Well Michael29101950, what you posted back in 2023 is now "rubbish" as you so rudely put it. If you order a replacement SIM today, Smarty will deactivate your number immediately and you will not get re-connected until the replacement SIM arrives which is minimum of two working days. Obviously if your SIM has been stolen, lost or simply dead, immediate deactivation is fine.
However, if your SIM has simply stopped making and receiving calls (VOIfailure) but texts and data still function which has just happened to me and apparently to many others posting to this forum, having my SMS texts barred for two days is an additional nuisance on top of the phone failure. In today's world, SMS texts is the preferred way by which verification codes are sent by almost everybody, so not being able to receive SMS for a minimum of two working days is an absolute nuisance.
Smarty's system for SIM replacement is designed only for a situation where the SIM has been stolen or lost. Unfortunately, Smarty's system is not flexible enough nor is their AI intelligent enough to cater for a situation where a replacement is being required because the old SIM is partially or intermittently faulty.
There are a numerous manufacturers of SIMs. Service providers need to be aware that some manufacturer's SIMs do fail after a while and that SIM failure can easily lead to loss of a customer. They should therefore have systems & procedures in place that caters for situations other than theft/loss and stop assuming that it's the fault of the phone or its settings or switching off of 3G or whatever. Or maybe they should simply send out new SIM cards every 4-5years given that typical life expectancy is only 5 years.
