
A. To send and receive gifts, you and the receiver must have the select version of the Modtones application which includes gifting and an account on the website.
The next steps are:
  • To send the gift, using your phone, select the ringtone you want to send. On the pop-up menu choose 'Send Gift'. Enter your friend's 10-digit phone number and hit Select. Once you receive a confirmation screen, hit Select again and your gift will be sent. Your friend should receive a text message telling them that the gift has arrived.
 
 
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