Pay As You Go SIM blocked in Romania – Need help with Roaming & Top-Up

[Georgegh]

Hello. I have had this EE Pay As You Go number for 10 years, but my roaming is currently blocked here in Romania. I can receive text message, but I cannot make calls, send text message, or activate any plan on the website.I currently have £5 in my balance and a £15 top-up voucher. I need help from a moderator to activate roaming, apply my voucher, and start a plan.Could an EE Moderator please send me a Private Message to help me manually? Thank you!

[XRaySpeX]

@Georgegh : How long have you been out of UK?

Sounds like your PAYG SIM may have gone into hibernation due to non-use. If it has, topping-up now would be too late.

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.

[Georgegh]

I haven’t topped up or made any chargeable calls or texts for more than two years, but the SIM has remained in my phone and it still connects to the network. I can also receive SMS messages, but I currently can’t make or receive calls.
I have already topped up £5, and the top-up appears in the roaming message I received from EE when I turned on my phone, so the payment has clearly been registered.
Could you please check whether my SIM is still active and whether it can be reactivated?
If it is inactive, what do I need to do now to reactivate it? Does the £5 top-up I have already made count, 

[Georgegh]

What can i do now ?

[XRaySpeX]

Being in your phone w/out making any chargeable actions doesn't make it active. Not making any chargeable calls or texts for more than two years means you've lost it & any credit for good.

This is in the T&C's that you should've read when you took it out.

[Georgegh]

Actually, I just topped up with £5 and received a confirmation message stating that my balance is £5. This means the number is not permanently lost. Since the SIM is clearly still active, how can I fully recover/reactivate it for calls and texts?”

[Alex_H · Accepted solution]

Hi @Georgegh,

Welcome to the EE Community

You can find further information on how the hibernation process works on pay as you go from this post. The only way to activate roaming for a pay as you go SIM is for it to be used in the UK for chargeable activity, so you would need the SIM back in the UK to activate it for use outside the UK.

If you are still receiving actual SMS texts to the number, it would suggest it has remained active. We have no account access via these forums so if you did want to double check I would recommend speaking to our pay as you go team who would be able to confirm.

Alex