Replacemnt for possible faulty SIM

[DavidWi_3294396]

New customer to Smarty and was looking forward to the experience, however am having issues with the SIM intermittently not making calls. Am I correct in understanding that if the new SIM provided is possibly intermittently faulty, I will have to order a new one as though I have lost the old one, and the service being temporarily suspended?  This seems ridicules as it means I will be without a phone when its clearly the responsibility of Smarty for not providing  working equipment.  

This has implication regards business calls, and that I will be paying form my monthly service without possibility to use.

Can anyone confirm, or suggest options.

Thanks

[SmartyTrousers]

@DavidWi_3294396 If the SIM is working for other things (e.g. data) but not calls, it's highly unlikely the SIM is faulty. What's more likely is that your phone is not fully compatible with Smarty's 4G calling or there's a network issue in your area.

[MSF]

@DavidWi_3294396 Couple of points here:

1. You are without a working phone now if the sim is faulty - they can only send you another one - what else?

2. There are times when things don't work correctly - but who's to say that you did not inadvertently damage the sim somehow?

3. Smarty make it clear that their service is not for business purposes - that is in the T&C's

I can confirm that a lost or stolen (or in this case faulty( sim can be reported and a replacement sim sent out which then needs activation as per instructions.

Before doing that, have you tried the sim in another phone to exclude the possibility of your phone being faulty?

[DavidWi_3294396]

Thank you for the replies.

As I pointed out in my original post, the fault had been intermittent, not completely dead.  I can get the phone making calls when faulty by turning off mobile communications or restarting the phone.  Hence leading me to conclude that there may be a fault with the SIM or a teething problem with remaining registered on the network, a problem previously experience when change SIM, even with the same provider.

My other point was that its unusual to not be able to receive a new SIM and then change services when the new SIM was installed.  This has always been the processes conducted by O2, my previous provider for over 10 years.  Therefore, I was surprised that there are not similar provisions with SMARTY.  I can understand the issue of lost or stolen phones requiring the approach taken but this does not work when there is a suspected Intermittent SIM fault.

I would also just say the responses to my post have not felt helpful and supportive, and some what superior and accusatory.  I was looking for alternatives options for getting a new SIM, or confirmation of SMARTY policy being the only option.

I am a fully qualified BEng Electronics Engineer with many years experience in all forms of communication technology, and in my past involved with research development in that area.  I am aware of the durability and design of equipment and would say that the SIM is designed for durability and with the very intention of non technical persons to be able swap them out.  Its therefore very unlikely that I would have damaged it while installing. I am also very aware of the communication capabilities of my Phone for 4G and 5G calling.

Thank you for the suggestion.  I hope from my explanation you will see they are all the obvious things that I would have and did try before contacting Customer Services and posting on here.

I am glad to report that the issue has stabilised and I am therefor seeing this as an network registering teething problem with the SIM and phone number porting.

[SmartyTrousers]

@DavidWi_3294396 I agree that it's unlikely you would have damaged the SIM while installing, but it's also unlikely you would have received a faulty SIM. I consider myself a mobile network geek, and have switched networks and swapped SIMs between devices many, many times over the years, and not once have I encountered a faulty SIM.

Regarding you being aware of your phone's 4G and 5G capabilities, I'm sure you are, but you may be less aware that if your phone doesn't have the specific configuration necessary to work with Smarty's VoLTE, it may still struggle to make and receive calls, despite it supporting VoLTE in general. Hence me providing the link I did.

[Rebekah_150 · Accepted solution]

Hi DavidWi_3294396,

Yes if you order a replacement SIM your service will need to be fully suspended until a new one arrives, this sis a system limitation that we are not able to get around.

I however don't think that a replacement SIM would be useful, if this was a SIM isssue the faults you are experiencing would be more wide spread.

My recommendation would be to text if you can make and receive calls and texts to Three mobile and non Three mobile numbers. 

If you haven’t already done so, you can also try the following to potentially regain a connection;

• Restarting your device and/or resetting your Network Settings (this does not affect your device storage, apps, pictures, etc.). This will refresh your connection to the serving site, prompting a stronger signal.
• Toggling Airplane Mode/Mobile Data off and on. This essentially resets the IP connection, establishing a fresh new connection once linked to the network – this will prompt your device and SIM to connect to a stronger signal.
• Please try your SIM in another device, to confirm that this is not a handset compatibility issue
• You can remove any saved APN credentials, restart your handset and then re-add the required APN if your device doesn’t seem to automatically connect to a strong network signal – please find guidance on the correct APN set-up via the following link: here
• Resetting your network settings will remove all Bluetooth pairings and stored Wi-Fi networks.
  • Open Settings and then tap General management.
  • Reset, and then tap Reset network settings.
  • Tap Reset settings. You will prompted to enter your PIN or password to continue if you have one set.
  • Finally, tap Reset.

[MSF]

@DavidWi_3294396  Well...who's being accusatory now ?!

I was trying to be factual and to the point while offering what should be helpful advice.

I did in fact confirm that the only way to get a Replacement Sim was by reporting the current one via the "lost or stolen" route. I'm at a loss to see what was unhelpful or accusatory about that albeit that may not have been the answer you wanted to read.

You may be much more qualified than I am with your degree in electronics engineering (- superior attitude? ) - but it didn't help with this problem really.

O2 may well do things differently, including charging more - but there is presumably a reason why you are not with them currently.

Of course, if we had known exactly what you had tried beforehand, that may have affected the response.

Finally, it is good that the issue has settled down for you now but my comment about business use stands, as you will be able to read in the T&C's.