Physical SIM Received in UK but Not Activating – Guidance Required

[Muddassar125]

Dear EE Customer Support Team,

I hope you are well.

I am currently in Pakistan and will remain here for the next 6–7 months. After arriving here, I converted my EE eSIM to a physical SIM through the EE mobile app. The physical SIM has now been delivered to my registered UK address, and my friend has received it on my behalf.

My friend is currently in the UK and is trying to activate the SIM there; however, the activation has not been successful so far. We are unsure why it is not working.

Could you please advise what steps are required to activate this physical SIM? If there are any checks or verifications pending on my account, please let me know what is needed to complete the activation.

As this number is linked to many important applications and services, I would really appreciate your urgent help in resolving this.

Additionally, my contract is due to expire in May, and I would like to ensure that it does not automatically renew after that date.

Thank you very much for your assistance.

[Mod edit - removed personal details, please don't share these in public]

[bristolian]

This is not a formal means to contact EE-CS, it's a public internet forum frequented by other users as well as some EE staff - but they don't have any account access.

Can you explain a bit more about the UK activation not being successful - what do you mean by this? Normally a SIM-swap requires either an OTP being sent to the existing SIM, or security verification to be carried out via a CS-agent.

As regards your contract "renewal" and "expiry", there's some misunderstanding. What you have is a rolling contract for service provision, that will continue indefinitely - until you explicitly request a change - but has a minimum term. What you refer to as "contract is due to expire" is a reference to that minimum-term. When that expires, nothing will change and you'll just have a rolling contract with 30days notice anytime.

If you want to disconnect and cancel your line, then you can give that 30days notice anytime. If you want to continue with the plan on the same basis, then you need do nothing. If you'd prefer to change to a SIM-only plan, then that's another option.

[Muddassar125]

Dear Team,

Thank you for your response.

I posted on the public forum because I could not find any live-chat option through the EE website or app. I would appreciate it if you could please share the correct link to contact EE Customer Services via live chat.

At the moment, I am logged out of the EE mobile app and unable to log back in because it sends an OTP code to my EE number, but I do not currently have access to the SIM due to service issues.

I am in Pakistan, and my EE eSIM is not receiving any network signal here. Because of this, I requested a conversion from eSIM to a physical SIM through the app. However, when trying to activate it, the system still sends OTP codes to the number, which I cannot receive due to the lack of service in Pakistan.

The physical SIM has now been delivered to my UK address, and my friend is attempting to activate it there, but activation has not been successful so far.

Please advise what the correct process is to activate this SIM and how I can complete verification while I am abroad and unable to receive OTP messages.

Regarding my contract, I understand now that it is a rolling contract after the minimum term. However, I do not wish to continue the service after May and would like to give my 30-day notice to cancel the line so that it does not continue beyond that point.

I look forward to your guidance.

Kind regards,
Muddassar Shabbir

[bristolian]

There is no access to individual customer accounts on this forum, and to be clear - I am not EE staff.

Requesting a change of SIM is not a necessary fix for not receiving coverage abroad, it has probably made things worse and certainly overcomplicated the resolution.

If you're unable to use the live-chat facility, then you will need to make contact with EE-CS by using another working phone to call +44 7953 966150

[Peter_W · Accepted solution]

Welcome to the Community @Muddassar125.

As @bristolian has mentioned here, replacing your SIM isn't likely to resolve a roaming issue, as this is likely linked to an account setting rather than the SIM itself.

Whilst we can send out a pre-activated SIM from our end, when you do this via the app it will only ever be sent blank, so we can then complete some security checks before activating.

Whilst we could possibly look into activating the replacement, if you're able to get in touch with our team, then the better option may be getting your roaming settings updated so you can receive service to your current eSIM whilst in Pakistan.

Peter

[Muddassar125]

Thank you @Peter_W.

I don't know how I connect with the CS team. I tried their contact number its not connecting from Pakistan, not able to find the CS live chat option. I sent my friend to the EE Store, they said they want me physically there for sim activation, so at the end, I just found this platform so that anyone can help, which is why I am writing my issue here.

I still have my e sim added to my phone, but no service here.

Any suggestions on how I can do live chat with CS?

Regards,

Muddassar

[Peter_W]

Thanks @Muddassar125.

If you have the EE App, you should be able to see 'Message Us' within the help section, and this is where you can find the option for live chat.

Peter

[Muddassar125]

@Peter_W  my EE App is logged out, I  need the code that they are sending to my number, which is not accessible for logging in to the app.

[bristolian]

In which case, you are in a catch-22 and will need to make contact via other means.

Try the number previously posted above: +44 7953 966150