HELP! My Virgin mobile suddenly says 'SIM card registration failed'

Gamegal

Some years ago I bought a Nokia 1112 mobile online from Virgin Mobile with £5 credit pre-loaded & a further £10 credit by way of a voucher included in the box.

As I wanted the mobile only for emergencies really I've not been using it regularly though it does get switched on occasionally & it was switched on recently, possibly on 29th December when there wasn't a problem with the SIM. The majority of my initial £5 is still not used.

Today, when I switched it on, it accepted the PIN code then said 'SIM card registration failed'. :mad:

Does anyone know what's going on please? I have emailed theteam@virginmobile.com on the matter.

My husband's mobile is on O2 & a while back, maybe 18 months ago, his did the same. We have a O2 shop in our town & they said he had to start putting a minimum £10 on the SIM to keep it active.

Would Virgin be doing this too now to me? Your :think: thoughts welcomed, thanks!

fiendishlyclever

You generally have to make a chargeable call every 180 days to keep it active. All you can do is phone Virgin and see if they will reinstate your account as a goodwill gesture. It is also worth sending a text message every few months as a precaution (which is what I do with my emergency phone I keep in the car).

grumbler

It is even 90 days, not 180, for some (all?) Virgin PAYG tariffs.

You need to use our Services at least once within any 90 day period either by making a chargeable call or sending a text message. If you dont we may suspend your access to the Services and cancel this Agreement. If we cancel this Agreement, you may lose your phone number and any unused Top Up credit on your account (see Clause 10.3). We dont really want to lose you as a customer so please ensure you keep talking or texting!

http://www.virginmobile.com/vm/genericContent.do?contentId=our.service.footer.sm068#Terms%20and%20conditions%20of%20service%20-%20Original%20Pay%20As%20You%20Go%20and%20Pay%20by%20Direct%20Debit

Gamegal

To you both, thanks but as Virgin have my details, & bearing in mind the huge amount of spam everyone gets through the post, I'm narked they haven't notified me somehow that they were switching my SIM off.

In likely 6 years or more since I had this mobile, I've only rung my husband's O2 mobile a couple of times. I certainly haven't made a chargeable call or text every 180 days (or 90 days). I have not been advised that I should do either.

My husband was never contacted by O2 when his SIM suddenly wasn't accepted either though we have an O2 shop where we live & they gave him a new SIM & transferred remaining credit, around £20 onto his new SIM & advised him then he now has to put £10 on the SIM every 6 months.

grumbler

Gamegal wrote: »

I certainly haven't made a chargeable call or text every 180 days (or 90 days).

This depends on your luck, but you cannot rely on it if you value the number.

I have not been advised that I should do either.

Usually this is printed along with all most essential information in a tiny brochure that comes with every PAYG sim card.

advised him then he now has to put £10 on the SIM every 6 months.

I am pretty sure it was an incorrect advice. Just check the T&C and you'll see it's just a chargeable call / text every 6 months, not a top up.

Gamegal

I hate it when someone asks for help then doesn't update so here I am with an update!

Someone from Virgin rang me, said I hadn't used my mobile in over two years. I said I'd bought the mobile solely for emergencies & had been led to understand that, as long as I had credit, it was active.

The guy (John) said he was going to send a new SIM card to me free of charge with my existing number & I should make a chargeable call or send a text once in 365 days as was the original arrangement he said. I forgot to ask if the SIM would have the balance of my credit reinstated, just under £5 but going to Bristol on Wednesday 11th where there's a Virgin Media store so I'll tackle them there face to face.

Thanks for replies. :T

Gamegal

Apologies, I meant to update further.

The new SIM arrived with £0.00 credit on so I emailed Virgin & again was contacted by phone & told they'd add £5 credit to the SIM for me (as that was what I almost had on my previous SIM). The previous guy had said he would put my new SIM with my old number but he didn't. I'm not bothered as it's only my husband who has the number.

My husband is just going now into town to tackle O2 as they've been insisting he tops up with minimum £10 every 6 mths to keep his SIM active, which is not what their 2008 T & C's say. They say he only needs to make one chargeable call or text every 6 months. He's printed the page to show them when he argues with them!

robbies_gal

none of them tell you its about to be cut off ive had loads of sims over the years and youre lucky your husband even kept his number as they allocate them out when not used for a time