New SIM card purchased from Walmart is not deteced

[calp8]

I activated a new account but SIM card is bad, tried it in 3 unlocked phones and is not detected

 What to do next? Walmart says SIM cards are not refundable.

[calp8]

Update for anybody running into this - received new SIM from the Moderators team and problems are gone - SIM works in both phones. So Walmart might be selling bad or expired cards - they are different colour around the SIM (orange from Walmart, blue from PM direct).

Cheers,

Chris

[stonechucker]

Okay... that's progress.  The phones that work on Bell, as long as they are unlocked (you've said they are), the a working SIM card from PM should also work.

Mods shouldn't take too long to get back to you.  I wish you luck.

[calp8]

Thank you for the feedback. Unfortunately now I'm down to second SIM card that is undetected. My second phone is a Nexus 6P with a SIM tray, so there is no room for error there - still says No SIM. I have a Bell SIM card that works on both phones (Nexus and Samsung Galaxy). I provided both SIM card numbers to the moderators team but now they are not very fast to respond now. Is either I was lucky to get cards from a bad batch (i went to same Walmart thinking I can get a refund but SIM cards are not refundable) or PM has some backend issues which they don't want to acknowledge.

Still waiting for a solution or suggestion as I opened a new account yesterday and hasn't been able to use a second of airtime or a byte of data.

[stonechucker]

@calp8, are you sure your devices are compatible with the network?  Depending on the technology in the phones, they may be old 2G network usable (ie Rogers and thheir other brands), and not able to work on Telus/Bell, as Telus and Bell do not support 2G phones anymore.

[Dragonstongue]

they can be a pita to install proper because of the way they are "cut" on the 3 in 1 style card.

I mentioned they need to make the little plastic "legs" a bit tougher or something so that they do not all break when you try to get it off the card for the size you will need.

took me a bit for my Moto G4 Play as I needed ummm micro sim? (3 parts I had to use the one below the full size on the card, it came apart from the plastic part when I took if off the card, the smallest one would not work with my phone even though it is supposed to)

I had to fight with it probably 15 mins to line it up "just right" to slide into the SIM card slot, seems to work just fine, but is a PITA compared to what it "could be" IMO

Public Mobile is a great company however (beyond the very rare issues, but who does not have those) the service is good, the Mod Team is very quick to respond compared to waiting on the phone for an hour or longer (to each their own) and the price is very reasonable for what one is given...I am very happy overall since I made the switch from Telus in the new year 2018 (I was with them for a couple of years)

[CS_Agent]

Hey @calp8, 

Yes, if you think that the issue is coming from the SIM card then please go ahead and make the purchase and I will take care of the credit for you. 

Before making any changes, can you please quickly send me a private message with your current SIM card number? I just want to make sure there are no issues on our end.

Thanks,

Shazia 

[calp8]

This sounds good, I'm at Walmart right now so I can get a new SIM and try it on the spot. How do I get the credit, is $11.30 after tax?

[MoreYummy]

The best way to test is using another phone or other's sim card.  

If no such option, then getting another sim is the only way to go unfortunately.  

[CS_Agent]

Hello @calp8, 

Thank you for reaching out to us, I'm sorry to hear that you're having an issue with a faulty SIM card. 

If it's easier for you to pick up a new SIM card at any Walmart location, can you please do that? I will be glad to apply a $10 credit on your account to cover the cost of the SIM card, this is simply to bypass the waiting period before you receive a SIM card by mail.

Please let me know if this helps. 

Thanks,

Shazia

[calp8]

Yes, SIM card is not seen by any phone, first time seen this. Trouble is that I'm paying for PM service since yesterday but I can't use it and a card replacement will take at least 1week to arrive based on what I read.

[will13am · Accepted solution]

@calp8, just to make sure it is not an account issue, have you checked in the self serve portal and the account that you activated is in active status.  When you say SIM card is not detected, do you mean that the phones do not see the presence of a SIM card or the SIM card is not allowing connection to the Public Mobile network.  If the SIM card is indeed defective, I recommend consulting with the moderator team for a replacement.  The moderator team can be reached via private message using this link.  Refer to the following knowledge base link for information on contacting the moderator team.