sim cards can die on the shelf ... a warning

Haydon--Berrow — Wed, 08 Jul 2020 13:36:16 GMT

This is a slightly sad story and a warning.

Years ago, when I had only one hyphen (Haydon-Berrow) I won a spot prize on this forum that included a sim card with 24GB that would last a year. I didn't have an immediate use for it so I hoarded it.

When the covid-lockdown arrived I started using Zoom and dug out the sim card but my phone and dongle reported it invalid and couldn't connect. I contacted EE-support by phone and a helpful young woman took the mobile-phone number but found that it was active. She added 20GB of data but I still couldn't get a connection so she passed me on to technical support.

Technical support was a helpful young man and he asked me to reboot my phone. (It's astonishing how often this is helpful; it flushes any cached data). That didn't help so he asked for the sim-number and I added the phone-number. That's interesting, he said, they aren't associated. He surmised that the sim card had become invalid and the phone-number had gone back into the pool and been reassigned. Some lucky person had been given 20GB but I don't know if it was removed.

I expressed surprise because the packet was sealed and said it had an expiry date of 09/25 on it. I can understand a number dying if it is registered and then not used for a while but he said that it sometimes happens that a person buys a card with data/credit on it in an EE shop but finds the card is invalid for this reason. I asked whether he could do anything about my lost data but the best he could do was give me 1GB of data that will last for a month.

I don't feel aggrieved, all I lost was something I had been given for free, but this is a warning that sim cards that are sealed in a packet with an expiry date in the future may not be valid. It is best to test them while one can.

Re: sim cards can die on the shelf ... a warning

Jon_K — Wed, 08 Jul 2020 16:35:59 GMT

Hi @Haydon--Berrow.

I'm sorry to hear this.

It sounds like the number may have gone into hibernation when it was assigned to you.

What Is Hibernation >

Jon

Re: sim cards can die on the shelf ... a warning

XRaySpeX — Thu, 09 Jul 2020 02:15:33 GMT

@Jon_K : How can a PAYG SIM go into hibernation when it it is sealed in its packaging & unused?

If it really does, it makes a mockery of any expiry date written on it as well as all those as-yet unsold SIMs over 9 months old in the shops. They should really only have expiry dates of + 9 months of manufacture.

Re: sim cards can die on the shelf ... a warning

Jon_K — Thu, 09 Jul 2020 10:47:51 GMT

Thanks for pointing this out, @XRaySpeX.

It shouldn't of gone into hibernation in that case.

Jon

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sim cards can die on the shelf ... a warning

Re: sim cards can die on the shelf ... a warning

Re: sim cards can die on the shelf ... a warning

Re: sim cards can die on the shelf ... a warning