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Group Plans + Bonus SIM Card

Richard_1839897
SMARTY Pioneer
SMARTY Pioneer

Hi All, new customer here.

 

I got a Bonus SIM in with my new SIM so thought I would get my Daughter a contract.  Disappointing too see that the new offers are only available to new customers, but I digress.  So I am all set up, I click on the Group Plan button and then click I HAVE A BONUS SIM.  I'm then told to activate the bonus card.....which I cannot do as I would need to create a whole new account for my 14 year old Daughter.

So I try activating it on my name....which then wants to send me a brand new SIM, even though I have a "BONUS" one in front of me.

So I cannot activate a BONUS sim to an old account?, despite what the instructions say on the screen, the only way is to order a new SIM card?, seems like a pointless expense.....why can I not just use the BONUS SIM that is sat in front of me?.

Has anyone else come across a solution before I order yet another SIM and burn up the planets resources unnecessarily?.

 

Many thanks,

Rich 

19 REPLIES 19

MSF
SMARTY Genius
SMARTY Genius

Just wondering if you are going to need to register the seem to a new account i.e. using a different email address. I seem to recall that you can only currently have one sim per email address. Anyone know something different please?

Rebekah_150
SMARTY Moderator SMARTY Moderator
SMARTY Moderator

that's right you would need to activate the sim card with a separate email address first and then they could join the group plan, or you can order a new sim card that is already part of the group 

Hi,

I'm in a similar situation to the original poster - I'm a new customer trying to use my bonus SIM. Activating using a separate email is a good idea but I don't see a way to do this.

Unless I'm very confused (or got a "bad" SIM that's leading me stray) I'm not sure how the bonus SIM instructions can lead to a working account. I find myself in this loop...

  1. In my dashboard I click "start a group"
  2. I have a bonus SIM so I chose the "I have a spare SMARTY SIM already" option, which tells me to follow instructions at https://help.smarty.co.uk/en/articles/4539514-activating-a-spare-bonus-sim-or-a-sim-bought-in-a-shop...
  3. I obey the instructions: I log out of my account and click the yellow "activate" button
  4. I fill in the bonus SIM number, and I'm then asked for my username/password to "Log in to the account you created when ordering your SIM card."
  5. (At this point there's a "Don’t have an account?" link which I thought might let me create a separate account, but this just takes me back to step 4 to re-enter the SIM number with the suggestion "Check you entered the correct SIM number")
  6. I see no other path, so I log into my account, and I'm back at step 1. I can find no reference to the bonus SIM in my account other than things that take me back to step 2, or things that offer to post me a new SIM.

I tried all this a few times to make sure I wasn't imagining things and also tried a different browser to eliminate untoward cookie influences. I'll probably just order a new SIM, but if we ignore me and just imagine I'd given the bonus SIM to a friend, I don't see how they'd end up with anything useful? The process would ask them to log into my account (step 4) and wouldn't let them create their own.

Maybe I'm missing something? 🤔

Thanks,
Dave.

marchie
SMARTY Pioneer
SMARTY Pioneer

This is my experience, too. I've tried this both with the Smarty app and via the website and the result is the same.

As Dave states, the activation process suggests the "Bonus SIM" is tied to the original account - contradicting the "give this to a friend" message on the packaging.

In my case - I actually want to use the "Bonus SIM" for my partner - so I want it to be part of a group that I own. But - as Dave describes in step 6 - once you log in to your account - you're just presented with your dashboard. There's no reference at all to the additional SIM or the fact you're completing an activation process.

George
SMARTY Moderator SMARTY Moderator
SMARTY Moderator

Hey there folks!

I'll try and answer everything here - If you receive a bonus SIM this is not attached in any way to your account and needs to be treated as a new SIM. To activate this SIM you need to click on "Activate SIM" on the SMARTY home page (whilst logged out of your account). bonus 1.jpg

Once you have clicked on this link - you would fill in the SIM number below. DO NOT CLICK TO LOG INTO THE ACCOUNT! If the number does not work the SIM may be invalid/out of date. Once you have typed this number in you would be prompted to set up a new account, again this must be done with a new email address - don't worry about the group set up just yet, once the SIM is activated you will be able to set the group up from there - steps below!

bonus 2 .jpg

 

Set Up Group - Do this whilst logged into the account you wish to be the group owner!

To become a group owner, you must:

  • be a SMARTY customer

  • be 18 years old or older 🔞

  • ensure that anyone you invite to join your Group is at least 13 years of age, or have a parent/legal guardian permission to use SMARTY

  • not already be in a Group plan

Bear in mind that each Group can only have one Group owner and the role cannot be transferred to another person within the Group.

 

 

To start a Group by adding an existing SMARTY account

The simplest way to start a Group is via our app.

group.png

  1. Log in to the app and click You > Start a Group > People > Standard profile

  2. Enter the email address of the existing SMARTY account you'd like to add to your Group.

  3. You'll be asked to confirm their email and read and accept the T&C's

  4. Send the invitation! 📨

Via the dashboard:

  1. Go to your "Group Plans" page. You will find this by logging in and clicking on "Menu" in the top right corner of your dashboard.

  2. Click Start a Group

  3. Select Add an existing SMARTY account

  4. Enter the email address of the existing SMARTY account you’d like to add to your Group, and click Continue

  5. Read carefully, confirm the T&Cs, and click Send invitation! 🤜🤛

Next steps:

  • You won’t be charged with any payments at this point.

  • We’ll send an invitation to the email address you provided.

  • Once the existing member logs in and accepts your invitation, we’ll add them to your Group and send you a confirmation email with details of their plan and when their next payment is due.

Once you receive your confirmation email, you’ll have access to your new Group account. Head to your dashboard, and open your “Menu" on the top right corner. You'll always see the names of each of your Group accounts below yours. Simply click on a name to switch and navigate between accounts.

 

Hope this helps!

George

djm
SMARTY Maverick
SMARTY Maverick

Thanks George. The path is a little different for me than described, specifically this bit doesn't happen:

> Once you have typed this number in you would be prompted to set up a new account

I tried again and took some screenshots along the way. I see the following and I've highlighted what I'm clicking. This is on a desktop, logged out, incognito browser:

Step 1

Step 2

Step 3

Step 4

I see similar on the Android app. It guess the SIM number is valid because the process continues rather than erroring. Like I say, I'll probably just order a new SIM but thought this was a bit of a curiosity and might be impacting others.

George
SMARTY Moderator SMARTY Moderator
SMARTY Moderator

Hmm that does seem strange @djm this should only show if the SIM number should have initially been assigned to an account - did you have any problems setting up your own SIM that you received in the same packaging?

djm
SMARTY Maverick
SMARTY Maverick

My own SIM activated straight away and worked like a charm. I thought maybe I'd messed up and entered the primary SIM number by mistake but I'm definitely using the bonus SIM number.

marchie
SMARTY Pioneer
SMARTY Pioneer

@George Just giving this a +1 - my experience was exactly the same as that of @djm .

George
SMARTY Moderator SMARTY Moderator
SMARTY Moderator

Thanks for this @djm @marchie I have passed this on for you both - I have a workaround in the meantime if you do want to activate these SIMs without us delivering another SIM to you. Speak to our webchat team here smarty.co.uk/contact and make them aware you are going to set up a new account - and you are looking to use the SIM card you have in your hand. The team will be able to assign this SIM to your new account.

djm
SMARTY Maverick
SMARTY Maverick

Great, I'll do that. Thanks for your help!

Having the exact same issue, I have a group plan for my family, on of my other lads wants to join, I had already ordered sims for others so only had bonus sims laying around, so decided he can use that.

Except I have teh exact same issues noted above. I sent an email to support as I am usually busy with work, and despite giving the sim number and details I get asked to try my primary SIM. Why would I use my primary sim when trying to set up a sim with my lad on my group and he needs an account?

I have just spent hours on webchat trying to get an activated sim card an online stand alone account and eventually gave up as adviser suggested I get new sim and set up a new account,  I don't want a new number as they said smarty number can not be transferred to a new smarty sim. I've given up with it.

Patrick_1935387
SMARTY Rookie
SMARTY Rookie

Exactly the same issues they’re pointless

Stephen_1578290
SMARTY Rookie
SMARTY Rookie

Its ridiculous that you cannot just add a spare SIM to your EXISTING group by adding the SIM no. I don't want to create a new account with a new email then merge the accounts. That's crazy. Get it sorted SMARTY. I wasted so many hours today on this. 

Jon2023
SMARTY Commentator
SMARTY Commentator

I am in the same situation, the Bonus SIM from Feb 2022 when I joined cannot be added to my EXISTING a/c under my same email address so that I can have FULL visibility when I log in.

Life is too short, I just ordered a new sim that takes "upto 2 working days to process", today being a Friday afternoon and Mon is a public holiday......!

MSF
SMARTY Genius
SMARTY Genius

@Jon2023  Have you seen this article?:https://help.smarty.co.uk/en/articles/3417277-what-is-a-group-plan

It sounds like you need a 'nickname sim'

Malcia
SMARTY Enquirer
SMARTY Enquirer

Has this issue been fixed yet? I'm trying to add a bonus SIM to my own account for family member and it seems there's a lot of pointless hoops to jump through like creating a new account or whatever. Why can't we just add a new SIM to an existing account??

MSF
SMARTY Genius
SMARTY Genius

@Malcia  I don't think it will be 'fixed' as it is not seen as a fault.

You can add a sim s a 'nickname' sim in your group if you do not want to start a new account for that person. Did you see the article that I signposted?