Sim for elderly person help

pope

I purchased my 85 year old mum a basic flip mobile Art Fone 6 years ago. Mum is not able to make phone calls so the use of the phone was basically for me to phone her and check up on her. At the time I purchased a tesco sim card for £99 pence and it was never topped up and worked for incoming phone calls.

1 week ago my mums phone stopped working would not hold charge which was not a surprise after so many years of use. I purchased a new phone for mum exactly the same phone unlocked as before so she does not get confused with a new style phone.

What I did is that I removed the sim card from the old phone until the new phone arrived a period of 1 week. Now the new phone has arrived but when I inserted the sim card and turned on the phone it displays Sim Card Blocked. I have put the sim card into my smart phone and it says the same Sim Card Blocked.

Can someone please advise on what I should do in terms of getting a sim card?

Thanks

oldernonethewiser

You could ask Tesco why it is blocked or just pick up a cheap SIM that suits your needs. They may have differing requirements in terms of making calls/texts to keep the SIM "alive".

Obviously the new SIM will have a new number.

Farway

Tesco have changed terms & no longer do bog standard PAYG Sims, they want you on contract, of £x per month.

This has caught out a few of us, have search on this forum, a lot went over to Giff gaff, but it is not as straight forward as just bunging a Sim in, and you, or someone, may need to make a chargeable text / call from Mum's phone every few months once it is set up.

Alternative is E bay, O2 PAYG 123 sim, again a need to make a chargeable call now & then

flaneurs_lobster

Giffgaff would be fine, just need to make a call/send a text every 6 months to keep it active.

Asda should work too.

Detail_Merchant

I would guess because no chargeable outgoing call or text has been made for over 6 months, Tesco have disconnected the SIM.

From https://www.tescomobile.com/shop/sim-only-deals/pay-as-you-go-essentials under "I rarely use my phone. Will my number remain active?" it says "Your number will remain active as long as it’s used very occasionally.

If you don’t use your phone for a period of six months or more, we’ll disconnect you. If this happens, you may lose your mobile number and any remaining credit."

Re @Farway's comment "no longer do bog standard PAYG Sims" - not strictly true. From the same page, under "What if I don’t want be on a bundle?" it says "No problem. On pay as you go Essentials, you can still use your top-up balance for calls, texts, and data, charged at our standard rates.To do this, just make sure you’ve turned off auto-renewal. You can easily do this using the Tesco Mobile app or by calling 4488 from your phone. Once your active bundle finishes, your top-up balance will be charged when you use your phone, like a standard pay as you go tariff."

But they certainly are pushing the bundles rather than simple PAYG.

Neil_Jones

I suspect the phone number has expired for the OP, as most PAYG require you to make a chargeable call every once in a while. Or its had a PIN on it which has been entered wrongly a few times and now requires a PUK Code to unlock.

Tesco Mobile should be able to generate a PUK code to unblock the sim.

chrisw

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/81974531#Comment_81974531

Asda (and many others) require a top up every 6 months. Subtle difference!

flaneurs_lobster

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/81974726#Comment_81974726

Ah, subtle enough that I missed this. Been a few years since I've used them.

ScratchyCat

Yes agree if as you say your relative couldn't make calls that would be why it's been cut off. Check with tesco if sim can be reactivated, maybe they might as a good will gesture but unlikely as they are moving away from payg. If they wont or cant. Get an o2 sim as suggested off ebay, for 20p, top up £10 with voucher. Bare in mind as well that the number your mum had, if its now blocked won't be able to be ported.

When you visit your mum every couple of months, just ask for the phone, ring yours with it, answer and hang up. Will only cost a few pence but that counts as a chargeable call and keeps phone active.

pope

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/81974362#Comment_81974362

I have seen the o2 classic simcard on ebay.

pope

Interesting information.