Prepaid SIM deactivated after being in India for more than a year

JSRJJ

JSRJJ

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One of my friends to his surprise found today morning that his prepaid SIM has stopped working. Its been last 15 years he has the same number.

Since last year he is in India and as of today it has around ZAR 150 balance. The MSISDN was never used for making/receiving calls or sending SMS while he is in international roaming. Only thing he was using his phone is get the OTP SMS from banks and other AD authentications.

He phoned vodacom today to activate the SIM but since he does not have answers to the questions that they ask, he is kind of helpless now. What was the last recharge and give the last 5 numbers you called.

He recharged sometime last year before going to India so he does not remember what was the recharge amount. He also does not remember the last 5 numbers he called from his MSISDN as its been such a long time.

Is there anyone here from VODACOM who can actually help to activate the number/MSISDN before it is reassigned to someone else. He will be in deep **** if this happens. Thanks in advance for looking into this. Now also I can not activate another SIM card and courier the same to him via DHL/FedEx as all international flights from here to India has stopped.
 
What about his Vodacom online app? Surely he can log into this still?
 
I've lost a number the same way.

MTN though.

Number isn't re-allocated last time I checked (it doesn't ring when called) but they still won't give it back to me.

"Computer says no" kind of situation.

Please tag me if you find an argument/solution so I can try the same @Chinmaya

Good luck!
 
Chinmaya said:
One of my friends to his surprise found today morning that his prepaid SIM has stopped working. Its been last 15 years he has the same number.

Since last year he is in India and as of today it has around ZAR 150 balance. The MSISDN was never used for making/receiving calls or sending SMS while he is in international roaming. Only thing he was using his phone is get the OTP SMS from banks and other AD authentications.

He phoned vodacom today to activate the SIM but since he does not have answers to the questions that they ask, he is kind of helpless now. What was the last recharge and give the last 5 numbers you called.

He recharged sometime last year before going to India so he does not remember what was the recharge amount. He also does not remember the last 5 numbers he called from his MSISDN as its been such a long time.

Is there anyone here from VODACOM who can actually help to activate the number/MSISDN before it is reassigned to someone else. He will be in deep **** if this happens. Thanks in advance for looking into this. Now also I can not activate another SIM card and courier the same to him via DHL/FedEx as all international flights from here to India has stopped.
Click to expand...
Lol it's old news that if you don't use a sim for 3 months the number gets recycled. Everyone knows it by now so not sure what's so surprising?
 
backstreetboy said:
Lol it's old news that if you don't use a sim for 3 months the number gets recycled. Everyone knows it by now so not sure what's so surprising?
Click to expand...
But he has used it - for receiving bank OTP SMSs.

I can understand if he hadn't connected to the network for months. Connecting by roaming partners shouldn't make a diffs.
 
Chinmaya said:
Now also I can not activate another SIM card and courier the same to him via DHL/FedEx as all international flights from here to India has stopped.
Click to expand...
Have you confirmed this with any courier service? There are routes other than direct ones.
 
There has to be activity from your side. Even just a topup will keep it alive.

SMS's received will not keep it alive as you can get a lot of spam SMS's and Vodacom will not take those into account.
 
Dan C said:
There has to be activity from your side. Even just a topup will keep it alive.

SMS's received will not keep it alive as you can get a lot of spam SMS's and Vodacom will not take those into account.
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That's idiotic.
Still, I presume it's in their contract (yes, prepaid services have a contract, legally speaking). If it were me I'd check the prepaid agreement Ts&Cs very carefully.
 
Arthur said:
That's idiotic.
Still, I presume it's in their contract (yes, prepaid services have a contract, legally speaking). If it were me I'd check the prepaid agreement Ts&Cs very carefully.
Click to expand...

Vodacom – SIM activity​

Vodacom said it watches for outgoing usage – which includes making calls, sending an SMS, or consuming data – on its SIMs.

Recharging a SIM with airtime also qualifies as “activity”.

“If there has been no qualifying usage then the number is marked for deletion,” said Vodacom.

In the event that your number got recycled and you want it back, Vodacom said your only real chance is if you were on a contract.

mybroadband.co.za

Use it or lose it – SIM card and data rules in South Africa

If you don’t use a SIM or load it with airtime every few months, it could be recycled.
mybroadband.co.za mybroadband.co.za
 
Networks should warn their clients (through) before they deactivate the number and suggest what should be done to avooid deactivation.
 
Chinmaya said:
@bwana @MightyQuin
this was weeks ago when I had to send a document and I went to postnet Sunninghill. They said they are not sure when it will reach India but it will be there. Also went to SAPO. They said that outgoing flights are cancelled and don’t know when services will resume. Will go and check again at a direct FedEx DHL facility.

Everyone Thanks for your time and support so far.
Click to expand...
I work with DHL every month and had the same fears when I, ironically enough, wanted to ship International sim cards to South Africa a month or so ago.

Spoke to DHL and they confirmed that passenger flight cancellation has nothing to do with their operations.
 
Chinmaya said:
@bwana @MightyQuin
this was weeks ago when I had to send a document and I went to postnet Sunninghill. They said they are not sure when it will reach India but it will be there. Also went to SAPO. They said that outgoing flights are cancelled and don’t know when services will resume. Will go and check again at a direct FedEx DHL facility.

Everyone Thanks for your time and support so far.
Click to expand...
Maybe he should get one of these?

travelsim.com

Asia SIM Card - Travelsim

Get an Asia SIM card from TravelSim and stay connected while traveling through Asia.
travelsim.com travelsim.com
 
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