Orange PAYG inactive SIM

When I last got a free update of my Orange OVP Virgin phone, I put the SIM
card from my 98-year-old father-in-law's unused (and defunct) PAYG phone in
my old phone - which I kept for dire emergencies. It worked ok for a while,
but now when I turn it on it says "Inactive SIM".

ISTR seeing something in the T&Cs about Orange reserving the right to
de-active a SIM if a PAYG phone isn't used for a certain time, but I can't
find it now - either in my printed literature, or on-line. Anyway, that's
almost certainly what's happened.

Can anyone tell me how to re-activate it - hopefully in a way which recovers
the credit which was on the card (probably 7 or 8 quid's worth)? Presumably
I can register it from scratch like a new SIM(?) but I doubt whether that
would recover the credit. I can't see any on-line means of registering a
PAYG SIM, but I'm sure it used to exist?

Any help appreciated.
--
Cheers,
Roger
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› See More: Orange PAYG inactive SIM

"Roger Mills" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...

(snip)

I think that if you don't use a PAYG SIM Card, I.E. Make a chargeable call
then it is deactivated after 6 months

"Roger Mills" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
> When I last got a free update of my Orange OVP Virgin phone, I put the SIM
> card from my 98-year-old father-in-law's unused (and defunct) PAYG phone
> in my old phone - which I kept for dire emergencies. It worked ok for a
> while, but now when I turn it on it says "Inactive SIM".
>
> ISTR seeing something in the T&Cs about Orange reserving the right to
> de-active a SIM if a PAYG phone isn't used for a certain time, but I can't
> find it now - either in my printed literature, or on-line. Anyway, that's
> almost certainly what's happened.
>
> Can anyone tell me how to re-activate it - hopefully in a way which
> recovers the credit which was on the card (probably 7 or 8 quid's worth)?
> Presumably I can register it from scratch like a new SIM(?) but I doubt
> whether that would recover the credit. I can't see any on-line means of
> registering a PAYG SIM, but I'm sure it used to exist?
>
> Any help appreciated.
> Cheers,
> Roger
>
>
Call registrations on 0800 079 0006
and ask them to reconnect it

you'll find the number on my list at
http://www.uselessinfo.pwp.blueyonder.co.uk/stlist.htm

Steve Terry

In an earlier contribution to this discussion,
Steve Terry <[email protected]> wrote:

>>
> Call registrations on 0800 079 0006
> and ask them to reconnect it
>
> you'll find the number on my list at
> http://www.uselessinfo.pwp.blueyonder.co.uk/stlist.htm
>
> Steve Terry

Thanks. I can try that. Is that likely to result in restoring the credit, or
shall I lose that?

One slight complication is that it's my f-i-l's SIM so I might be asked for
*his* security information, which I'm not sure I can find - and it's no use
asking him since, at nearly 99, he's more or less ga-ga!
--
Cheers,
Roger
______
Email address maintained for newsgroup use only, and not regularly
monitored.. Messages sent to it may not be read for several weeks.
PLEASE REPLY TO NEWSGROUP!

"Roger Mills" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
> In an earlier contribution to this discussion,
> Steve Terry <[email protected]> wrote:
>
>>>
>> Call registrations on 0800 079 0006
>> and ask them to reconnect it
>>
>> you'll find the number on my list at
>> http://www.uselessinfo.pwp.blueyonder.co.uk/stlist.htm
>> Steve Terry
>
> Thanks. I can try that. Is that likely to result in restoring the credit,
> or shall I lose that?
>
If it's not too long after disconnection they should, you'll have to
sweettalk them
> One slight complication is that it's my f-i-l's SIM so I might be asked
> for *his* security information, which I'm not sure I can find - and it's
> no use asking him since, at nearly 99, he's more or less ga-ga!
> Cheers,
> Roger
>
>
You have a problem, cos unlike some networks OCS take security seriously
without the password they simply wont deal with you.

Also you can do the talking, but you'll have him there to be able to talk to
them,
you could ask for prompts which might nudge his memory?

Steve Terry

In an earlier contribution to this discussion,
Steve Terry <[email protected]> wrote:

> "Roger Mills" <[email protected]> wrote in message
> news:[email protected]...
>> In an earlier contribution to this discussion,
>> Steve Terry <[email protected]> wrote:
>>
>>>>
>>> Call registrations on 0800 079 0006
>>> and ask them to reconnect it
>>>
>>> you'll find the number on my list at
>>> http://www.uselessinfo.pwp.blueyonder.co.uk/stlist.htm
>>> Steve Terry
>>
>> Thanks. I can try that. Is that likely to result in restoring the
>> credit, or shall I lose that?
>>
> If it's not too long after disconnection they should, you'll have to
> sweettalk them
>> One slight complication is that it's my f-i-l's SIM so I might be
>> asked for *his* security information, which I'm not sure I can find
>> - and it's no use asking him since, at nearly 99, he's more or less
>> ga-ga! Cheers,
>> Roger
>>
>>
> You have a problem, cos unlike some networks OCS take security
> seriously without the password they simply wont deal with you.
>
> Also you can do the talking, but you'll have him there to be able to
> talk to them,
> you could ask for prompts which might nudge his memory?
>
> Steve Terry

I found what I think is the right password etc. and rang Orange to ask them
to re-activate it. I was foolish enough to admit that I was ringing on
behalf of my father-in-law, and they insisted on speaking to him - even
though I explained that I'd set it all up in the first place and was,
effectively, him. Getting him to the phone would have been a disaster - he's
totally gaga - so I aborted the call without getting as far as giving any
passwords.

On Sunday (about 10 days after the first attempt), I decided to have another
go - being less honest this time and pretending to be my f-i-l. Before doing
so, I put the SIM and battery back in the phone and turned it on to check
that I still had the problem - and BINGO - it came up working, with its
original phone number and with its £6+
of credit still there.

So they must presumably have re-activated it in response to my first call -
even though they said they couldn't do so without speaking to my f-i-l.

The only other explanation - and I don't know whether this is feasible - is
that the phone was mis-reading the SIM, and that it wasn't *really*
de-activated. The fact of removing and replacing it could have cleaned the
contacts and made it work again?

Anyway, to avoid a recurrence, I have scheduled myself to exchange text
messages between my two rarely-used PAYG phones every couple of months to
stop them timing out after 6 months on inactivity.
--
Cheers,
Roger
______
Email address maintained for newsgroup use only, and not regularly
monitored.. Messages sent to it may not be read for several weeks.
PLEASE REPLY TO NEWSGROUP!