topic Re: Sim Card Reactivation in Get Support

Sim Card Reactivation

Gerry_P — Wed, 05 Jan 2022 18:09:29 GMT

Asking for my daughter. She just returned from being out of the country for 6 months. Her credit card was compromised so she had to cancel it which affected her auto pay. She tried to access her PM account to add money but it appears that she is locked out.

How can she get her sim card activated again?

Thanks,

Gerry

Re: Sim Card Reactivation

Anonymous — Thu, 10 Sep 2020 02:35:54 GMT

@Gerry_P wrote:
Asking for my daughter. She just returned from being out of the country for 6 months. Her credit card was compromised so she had to cancel it which affected her auto pay. She tried to access her PM account to add money but it appears that she is locked out.
How can she get her sim card activated again?

Thanks,
Gerry

How long ago did a last payment go out? Accounts can be suspended for 90 days before they get fully deactivated. After that all new everything is needed.

Re: Sim Card Reactivation

computergeek541 — Thu, 10 Sep 2020 02:36:56 GMT

@Gerry_P wrote:
Asking for my daughter. She just returned from being out of the country for 6 months. Her credit card was compromised so she had to cancel it which affected her auto pay. She tried to access her PM account to add money but it appears that she is locked out.
How can she get her sim card activated again?

Sorry, but she can't if servce has been suspended for more than 90 days. She'll need to purchase a new sim card and activate a new service with a new phone number.

Re: Sim Card Reactivation

Daps — Thu, 10 Sep 2020 02:36:40 GMT

@Gerry_P Sorry to be the bearer of bad news.

If her account was suspended or expired for 90 days, then it has been closed.

She will need to get a new account and sim, as the old sim will no longer work.

Re: Sim Card Reactivation

Gerry_P — Thu, 10 Sep 2020 02:39:16 GMT

It's probably been more than 90 days. So she can't even reactivate a new sim with the existing phone number?

Re: Sim Card Reactivation

computergeek541 — Thu, 10 Sep 2020 02:41:08 GMT

@Gerry_P wrote:
It's probably been more than 90 days. So she can't even reactivate a new sim with the existing phone number?

Sorry, but she no longer has rights to that number. If it has already been reassigned, there isn't any way to get it back.

Re: Sim Card Reactivation

Anonymous — Thu, 10 Sep 2020 02:42:43 GMT

@Gerry_P wrote:
It's probably been more than 90 days. So she can't even reactivate a new sim with the existing phone number?

If she inserts the SIM and tries to call 611...what happens?

If she transferred the number in from somewhere other than Telus or Koodo then the number will have reverted back to the originating carrier.

If from Telus or Koodo or here then try the number and see if someone has claimed it. If not then there's a slight chance of regaining it.

Re: Sim Card Reactivation

Gerry_P — Thu, 10 Sep 2020 02:48:26 GMT

It was originally a Telus number. I just called the number and it said the number is not in service. So there is a chance she can still keep that number?

Re: Sim Card Reactivation

Anonymous — Thu, 10 Sep 2020 02:49:54 GMT

@Gerry_P wrote:
It was originally a Telus number. I just called the number and it said the number is not in service. So there is a chance she can still keep that number?

Slim. You'd need to talk to the moderators.

It could be that someone else has it but it's suspended.

How'd it go with 611?

Re: Sim Card Reactivation

Gerry_P — Thu, 10 Sep 2020 02:58:58 GMT

She's not here right now as she is in quarantine till Sept 19. But I'll get hold of her tomorrow & tell her to try it. What should happen when you call 611?

Thanks,

Gerry

Re: Sim Card Reactivation

cellphoneuser1 — Thu, 10 Sep 2020 03:00:23 GMT

@Gerry_P Calling *611 would give her information about her account. If the account is deactivated, this call will fail.

Re: Sim Card Reactivation

Anonymous — Thu, 10 Sep 2020 03:02:16 GMT

@Gerry_P wrote:
She's not here right now as she is in quarantine till Sept 19. But I'll get hold of her tomorrow & tell her to try it. What should happen when you call 611?

Thanks,
Gerry

If it's inside of 90 days of suspension, the recording will say you're suspended and want money. That means the account is still alive.

After that...well...I'm not sure. Maybe someone with a dead SIM could pipe in.

Re: Sim Card Reactivation

Daps — Thu, 10 Sep 2020 03:08:34 GMT

@Gerry_P If the number was originally from Telus and it's not assigned to anyone, you may be in luck. While you activate a new plan, you might be able to get the number back (see the link below). If it doesn't work out, the backup plan can be moderator's assistance.

"With a new phone number, you’ll have to choose your city and province to get an area code. You can also select the option to customize the last 4 digits of your number."

source: https://www.publicmobile.ca/en/bc/get-help/articles/choose-your-phone-number

Re: Sim Card Reactivation

Korth — Thu, 10 Sep 2020 03:51:03 GMT

@computergeek541 wrote:
Sorry, but she no longer has rights to that number. If it has already been reassigned, there isn't any way to get it back.

Phone number recycling is standard practice. Deactivated phone numbers are deliberately kept unavailable for a time - it used to be at least 180 days, now typically 90 days, sometimes (alarmingly!) in high-density high-demand number blocks it can be reassigned in less than 30 days. It is possible for an operator to reclaim a customer's number before reassignment in theory, but it seems almost impossible in practice.

This can be problematic if you've used your phone number for secured 2FA. The new "owner" of the phone number could use it as a backdoor to your stuff.

This person probably knows nothing about the phone number's history, nothing about the person who had it before - unless useful information and links continue to be sent to the phone number after reassignment.

Re: Sim Card Reactivation

Gerry_P — Thu, 10 Sep 2020 03:50:25 GMT

Is there any way to get the number back if it has not been reassigned? I called the number and the recording said the number is out of service.

Re: Sim Card Reactivation

Anonymous — Thu, 10 Sep 2020 03:53:17 GMT

@Gerry_P wrote:
Is there any way to get the number back if it has not been reassigned? I called the number and the recording said the number is out of service.

But it COULD have been reassigned. Heck it COULD still belong to her. It's just that it's not going to an active account. And only the moderators would be able to know that.

She (or someone with all the right credentials) would need to contact the moderators.

But try the 611 first.

Re: Sim Card Reactivation

Korth — Thu, 10 Sep 2020 04:00:58 GMT

@Gerry_P wrote:
Is there any way to get the number back if it has not been reassigned? I called the number and the recording said the number is out of service.

You can contact the @CS_Agent through private message or Simon chatbot support ticket.

They might, maybe, be able to reclaim it. They might not. I think not. But it doesn't hurt to ask. And the faster they can act the greater the odds of success will be.

When you activate a Public Mobile account with a new number (instead of importing an existing number from elsewhere) you can choose a number from a list of available numbers. There's always a chance that the number you want is there again ... that it hasn't been randomly assigned or selected by anyone else yet ... but lol, the odds seem highly improbable. There are, however, pretty fair odds that some similar numbers might be available, if that helps.

The number registry system is an entity beyond Public Mobile (and beyond Telus).

Re: Sim Card Reactivation

darlicious — Thu, 10 Sep 2020 10:19:52 GMT

@Gerry_P

Do you feel lucky? With dedication and determination and a whole lot of luck it is possible according to @kselmak who has achieved this........

Then your account gone for sure, I'm sorry

You can try the suggestions above

Pick the same area code and the town (exchange) to get first 3 digits the same. It may take some time but it's doable.

I did it for somebody else who accidentally changed their number. It took me hours.

It's best to do it during signup

Try dialing to see if it was taken, if it's still free you may need lucky.

You can also contact moderators if you are unable to get it (very old number and exchange doesn't show up)

You can reach them here https://productioncommunity.publicmobile.ca/t5/notes/composepage/note-to-user-id/22437 ☘🍀