Phone barred

[HNHELP]

I have recently moved from a contract to pay as you go. The switch happened whilst I was abroad (still am) and I now cannot make a call, call 150, pick up voicemail etc as my phone seems barred. How do I release this asap?

[Chris_B]

@HNHELP  you cannot change from a contract to PAYG whilst abroad, You have to be connected to the EE network for this to happen.  The sim will not work until you’re back in the UK.  

[HNHELP]

I find it absolutely incredible that I have spoken to numerous EE representatives on this and they pressed ahead despite knowing I was abroad! Thank you for this information. I can only hope an EE person will see this and contact me given I have no way to call them now! Appreciate your response.

[Christopher_G · Accepted solution]

Hi @HNHELP 

Welcome to the community.

I'm really sorry to hear that you weren't made aware of this information at the time. The SIM won't work on pay as you go until it is used to make a call or send a text message on the EE network in the UK. There isn't anything that our Mobile Care team can do to override that.

Chris

[connectderin]

My line is saying it has been barred. And I am abroad at the moment, but I have loaded my line successfully but I still can’t make or receive calls. 

[Chris_B]

@connectderin  what do you mean by loaded my line ?   Are you on contract or PAYG ? Where are you ?  

[XRaySpeX]

@connectderin : Your PAYG SIM may have gone into hibernation due to non-use.

When did you previously make a chargeable action? 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.