Re-using a pre-paid SIM card (T-mobile) - help!
 

Hi everyone,

last summer I spent a few weeks in the US and bought two pre-paid SIM cards at T-mobile, one for my smart phone and one for my iPad.

I wanted to add money on the phone SIM in advance, I'm flying to the US again on Saturday. I followed the directions on the T-mobile website up until the point where the page said they had sent a verification code to my phone.

The problem is, I am still in Europe, and when I put the SIM card in my phone, it has no coverage, obviously. I can't receive the text message outside of the US. But without the verification code, I can't top up the account.

If I wait until I am in LAX to receive the text message, I will probably have no credit left and no service, until I top up.

Help! Is there a way to put money on the SIM card without physically being in the US? I am planning on using my iPhone for navigation to the hotel after we land. I won't be able to if I have no service.

Any ideas?

Moving thread to Travel Technology Forum. I am confident you will find help there.
Good luck
Obscure2k
TravelBuzz Moderator

Have you tried emailing them? Otherwise once you get to LAX you should be able to get the code and complete the top off process. A quick google search shows LAX offers 45 minutes of wifi access which should be more then enough time to finish topping off your account.

Hi, are you sure your T-Mobile prepaid Sims are still valid/active (from last summer) with a balance on it ? Funds in the account typically expire after 90 days unless you a new refill is added and then the whole balance rolled over - I don't believe you have one of the legacy/grandfathered old T-Mobile Pay-As-You-Go and/or Gold account, where for $10 - your account remained in good standing for 360 days.

The following steps - Short Code check - might or might not work - on your smartphone, enabled WiFi - when you say you have no coverage, you might not be getting roaming coverage/valid U.S. band on your device ?? - and on the iPhone's dial pad, press
#BAL# [Enter] to check for your available balance
#MIN# [Enter] to see if you have any minutes remaining, more importantly - expiration date/next refill date

It should return the results on your smartphone's screen in a few seconds, before depositing money into the account/mobile # - already recycled & given/reused by someone else here in the US.

This number 1-505-998-3793 is used to call T-Mobile USA's international support line for help, from overseas. See if you can dial & reach it on your smartphone by dialing (enable roaming calls first and/or WiFi calling on your iPhone) They can lookup the mobile # and advise you the status, and should be able to help you to find a way to refill it.

If it doesn't work & you cannot get the Short Codes to work at all, have the Sim card's identifying #'s available and then call the above T-Mo # for status & update/refilling help.

Callingmart dot com is another option - upon payment, they can refill directly to your mobile #'s at T-Mobile, providing that you are sure your Sim cards are still valid, active and good standing & not expired already, etc. Been using Callingmart for 10+ years to refill some of our prepaid lines for the household/extended families & in-laws, etc.

T-Mo's link - http://www.t-mobile.com/contact-us.html

Wow, thank you so much! I had simply assumed the SIM card would still be valid. It didn't even enter my mind it could have expired!

I will definitely try the short code check, and see what happens, and call the support line for assistance. I searched the FAQs on their website and read everything I could think of, but I must have missed the part about SIM cards expiring.

I'll let you know what I find out.

Thank you for your input! :)

Katie

So I used the online chat and the rep couldn't help me at all, said she couldn't pull up the account and told me to call the international help line instead, or just reactivate the SIM in a store once I'm the USA. When I repeated that to get to any store at all I'd need a working smart phone to use for navigation, which I wouldn't have, she asked if I had any more questions.
So I guess the next step is the help line which is going to cost me ;)

Glad to hear you re-discovered to check that first. That's T-Mo Int'l Helpline is toll-free if calling from a T-Mo line/device, although in your case - might not be the case. Go use Skype, Google Voice, Talkatone or another VoIP to call in and speak to them. Last time I used the "Chat" feature, I was able to swap out Sim card needed for iPhone use.

I'm afraid, however, if the Chat rep said she cannot pull up your account info, etc. - that odds are that your Sim cards had expired already & useless with the (once valid) mobile # assigned - if it's more than 60 or 90 days (I don't recall off hand) it cannot be re-activated, any & all stored values are gone. It happened to one of our lines, managed to keep the phone # and Gold status, lost all the unused balance but refilled it & still going - $10 USD a year, one of my emergency phones (no internet access :p)

Unless you had refilled it within the last 3 to 6 months and/or have a large balance for automatic debit/recharge every 90 days, the Sim cards are 98.5% expired, I am afriad - sorry. Going to need new ones. You will most likely need to wait till landing @ LAX and go find/buy a new prepaid T-Mo Starter Kit & activate. If you need navigation to the hotel from airport, why not do an offline map download first or use one of the free offline navigation app for iOS. You will be a taking a shuttle bus from the airport terminal over to car rentals, most near Century Blvd. and if it's a place like Hertz, they have self-service kiosk inside that will print GPS driving direction for you - that will get you to your nearby hotel also.

From the hotel, it's a matter of finding a T-Mobile retailer/agent nearby, or, head to a Walmart location where you can pickup, as an alternative, MNVO like StraightTalk as they have starter kit with sims for use with AT&T and for T-Mo networks. Let us know.

That SIM is toast. Just get a new one. And if you know you won't have mobile internet on the road at first, look up store locations beforehand or while you have access to the internet via Wifi as typically offered at airports for example.

Just for the record, I have the legacy plan and can top up through the website. No need to receive any text messages. And it does work abroad as well.

For offline navigation, you can use something like OsmAnd (edit: not sure if the iOS version can do navigation as well).

Yes, it's now confirmed, the SIM card has already expired so I'll need a new one. Thank you everyone for your help!

T-Mobile also has a new prepaid tourist plan $30 USD for 2GB of LTE data, unlimited slow data after that. It is finally catching up to several international carriers who've sold specialized plans to tourists avoiding roaming fees for years! Not the best deal but it does come with a free sim and T-Mobile in-store setup so you won't need to find wifi (which I've had to do to activate some international sim kits) or anything else to get it going.

https://prepaid-phones.t-mobile.com/...l-tourist-plan
http://www.cnet.com/news/t-mobile-to...or-30-dollars/