Loaded a 1GB DATA Bundle to an expired Sim Card

[JET@WORK]

Hi, I Found My Long Lost Vodafone Data Card. Got Excited and bought Myself a Vodacom Sim card and Immediately Loaded a 1GB Data Bundle via my Cellphone Banking. After a couple of minutes of not being able to Browse. I Decided to Dial the Vodacom 100 Number and I immediately got an automatic voice prompt saying that my 071 number printed on the starter pack has expired and here is my new 079 number.

I then called Vodacom to inquire about my 1GB Data loaded onto the new card and they told me that it will all be transferred within an hour. That was 17H30 Sunday.

I called again at around 21H00 and the lady this time said the Guy I spoke to earlier was not telling the truth and that I had lost my data and vodacom could do nothing about it. She further said I should wait an extra 8 hours and hopefully my data might be transferred.

I just spoke to another consultant who then said its my fault that I loaded Airtime to an inactive number and that is My Loss.

I think somewhere in their prompt they said that what ever was on the old sim will be transferred to the new card. Can anyone confirm this?

Has anybody come across this and how did this get resolved.

Any Help will be welcome.

 

[Park@82]

Thats pretty bad man. How does one check when the card expires?

 

[ginggs]

I Decided to Dial the Vodacom 100 Number and I immediately got an automatic voice prompt saying that my 071 number printed on the starter pack has expired and here is my new 079 number.

IIRC, it's in the instructions included in the starter pack that you should dial 100 to activate the SIM.

I hope Vodacom do transfer your data bundle though, it's the reasonable thing for them to do.

How does one check when the card expires?

It's normally printed on the starter pack, near the SIM's telephone number.

 

[ic]

Hi, I Found My Long Lost Vodafone Data Card. Got Excited and bought Myself a Vodacom Sim card and Immediately Loaded a 1GB Data Bundle via my Cellphone Banking. After a couple of minutes of not being able to Browse. I Decided to Dial the Vodacom 100 Number and I immediately got an automatic voice prompt saying that my 071 number printed on the starter pack has expired and here is my new 079 number.

I then called Vodacom to inquire about my 1GB Data loaded onto the new card and they told me that it will all be transferred within an hour. That was 17H30 Sunday.

I called again at around 21H00 and the lady this time said the Guy I spoke to earlier was not telling the truth and that I had lost my data and vodacom could do nothing about it. She further said I should wait an extra 8 hours and hopefully my data might be transferred.

I just spoke to another consultant who then said its my fault that I loaded Airtime to an inactive number and that is My Loss.

I think somewhere in their prompt they said that what ever was on the old sim will be transferred to the new card. Can anyone confirm this?

Has anybody come across this and how did this get resolved.

Any Help will be welcome.

Unfortunately you stuffed up by not first doing the new SIM Card activation step, so any airtime or PPDB you purchased against the expired 071 number is lost in the ether, or you have donated airtime credit or a PPDB to some lucky person that is the current user of that particular 071 number.

You could try calling or SMS'ing that 071 number to see if it is active or not, if it is not active then getting a refund might be easier - although you would have to take that up with your bank since you used Cellphone Banking.

 

[JET@WORK]

If you purchase a Sim from a store you would hope that the number would be active as I tried choosing an easy number. My big mistake there.

So I Called the number and it just said "You have reached the voice mail of 071 xxx xxxx ..." I guess this means that the number is active somewhere.

Thanks for your help guys...

 

[ic]

If you purchase a Sim from a store you would hope that the number would be active as I tried choosing an easy number. My big mistake there.

So I Called the number and it just said "You have reached the voice mail of 071 xxx xxxx ..." I guess this means that the number is active somewhere.

Thanks for your help guys...

I think you made someone very happy and confused at the same time - unfortunately not much hope of getting your money back from your bank.

As a matter of interest, what was the expiry date on the pre-paid starter pack that you bought, i.e. how long ago did the cell number on the pack expire?

 

[ginggs]

You could try calling or SMS'ing that 071 number to see if it is active or not, if it is not active then getting a refund might be easier - although you would have to take that up with your bank since you used Cellphone Banking.

I think the banks all say no refunds for airtime purchases, I think your best bet is to convince someone at Vodacom to manually move the data bundle from the expired number to the correct number.

 

[JET@WORK]

As a matter of interest, what was the expiry date on the pre-paid starter pack that you bought, i.e. how long ago did the cell number on the pack expire?

April This Year. Purchased Sunday Afternoon at a pick 'n Pay store. I would think that shops will remove Sim Cards from the store if they expire. I am increasingly loosing hope over my data being returned.

Vodacom Consultants still say that the data should have been transferred while others continue to say that its my loss.

Does anyone know or any policy document around this issue or anywhere I can read regarding the terms and conditions relating on an expired number. I have bought the data and have proof that this is my number. I dont think Vodacom will be losing in any way. Could'nt the system reject the purchase then saying that the number does not exist.

 

[ic]

April This Year. Purchased Sunday Afternoon at a pick 'n Pay store. I would think that shops will remove Sim Cards from the store if they expire. I am increasingly loosing hope over my data being returned.

Vodacom Consultants still say that the data should have been transferred while others continue to say that its my loss.

Does anyone know or any policy document around this issue or anywhere I can read regarding the terms and conditions relating on an expired number. I have bought the data and have proof that this is my number. I dont think Vodacom will be losing in any way. Could'nt the system reject the purchase then saying that the number does not exist.

I'm not following your logic there.

You have already tested the 071 number to see if it is active, and based on the fact that you get a voicemail message when calling that number, it must surely be a number that is allocated to someone else.

Effectively what has happened, is that [using your bank's Cellphone Banking service] you have purchased airtime or a PPDB, and have given that to some arbitrary person, who is the current user of that 071 number.

I don't see how Vodacom nor VSP can intercede since they only know that you intended to purchase airtime or a PPDB for that particular 071 number, and neither Vodacom nor VSP can confirm that you are the rightful owner of the bank account that sourced the transaction - only your bank can confirm that.

IMO your only hope is to convince your bank to reverse the transaction - but as ginggs has pointed out, most banks tend to indemnify themselves against pre-paid purchase refunds. At the very least, your bank will be able to tell you what its own pre-paid purchase dispute resolution procedure is, if any exists.

 

[JET@WORK]

I'm not following your logic there.

I don't see how Vodacom nor VSP can intercede since they only know that you intended to purchase airtime or a PPDB for that particular 071 number, and neither Vodacom nor VSP can confirm that you are the rightful owner of the bank account that sourced the transaction - only your bank can confirm that.

IMO your only hope is to convince your bank to reverse the transaction - but as ginggs has pointed out, most banks tend to indemnify themselves against pre-paid purchase refunds. At the very least, your bank will be able to tell you what its own pre-paid purchase dispute resolution procedure is, if any exists.

I meant that I have a Starter pack with the 071 number printed on it and would assume that this is my number as that would be my certificate of ownership.

I guess I would just have to track down the owner and ask him/her to at least use the data if they cant transfer it to me as to avoid it going to waste.

Once again Thanks guys.