Why has Dad's phone been blocked?

cookie365

david39 wrote: »

Could you not just remove the SIM from the phone and get a new SIM from another supplier?

Yes, is it the sim that's blocked or the phone? The reasons given suggest the sim. What provider? If you don't want to say, can you say what network the provider uses?

chirpycheap

He has around £20 left on the phone and yes I assume that a new sim would do the job. He isn't keen to change his number and wants to 'clear his name'!
I think however that you are right and changing his sim will probably be his best choice!

Saver-upper

Does he use the phone much?

Not sure if it still happens,but it used to be that if you didn'y use a PAYG phone for a while (maybe a few months),you would lose the credit on it.
Guess this still doesn't explain blocking the phone,though.....

sdduk

If he hasn't used the phone for over 6mths then they would block it and he would loose the money on it
But i would have thought they would have said that.

The reason they are giving don't sound right to me if he is using it to make phone calls then they are making money.

macman

This makes no sense at all. He can't be breaching the terms if he is on PAYG. But the correct response is to vote with his feet, ask for his PAC and switch to a better provider: Three 123 is the obvious choice, as long as the phone is 3G compatible.
Why has he got £20 credit on it if only used in emergencies?

highet

are you sure the ''inappropriate usage'' isnt no usage at all?? if he hasnt used the phone at all in the last 6 months for either incoming/outgoing call or text the network provider will disconnect the number and recycle it to someone else (there are obviously only a finite number of numbers in the system and if unused ones werent recycled the mobile companies would eventually run out of numbers to issue!) -i know this happens as i had spare mobile i only used when on call for work - stopped doing on call - no usage for 6 months and lo and behold when i tried to use phone 6 months later virgin had disconnected sim and i had lost small amount of credit i had on it and there was no way of getting it reinstated (its in the t+c's apparently)

cookie365

This is all very bizarre. We need to know what network it is, and what they said when the OP's dad called them to ask them for clarification.

SteveHenshaw

I wouldn't worry about it - just get a new SIM card, new number, top up and normal service is resumed.

cookie365

SteveHenshaw wrote: »

I wouldn't worry about it - just get a new SIM card, new number, top up and normal service is resumed.

He'll lose his credit this way, and unless the network will still give him a PAC he'll lose his number too.

We need to find out exactly what's happened so we don't need to do this, though it is a last resort.