Invalid SIM card & remaining airtime balance.

jameslf

Recently my mobile company have updated their network. The new SIM card they sent me, which I have inserted 6 times, yields the message " Invalid SIM card". I have an airtime balance of the order of £20. On a point of principle I would like to pursue the matter. All I've had from Customer Services so far is obfuscation and delay. How best do I proceed please? I should mention my mobile phone is about 8 yrs old.
Many thanks
jameslf

JJ_Egan

Ask for another sim .

But it could be this new sim will not work on your old phone .You need to check that or at least tell the forum phone mofel etc .

Pursue then write a letter headed complaint pointing out your principles .

J_B

Have you tried the old sim?

Ain't broke don't fix maybe???

tinker411

Are you on Virgin Mobile? If so, you probably need to get your phone unlocked for the purple sim to work in it.

jameslf

JJ_Egan said:

Ask for another sim .

But it could be this new sim will not work on your old phone .You need to check that or at least tell the forum phone mofel etc .

Pursue then write a letter headed complaint pointing out your principles .

Thanks for the reply. I did that online and was told "you are already using your new sim card" which, of course, was utter nonsense. I think the crux of the problem, which you mentioned, is the old phone. It's not even on their data-base list..
Many thanks,
jameslf 

jameslf

J_B said:

Have you tried the old sim?

Ain't broke don't fix maybe???

Yes. It's still in the mobile. Like it's owner the phone is way past its sell -by date. I agree completely with your second line.
Many thanks
jameslftinker411 said:

Are you on Virgin Mobile? If so, you probably need to get your phone unlocked for the purple sim to work in it.

Are you psychic? It  is an old Virgin Mobile-it's not even on their data-base list. I'm not too-clued up on these matters but isn't what's locking the phone the invalidity of the new sim card? Is it completely locked? I can, apparently, make an emergency call..
Many thanks,
jameslf

tinker411

jameslf said:
tinker411 said:

Are you on Virgin Mobile? If so, you probably need to get your phone unlocked for the purple sim to work in it.

Are you psychic? It  is an old Virgin Mobile-it's not even on their data-base list. I'm not too-clued up on these matters but isn't what's locking the phone the invalidity of the new sim card? Is it completely locked? I can, apparently, make an emergency call..
Many thanks,
jameslf

Psychic - I wouldn't mind, but no, it was an educated guess as Virgin Mobile are the only network issuing new sim cards with regards to network updates right now as far as I'm aware.

Your handset is a Virgin Mobile branded one? Or you got it from Virgin Mobile itself? Either way, my thought is that considering its age your phone is locked to T-Mobile (now EE) who Virgin run on which is fair enough with your current sim, not so much with the new one.

Basically, the issue is this; your red sim is telling the phone "Hi I'm an EE sim card, put Virgin on the screen will you" while the purple sim is telling the phone this "Hi I'm a Virgin Mobile sim card, put Virgin on the screen will you". The difference there is what's triggering the error message you're getting on your phone, if you put an Asda Mobile (for now, they're changing to Vodafone next year) or 1p Mobile sim in it for example it would likely work just fine, as it will if you put your red Virgin sim in.

jameslf

tinker411 said:

jameslf said:
tinker411 said:

Are you on Virgin Mobile? If so, you probably need to get your phone unlocked for the purple sim to work in it.

Are you psychic? It  is an old Virgin Mobile-it's not even on their data-base list. I'm not too-clued up on these matters but isn't what's locking the phone the invalidity of the new sim card? Is it completely locked? I can, apparently, make an emergency call..
Many thanks,
jameslf

Psychic - I wouldn't mind, but no, it was an educated guess as Virgin Mobile are the only network issuing new sim cards with regards to network updates right now as far as I'm aware.

Your handset is a Virgin Mobile branded one? Or you got it from Virgin Mobile itself? Either way, my thought is that considering its age your phone is locked to T-Mobile (now EE) who Virgin run on which is fair enough with your current sim, not so much with the new one.

Basically, the issue is this; your red sim is telling the phone "Hi I'm an EE sim card, put Virgin on the screen will you" while the purple sim is telling the phone this "Hi I'm a Virgin Mobile sim card, put Virgin on the screen will you". The difference there is what's triggering the error message you're getting on your phone, if you put an Asda Mobile (for now, they're changing to Vodafone next year) or 1p Mobile sim in it for example it would likely work just fine, as it will if you put your red Virgin sim in.

Thanks for your comprehensive comments. I'm rushing to get abroad for two weeks. I bought the phone online Samsung GT-B3310 Compact Socializer. If I can generalise about the new SIM card-it's thicker, same length as the existing SIM but narrower. It was a bit of a struggle to slot it in. Also, the underside of the new SIM had a different design. When I did slot it in the message was " invalid sim card" and SOS , presumably an emergency call facility.
I actually do have an EE phone-coincidences all over the place.
 I.am waiting for another letter from the mobile company who said they would text me in the first instance.and also suggested I text them. How? They have taken that functionality away.and I'm not sure they are aware of it.
Thanks again for your help.
jameslf

eDicky

I'm also not psychic but assumed you have Virgin Mobile, there are a couple of previous threads about the same problem, you can do a search for them.

You have one (or both) of two basic problems with the new Virgin SIM in your old handset.

Virgin are transferring the network they operate on from EE to either O2 or Vodafone, I forget which. The new SIMs are ready for this and the old ones will cease to function.

So if your handset is locked to EE/T-Mobile, which seems likely, that's why it can't accept the new SIM that's for the new network service.

The other thing is that the recent technology of the new SIM is probably not compatible with an old tech handset, and may never work even if that is unlocked from EE.

So you could try unlocking by obtaining a code from VM or elsewhere, or invest in a modern unlocked handset. And/or you could also switch to a better tariff with another provider, some like Asda should work on a phone locked to EE.

PHK

The B3310 is from 2009 and past it’s design life. It’s unfortunately unlikely to work properly with a modern 1.8v/3.3v SIM

On a side note. There don’t seem to be many phones with QWERTY keyboards nowadays. 

tinker411

jameslf said:

Thanks for your comprehensive comments. .

No problem.

jameslf said:

I'm rushing to get abroad for two weeks. I bought the phone online Samsung GT-B3310 Compact Socializer. If I can generalise about the new SIM card-it's thicker, same length as the existing SIM but narrower. It was a bit of a struggle to slot it in. Also, the underside of the new SIM had a different design. When I did slot it in the message was " invalid sim card" and SOS , presumably an emergency call facility.

Going by this I'm convinced your handset is locked to EE and that's what's causing all this. If the phone wasn't picking the sim up for whatever reason you'd get an "insert sim card" message instead of "invalid sim card" along with access to emergency service calls.

jameslf said:

I actually do have an EE phone-coincidences all over the place.
 I.am waiting for another letter from the mobile company who said they would text me in the first instance.and also suggested I text them. How? They have taken that functionality away.and I'm not sure they are aware of it.
Thanks again for your help.
jameslf

Virgin Mobile are writing to you? Goodness knows what they're going to say as I agree with you - I don't think they've fully realised yet that the purple sims are triggering the locks on handsets locked to EE, or if they have it hasn't filtered down to their support staff.

On answer to your original query though you've got a few options:

1) carry on using your red sim in your phone until Virgin turn it off by next year when they move to either Vodafone (who they've signed a contract with) or O2 (who they're merging with).

2) as Virgin can't/won't unlock the phone for you, try a different network sim card in it first (Three/Vodafone or O2) to double check it's locked (you'll get the "invalid sim card" message again if it is) and if so then look online or pop to a local mobile shop to get it unlocked. If it isn't, then your options are 1 and 3.

3) buy a newer, unlocked handset.