Cingular SIM card upgrade, stop!

If you have a Cingular phone and get a SIM card in the mail, stop!
Don't install or activate it until you read this.

I have a Cingular Samsung x427 phone (6 months old). Got a letter
yesterday with a replacement SIM card, "this critical upgrade should
be done ASAP" yada yada. So I took out the old card, put in the new,
called and they activated the new card.

BZZZZTTT!! Bad move. First, even though my phone was relatively new
it couldn't handle the new card and locked up, insisting on a SIM
password. After entering bad passwords 3 times it's supposed to let
Cingular generate a PUK number, but the card screwed up the phone so
they couldn't do that. And, since they had changed me to the new SIM
card in their office I couldn't go back to using the old card.

Bottom line, after 30 minutes or longer on the phone in the morning
trying to get this resolved, I then spent 45 minutes in a Cingular
store this evening with the result they're sending me a new phone that
can handle the new card.

This whole thing is FUBAR and someone's head will presumably roll at
Cingular. If you get this letter and new SIM card in the mail, I
recommend you take it to a Cingular store and let them verify your
phone will work with it.

---

› See More: Cingular SIM card upgrade, stop!

You probably could have just entered the default PIN for your phone (in the
manual) and saved yourself a lot of grief...
"Bob Fry" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
> If you have a Cingular phone and get a SIM card in the mail, stop!
> Don't install or activate it until you read this.
>
> I have a Cingular Samsung x427 phone (6 months old). Got a letter
> yesterday with a replacement SIM card, "this critical upgrade should
> be done ASAP" yada yada. So I took out the old card, put in the new,
> called and they activated the new card.
>
> BZZZZTTT!! Bad move. First, even though my phone was relatively new
> it couldn't handle the new card and locked up, insisting on a SIM
> password. After entering bad passwords 3 times it's supposed to let
> Cingular generate a PUK number, but the card screwed up the phone so
> they couldn't do that. And, since they had changed me to the new SIM
> card in their office I couldn't go back to using the old card.
>
> Bottom line, after 30 minutes or longer on the phone in the morning
> trying to get this resolved, I then spent 45 minutes in a Cingular
> store this evening with the result they're sending me a new phone that
> can handle the new card.
>
> This whole thing is FUBAR and someone's head will presumably roll at
> Cingular. If you get this letter and new SIM card in the mail, I
> recommend you take it to a Cingular store and let them verify your
> phone will work with it.

>>>>> "JW" == JW <[email protected]> writes:

JW> You probably could have just entered the default PIN for your
JW> phone (in the manual) and saved yourself a lot of grief...

No--they Cingular store guy spent a lot of time on the phone with tech
support, and they concluded the new SIM card damaged the phone so it
was demanding an unlock password that it would never accept. There
was no password that would satisfy the now screwed-up phone.

Originally Posted by JW

You probably could have just entered the default PIN for your phone (in the manual) and saved yourself a lot of grief...

When it asks for the PUK code, it's different than the security code for the phone. PUK code is for the SIM.

Bob Fry wrote:
> No--they Cingular store guy spent a lot of time on the phone with tech
> support, and they concluded the new SIM card damaged the phone so it
> was demanding an unlock password that it would never accept.

Interesting... I wonder if you were in an older market with an original
SIM and phone that were not on the USA-410 network. Cingular sent you a
USA-410 SIM to conform with their new single network designation, but
your phone was "SIM-locked" to the original network, and you PUK-ed it
up when it really wanted a network unlock code (that your local store
is unlikely to have).

This seems really odd given the number of SIM-locked phones out
there... you think Cingular would realize the potential problem and
entice you to get a new phone (and pop the new SIM in at that time).
I'll have to keep an eye out for this since I still have a USA-150 SIM.

tg.

>>>>> "tom" == tom glaab <[email protected]> writes:

tom> Bob Fry wrote:
>> No--they Cingular store guy spent a lot of time on the phone
>> with tech support, and they concluded the new SIM card damaged
>> the phone so it was demanding an unlock password that it would
>> never accept.

tom> Interesting... I wonder if you were in an older market with
tom> an original SIM and phone that were not on the USA-410
tom> network.

My original SIM card was Pacific Bell, about 6 years old, and that's
probably why they sent the new card. But they clearly never bothered
to check what phone I had now, and if it would work with the new card.

Other screwups in the SIM card trade:

- they gave instructions in their letter on how to replace the SIM
card and activate the new one by calling a number, but never warned
about copying all your SIM-stored phone numbers to the phone so as not
to lose them.

- they haven't sent a new SIM card for my wife's phone which is
identical to mine (old SIM card). Not that we would use it now
anyway.

In article <[email protected]>,
Bob Fry <[email protected]> wrote:
>>>>>> "tom" == tom glaab <[email protected]> writes:
>
> tom> Bob Fry wrote:
> >> No--they Cingular store guy spent a lot of time on the phone
> >> with tech support, and they concluded the new SIM card damaged
> >> the phone so it was demanding an unlock password that it would
> >> never accept.
>
> tom> Interesting... I wonder if you were in an older market with
> tom> an original SIM and phone that were not on the USA-410
> tom> network.
>
>My original SIM card was Pacific Bell, about 6 years old, and that's
>probably why they sent the new card. But they clearly never bothered
>to check what phone I had now, and if it would work with the new card.
>
>Other screwups in the SIM card trade:
>
>- they gave instructions in their letter on how to replace the SIM
>card and activate the new one by calling a number, but never warned
>about copying all your SIM-stored phone numbers to the phone so as not
>to lose them.

Heh. When T-Mobile did this, they shipped a GemStar SIM card backup device
so that the subscriber could transfer their phone directory.

[POSTED TO alt.cellular.cingular - REPLY ON USENET PLEASE]

In <[email protected]> on Fri, 09 Dec 2005 20:38:39 -0800, Bob Fry
<[email protected]> wrote:

>If you have a Cingular phone and get a SIM card in the mail, stop!
>Don't install or activate it until you read this.
>
>I have a Cingular Samsung x427 phone (6 months old). Got a letter
>yesterday with a replacement SIM card, "this critical upgrade should
>be done ASAP" yada yada. So I took out the old card, put in the new,
>called and they activated the new card.
>
>BZZZZTTT!! Bad move. First, even though my phone was relatively new
>it couldn't handle the new card and locked up, insisting on a SIM
>password. After entering bad passwords 3 times it's supposed to let
>Cingular generate a PUK number, but the card screwed up the phone so
>they couldn't do that. And, since they had changed me to the new SIM
>card in their office I couldn't go back to using the old card.

It's very unlikely that a SIM could actually "screw up" a phone permanently.

Asking for a SIM password isn't a "lock up" -- it's at most a SIM
compatibility issue, in which case a PUK code wouldn't work either.

Did you try removing the battery for a hard reset?

Did you try the old SIM in the phone after this happened? That might well
have shown the phone to still be working normally, and the old SIM could
probably have been reactivated by Cingular.

--
Best regards, SEE THE FAQ FOR CINGULAR WIRELESS AT
John Navas <http://en.wikibooks.org/wiki/Cingular_Wireless_FAQ>

Somewhere around Fri, 09 Dec 2005 20:38:39 -0800, while reading
alt.cellular.cingular, I think I thought I saw this post from Bob Fry
<[email protected]>:

>If you have a Cingular phone and get a SIM card in the mail, stop!
>Don't install or activate it until you read this.
>
>I have a Cingular Samsung x427 phone (6 months old). Got a letter
>yesterday with a replacement SIM card, "this critical upgrade should
>be done ASAP" yada yada. So I took out the old card, put in the new,
>called and they activated the new card.
>
>BZZZZTTT!! Bad move. First, even though my phone was relatively new
>it couldn't handle the new card and locked up, insisting on a SIM
>password. After entering bad passwords 3 times it's supposed to let
>Cingular generate a PUK number, but the card screwed up the phone so
>they couldn't do that. And, since they had changed me to the new SIM
>card in their office I couldn't go back to using the old card.
>
>Bottom line, after 30 minutes or longer on the phone in the morning
>trying to get this resolved, I then spent 45 minutes in a Cingular
>store this evening with the result they're sending me a new phone that
>can handle the new card.
>
>This whole thing is FUBAR and someone's head will presumably roll at
>Cingular. If you get this letter and new SIM card in the mail, I
>recommend you take it to a Cingular store and let them verify your
>phone will work with it.

Hmm, I have an old x426 Samsung phone (formerly AT&T, but unlocked to use my
Cingular SIM). I got the new sim card, and it works fine. My sim card was
about 4 or 5 years old (Cingular, not Pac Bell).

My family plan has 2 other users, and they didn't get the replacement sim.
Sounds like Cingular needs to get their act together.

--
Marty - public.forums (at) gmail (dot) com
"Those are my principles, and if you don't like them...
well, I have others." - Groucho Marx

>>>>> "JN" == John Navas <[email protected]> writes:

JN> Did you try removing the battery for a hard reset?

Yes--the battery must be removed to get at the SIM.

JN> Did you try the old SIM in the phone after this happened?
JN> That might well have shown the phone to still be working
JN> normally, and the old SIM could probably have been reactivated
JN> by Cingular.

The phone does turn on and not lock with the old SIM, but Cingular
says they can't un-activate the new SIM...thus the old SIM is unusable
according to Cingular.

Is there a market for old cell phones? I'll look on eBay....

[POSTED TO alt.cellular.cingular - REPLY ON USENET PLEASE]

In <[email protected]> on Mon, 12 Dec 2005 18:05:06 -0800, Bob Fry
<[email protected]> wrote:

>>>>>> "JN" == John Navas <[email protected]> writes:
>
> JN> Did you try removing the battery for a hard reset?
>
>Yes--the battery must be removed to get at the SIM.

*After* the problem with the new SIM?

> JN> Did you try the old SIM in the phone after this happened?
> JN> That might well have shown the phone to still be working
> JN> normally, and the old SIM could probably have been reactivated
> JN> by Cingular.
>
>The phone does turn on and not lock with the old SIM, but Cingular
>says they can't un-activate the new SIM...thus the old SIM is unusable
>according to Cingular.
>
>Is there a market for old cell phones? I'll look on eBay....

If you complain firmly enough, I think Cingular will come around.

--
Best regards, SEE THE FAQ FOR CINGULAR WIRELESS AT
John Navas <http://en.wikibooks.org/wiki/Cingular_Wireless_FAQ>

"Bob Fry" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
> >>>>> "JN" == John Navas <[email protected]> writes:
>
> JN> Did you try removing the battery for a hard reset?
>
> Yes--the battery must be removed to get at the SIM.
>
> JN> Did you try the old SIM in the phone after this happened?
> JN> That might well have shown the phone to still be working
> JN> normally, and the old SIM could probably have been reactivated
> JN> by Cingular.
>
> The phone does turn on and not lock with the old SIM, but Cingular
> says they can't un-activate the new SIM...thus the old SIM is unusable
> according to Cingular.
>
> Is there a market for old cell phones? I'll look on eBay....

alot of samsung older phones have problems with the newer 64k sim cards.
cingular knows this and they screwed up.. but they dont care..
i hope they didnt make you sign a new 2 year just to get a working phone..
if they did undo it asap.

I do not know what will happens to me, I just I signup with Cingular, I got
Motorola V557, just shipped to me, and expected to get it tromorroww, do you
thing they shipped with new SIM card?.

"Bob Fry" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
> If you have a Cingular phone and get a SIM card in the mail, stop!
> Don't install or activate it until you read this.
>
> I have a Cingular Samsung x427 phone (6 months old). Got a letter
> yesterday with a replacement SIM card, "this critical upgrade should
> be done ASAP" yada yada. So I took out the old card, put in the new,
> called and they activated the new card.
>
> BZZZZTTT!! Bad move. First, even though my phone was relatively new
> it couldn't handle the new card and locked up, insisting on a SIM
> password. After entering bad passwords 3 times it's supposed to let
> Cingular generate a PUK number, but the card screwed up the phone so
> they couldn't do that. And, since they had changed me to the new SIM
> card in their office I couldn't go back to using the old card.
>
> Bottom line, after 30 minutes or longer on the phone in the morning
> trying to get this resolved, I then spent 45 minutes in a Cingular
> store this evening with the result they're sending me a new phone that
> can handle the new card.
>
> This whole thing is FUBAR and someone's head will presumably roll at
> Cingular. If you get this letter and new SIM card in the mail, I
> recommend you take it to a Cingular store and let them verify your
> phone will work with it.

>>>>> "PM" == Pete M <[email protected]> writes:

PM> I do not know what will happens to me, I just I signup with
PM> Cingular, I got Motorola V557, just shipped to me, and
PM> expected to get it tromorroww, do you thing they shipped with
PM> new SIM card?.

Just to be sure, why not stop by a Cingular store with your phone and
new SIM card to make sure everything's fine.

Cingular has shipped my new replacement phone by 2-day UPS, but they
insist on a signature in person. Of course we're not home during the
day, so now after two days of trying to deliver to an empty house I
get to drive to the UPS place 15 miles away, but ONLY between 9:30 and
10:00 pm!

All this because I trusted their @*!& letter....

>>>>> "Aaron" == Aaron <[email protected]> writes:

Aaron> alot of samsung older phones have problems with the newer
Aaron> 64k sim cards. cingular knows this and they screwed
Aaron> up.. but they dont care.. i hope they didnt make you sign
Aaron> a new 2 year just to get a working phone.. if they did
Aaron> undo it asap.

No, no new contract. Actually I like Cingular but someone screwed the
pooch on this one. What's curious is that my "old" Samsung (x427)
didn't seem that old to me.