Not receiving credit

[SwissL]

I’m currently in the Caribbean for a lil bit and I had taken my sim out my phone to use a local sim it’s been about 7 months now and I’m trying to get credit to my phone, tried using my card but it doesn’t work and I’ve had friends send me credit from England while I’m abroad it’s not working. I tried reaching out to EE on calls but I can’t reach them, Please tell me what can I do to keep my sim active or at least get the credit if possible.

[bristolian · Accepted solution]

You've not said so explicitly, but it sounds awfully like your existing number is a PAYG and it's now in hibernation due to non-usage. The process is explained on https://community.ee.co.uk/t5/Pay-as-you-go/What-is-pay-as-you-go-and-flex-hibernation-and-how-do-I-... - adding credit to a PAYG line that's already hibernated is too late.

The resolution, as explained on that help page, is to contact EE-CS from any working phone, and request reactivation. If you don't do so for ~9 months (274 days to be exact) after your last chargeable usage, your number & credit will be permanently gone.

[XRaySpeX]

@SwissL : After 7 months your PAYG SIM has gone into hibernation due to non-use. Topping-up now would be too late.

EE PAYG SIMs are deactivated after 6 months of non-chargeable use. You then have a further 3 months period of grace to call EE to reactivate it before it is lost completely.

You needed to make a chargeable action like making a chargeable call or text, topping up or buying a Pack or Add-on, not just using your mins, texts or data from your pack.