Orange PAYG SIM no longer active

socks_uk

Sorry if this has been covered before... there are quite a few threads to search through with 'Orange' in them!

I have a phone I keep in the car for emergencies and for 'Orange Wednesday' cinema trips, of which we were planning to use today as we're on holiday. But on plugging in to charge up an on-screen display says 'SIM card registration failed' and when I ring the Orange phone from my other phone it says 'disconnected'! The last time I used the Orange phone was for an Orange Wednesday at the beginning of August.

I've tried to search through the T&Cs in case there is something about being disconnected if you don't use your phone for 2 months but can't see anything as yet. There was about £8 of credit still on the phone so I have emailed Orange.

Has this happened to anyone else and can shed some light on something I might have missed? Thanks in advance.

grumbler

Usually it is 6 month - you have to make at least one chargeable call or send a text.
And I do see 6 months in p.3.4 of the network terms and conditions for pay as you go customers - effective from 15 February 2011

Ask them to direct you to the T&C that say '2 months'.

Techhead_2

It also says (or) topped up. So that may be it.

Or Orange Wednesdays may not count as a standard chargeable call/text/data.

samba

I have a sim for Orange Wednesdays that's also been disconnected recently, yet for years I had no problems and never topped it up or used it for anything else. Seems that this change in terms has been applied to existing customers, yet I was never informed about it. Is this allowed?

Malcolm_Davis

Yes, just checked my reserve Orange PAYG mobile, it's not working. Has been fine for at least 4 years.

Something must have changed.

prowla

Thanks for the info - I've just made 2-sec calls on a couple of spare phones we have.

xeena

Thanks for the heads-up. Mine was still working so I've just made a chargeable call to keep it that way.

Neil49

xeena wrote: »

Thanks for the heads-up. Mine was still working so I've just made a chargeable call to keep it that way.

So have I.

Thanks for the post from socks_uk warning of this. Looks as if Orange have tightened up on this.

I just use mine for emergencies and Orange Wednesday but got a cheap sim off ebay (I think I got £5 credit for 99p). I don't bother to top up, I just get a new cheap sim with a different number.

NFH

I've kept PAYG SIMs going for years by receiving a call every 6 months. I believe that Orange is the only network that keeps PAYG active by receiving a call, as well as by making a call. However, recently one of my SIMs was deactivated well before 6 months. I phoned Orange and they reactivated it. They said something about it being a good idea to make a call every 2 to 3 months now, but couldn't explain why.

socks_uk

Thanks for all the replies. I rang Orange and they have reactivated my SIM and have given back my credit. Now I'll have to remember to make a phone call to keep it active... it'll still be worth it to get the 2-4-1 cinema code.