topic Re: Apple watch not activating and can't choose a plan! in Apple Devices

Apple watch not activating and can't choose a plan!

fatih_ozturk — Sat, 26 Aug 2023 10:55:57 GMT

It's been one week that I got an apple watch series 8 from apple. It's cellular version.

First I noticed watch cellular is not working with PAYG account and went to an EE shop and I got 24 months contract.Waited more than 24 hours and It didn't work.

Then I called tech service again and they said that I need go to apple and they'll help. They made controls and because of it's a network issue it's beyond of their expertise. So it didn't work again.

Then I called tech service again and they suggested to make a hard reset on apple watch. I did. Waited 24 hours and it didn't work again.

Today I went EE shop and they suggested to cal tech support... Okay. I did it again and this time someone said we need to identify an e-sim into your account. Okay... I asked as "Please do". Then they told me they need to put a watch plan into my account for £7 pounds a month. I said okay let's do that.

And now they are telling me that I need to wait three months so they can see that I pay my bills and then they'll be available to put a plan into my watch or other option is I need to refund my watch back to Apple and buy same watch from EE with a monthly installment.... I think this sounds like to pushy and dodgy. If you do not trust me to pay my bills, why you are offering me a apple watch device plan?

So I am here with my last hope. There should be a way without complicated methods or without wait 3 months. Any ideas?

Thank you.

Re: Apple watch not activating and can't choose a plan!

Katie_B — Sat, 26 Aug 2023 14:07:20 GMT

Hello @fatih_ozturk.

Welcome to the community.

I am sorry to hear this.

To use an Apple Watch Cellular that has not been purchased direct from EE you will be required to have the £7 plan on your account.

To have this your account must be eligible. If you are new to EE pay monthly this may be why you are experiencing this issue.

I would recommend following the advice from our customer care team and allowing the 3 months.

Katie

Re: Apple watch not activating and can't choose a plan!

fatih_ozturk — Sat, 26 Aug 2023 15:23:13 GMT

Hello @Katie_B

Thank you for your answer. Is there any clear statement from EE somewhere that telling these conditions? I am okay to wait but I could learn this informations before I frustrated that much.

Right now I can't trust what is going to happen after 3 months. Too much wrong direction I got and nothing I have at the moment. I just want to be sure if this is a real solution.

Thank you so much.

Re: Apple watch not activating and can't choose a plan!

Christopher_G — Sun, 27 Aug 2023 07:36:26 GMT

Hi @fatih_ozturk

We don't have access to your account here in the community so we can't see the exact reason why you have been advised this. The three month rule is usually to allow a build up of good payment history so that additional products can be added. There isn't a guarantee that you would definitely be able to add it after three months.

This is something you'll need to discuss with our Mobile Care team.
Chris

Re: Apple watch not activating and can't choose a plan!

fatih_ozturk — Wed, 30 Aug 2023 13:21:09 GMT

As of today, I am able to apply a watch plan my problem fixed. Just wanted to inform.

Thanks for your attention and help. @Katie_B @Christopher_G

Fatih

Re: Apple watch not activating and can't choose a plan!

Leanne_T — Wed, 30 Aug 2023 13:26:32 GMT

Thanks for coming back and letting us know @fatih_ozturk

Leanne 🙂

Re: Apple watch not activating and can't choose a plan!

Khirjohari18 — Wed, 09 Oct 2024 20:35:37 GMT

How did the problem solved? Could you share?

I am right now with the same exact situation and problem, change from PAYG to contract, and then can’t activate my Apple watch. The customer service asked me to wait for a month, which obviously I doubted it.

Re: Apple watch not activating and can't choose a plan!

Rach_H — Thu, 10 Oct 2024 08:03:54 GMT

Hi @Khirjohari18,

Welcome to the Community!

Is it that you're having trouble adding an Apple Watch plan to your account, or linking your Apple Watch to your contract, as you should be able to connect over bluetooth.

Rach

Re: Apple watch not activating and can't choose a plan!

Khirjohari18 — Thu, 10 Oct 2024 08:27:23 GMT

I am unable to pair my watch with the contract, not the phone

Re: Apple watch not activating and can't choose a plan!

Rach_H — Thu, 10 Oct 2024 08:53:54 GMT

This may be due to you not having a long payment history with us @Khirjohari18, but once you've made some payments and this improves, then you shouldn't have any trouble.

Rach

Re: Apple watch not activating and can't choose a plan!

adhdave — Thu, 10 Oct 2024 14:25:47 GMT

This sounds very dodgy, and especially as there’s no guarantee it’ll be possible to add the Watch after 3 months. Of course, the cooling off period ends much sooner, and when it does, you’ve got us for the remainder of the contract. I cannot see how that is fair.

I signed up for a 24 month contract yesterday, and the guide in the store offered to convert my PAYG SIM to a contract so it appears on the same account, and plus it meant more data for the same price. And that’s without needing to wait 3 months first.

So how can you compare an additional 24 month contract to a 30 day Apple Watch plan, where the plan that carries the least financial risk has to wait 3 months beforehand?!

This logic makes no sense, and if this is really your stance, then I’ll be leaving EE before my cooling off period ends!

Re: Apple watch not activating and can't choose a plan!

Rach_H — Thu, 10 Oct 2024 15:27:35 GMT

I wouldn't be able to check this without looking into your account first @adhdave, and we do not have account access here, this is just what happened with the previous customer in this thread. It might be worth popping back in store and querying if the team are able to set this up for you, as they will be able to have a closer look.

Rach

Re: Apple watch not activating and can't choose a plan!

adhdave — Thu, 10 Oct 2024 15:33:54 GMT

Both the shop and 150 told me the shop is unable to setup the Apple Watch on a cellular plan, and it can only be done by 150.

Re: Apple watch not activating and can't choose a plan!

Chris_B — Thu, 10 Oct 2024 17:44:22 GMT

@adhdave If you’ve just changed to a contract you have to wait till you receive your first bill for that contract and have paid it, you can then add the watch plan via the Apple watch app. You don’t need to wait 3 months at all.

Re: Apple watch not activating and can't choose a plan!

adhdave — Thu, 10 Oct 2024 18:33:46 GMT

I actually took out a new contract and ported my Vodafone number to that line, and also moved an existing PAYG number to a new contract.

How long does it usually take to generate the first bill?

Re: Apple watch not activating and can't choose a plan!

Khirjohari18 — Thu, 10 Oct 2024 20:53:01 GMT

I don’t know how many success stories there with this highly doubt ‘waiting after several months’ strategy.

It just doesn’t make sense. You’ve done the credit checks for the first contract to be running, and now it’s like you want to wait for some time to check whether this guy is sincere enough?

When we finally reach this ‘several months’, and the cooling period is gone, if thing’s still not solved then what? Wait another year?

Re: Apple watch not activating and can't choose a plan!

Chris_B — Fri, 11 Oct 2024 06:50:19 GMT

@adhdave you usually get the first bill within a week as you pay upfront for the month ahead.

Re: Apple watch not activating and can't choose a plan!

Chris_B — Fri, 11 Oct 2024 06:52:46 GMT

@Khirjohari18 doesn’t matter that you got credit checked as that was for your phone contract and EE want to make sure that you’re going to pay it. Plus its a separate contract for the watch.