Samsung Galaxy S6 Edge - Sim Activation Problem

[JimmyLJ]

Received new phone on 25/4, popped the SIM in, switched on and waited for it to activate on the network..... No joy, unable to connect, emergency calls only.

Popped on live chat and the agent advised that the account set-up hadn't completed correctly, and this was preventing the SIM from activating.  Escalated the problem to another team and advised that this should be resolved within 24 hours.  As there's no mobile number associated with my account when I log-in, I asked if they could tell me what my phone number would be, unfortunately not as the number is generated when the SIM activation process completes.

Sadly 24 hours later, same problem, so I called customer services.  They confirmed what had been said in the live chat and that the problem had been escalated to one of the technical teams, however advised that would be unable to provide a time scale for resolution of the problem.

Same problem on 27/4, rang again, no update, still escalated with technical team, but there is a phone number registered against my account (although this still isn’t showing online).

Same problem on 28/4, rang again, spoke to an agent, reviewed the problem history and advised that because of the on-going nature of the problem, they would take ownership and arrange for it be passed to one of the technical staff on their team.  Would also waive the first month’s payment.  Great stuff!

Today (29/4) - Phone is still not working.  Tried calling customer services but your IVR appears to change in the evening and the option I need to contact you isn't available.

I have to say that everyone I've spoken to so far has been extremely pleasant and appears to be trying to help with the problem.  I gather from your wait times that you're being bombarded with calls at the moment, so my hat's off to you for remaining calm and professional under pressure.

Having said that, I'm no closer to my issue being resolved :smileysad:.  I've used mobiles for the last 20 years on several different networks, I'm used to the activation process taking two hours at most to complete, and I’m now almost 5 days into the process with Vodafone with no end in sight.  For such a large telecoms company, it beggars belief that you're having so much trouble getting my phone to work.

I've Googled the SIM activation issue, and I can see that there are a lot of posts online from customers who have the same problem, many on this forum.  It looks like the CS reps check these posts, so ideally I'd like one of them to get in touch as they appear to have been able to resolve this fault for other customers.

TLDR:  Can a CS rep please get in touch as I've tried live chat and calling, and I still have an issue that needs resolving.

[JohnShep]

have the same problem my temporary vodafone number doesnt exist to vodafone I have made multiple support requests and have been waiting 5 days.

Also a visit to the vodafone store where a very unhelpfull sales rep told me in no uncertain terms he cant help me.

Apparently there was a glitch when transferring accounts to a new system and its caused quite some mayhem.

Perhaps the solution is to contact those customers affected and send a new sim if your somehow unable to reliably link the number to the sim to the account.

[JimmyLJ]

I was thinking of trying a visit to one of the Vodafone stores, but after your experience, I think that may be a non-starter.  I've just called Customer Services and been advised that the incident is making its way around the various teams for the set-up to be completed manually.  I'm still within the 14 day cancellation period, so I think I'll give it until after the bank holiday and see if the phone starts working, if not then I'll look into cancelling.  

I'm also not looking forward to going through the porting process given some of the horror stories on here, although the CS rep did advise that it's a much simpler process and should only take 1 working day to complete... fingers crossed.

[PHIL2511]

I'm having exactly the same issue. I'm feeling a little better as it's not just me but it's really starting to wind me up. If it doesnt work soon it's time to leave Vodafone. Where to is the question ?

[JimmyLJ]

I'm still with Three at the moment (until I can port my number), and have been for about 5 years.  My experience with them has been good, barring the occasional signal / data outage, no issues with my contract, account, or customer service.  However, I know other people who have had a terrible experience with Three and can't wait to leave.  From speaking to friends, colleagues and reading online, there are horror stories about all of the networks, there's no best choice.  I chose Vodafone as the combination of the employee discount and the inclusion of NOW TV meant I'd be saving money.  I just lost the game of new customer Russian Roulette.

[JimmyLJ]

I'm in the same situation, did you manage to get this resolved?

[JimmyLJ]

Hi heiser1st, did you manage to get this resolved?  I find myself in a similar situation and would like an idea of how long it took for Vodafone to fix the issue.

[JimmyLJ]

Hi rsammie14, I hope Vodafone managed to resolve this for you and get the SIM activated.  I'm in a similar situation and was just wondering how long it took to resolve the problem.

[Jenny]

Hi @JimmyLJ @JohnShep and @PHIL2511,

I’m sorry to hear of the problems you’re all having.

I’ve sent you each a private message with instructions on how to get in touch, so we can look into this further.

We aim to reply to emails within 48 hours. If you need a quicker response, please visit our Contact Us page.

Thanks,

Jenny

[JimmyLJ]

Hi Jenny!  I've responded to the pm.