Report on using Orange Mobicarte in France

[TraceyJ]

Originally Posted by sbrian

My problem is that I only have an available balance of 3.31 EUR, but I purchased the SIM + 25.00 EUR credit. I have managed to get my password and set up an account online with Orange : téléphones, forfaits, Internet, actualité, sport, video, and as near as I can tell, the only activity on the account was two charges on 07/03/2012 at 14:39...one is for an outgoing call for 0.220 EUR and one for "communication" for 1.472 EUR. That tells me that the original credit on the SIM was only 5.00 EUR. I'm assuming that this was part of the activation/registration process, but if the SIM had 25.00 EUR on it, then the remaining balance should be 23.31

Just wondering if you ever resolved this? My card arrived this week but there is only 5 EUR credit on it rather than 15.

Also, I have been able to create an account on the orange portail but I can't access some parts of the account as I need to provide the required ID? I purchased the sim via the ebay seller referred to in this thread so I was wondering what other people's experiences were on this?

Thanks for all the very useful info in here

[gundesen]

Hi, I bought a mobicarte through 2004ibiza. There was a handwritten 4 digit PIN # with the card. What is that for please?

[scirocco]

Originally Posted by gundesen

Hi, I bought a mobicarte through 2004ibiza. There was a handwritten 4 digit PIN # with the card. What is that for please?

That's the PUK code for the SIM (Personal Unlocking Code). If you have the PUK code option turned on in your phone the phone will ask you to enter the password each time you turn it on.

Your phone probably has a setting where you can turn this off if you don't want it to bug you every time.

[jb9]

Thanks again to all the knowledgeable contributors to this thread. I just returned home from my trip to France and the phone/mobicarte worked flawlessly throughout the trip. I may be planning a return trip in September and I am curious to hear what one might do to keep the mobicarte/telephone number active in the next 3 months. I have a friend who is going to France on a trip in August, could I additionally loan the phone to him to keep things going? Any economical suggestions are welcome.

Thanks.

[scirocco]

The number will remain active for six months from the date of the last recharge of ten euros or more. The credit will expire, of course, but that can be recharged any time as long as the number is still valid.

If you know you are going to be returning to France after some time, you can buy enough recharge vouchers while still in France to (a) to recharge to keep the number alive while out of the country and (b) to top up a few days before you return so that internet and everything is working again when you get there.

If you didn't buy recharge vouchers when in France then Ebay seller emy351 on Ebay UK can sell them to you, but you have to pay a premium over the face value. (She has to make some money out of it.)

Or you could just loan the phone to your friend as you suggest.

[jsteinhu]

I purchased an activated card from the ebay.fr seller discussed on this thread. When the sim arrived I was able to SMS another local phone using it and create an orange.fr account. However, several days later when I log in I get the following message whenever I try to do anything useful like add Internet Max. Suggestions?

Vous ne pouvez pas accéder à l'espace clients car France Telecom n'a pas reçu votre déclaration d'identité.

Comme indiqué dans les conditions générales de vente mobicarte, votre ligne sera prochainement suspendue. Pour vous éviter ce désagrément, nous vous invitons à retourner dans votre point de vente mobicarte pour vous identifier. Pensez à vous munir de votre pièce d'identité et de votre mobicarte.
Si vous n'êtes pas en mesure de retourner sur votre point de vente d'origine, rendez-vous dans un point de vente de même enseigne ou dans l'agence France Telecom la plus proche de chez vous.

Une fois cette déclaration effectuée, vous pourrez accéder à votre espace clients sous 48 h.

Thanks for your help!

[TraceyJ]

Originally Posted by jsteinhu

I purchased an activated card from the ebay.fr seller discussed on this thread. When the sim arrived I was able to SMS another local phone using it and create an orange.fr account. However, several days later when I log in I get the following message whenever I try to do anything useful like add Internet Max. Suggestions?



Thanks for your help!

This is exactly the same problem I had about 4 weeks ago. I emailed the seller and he was able to resolve the problem in about 5 working days. He said it wasn't the first time it had happened and he knew what to do to resolve it.

The expected 15 Euros credit was only showing as 5 Euros on the portal until this was resolved.

I was then able to use the card in a mifi type router (namely a 'zoom') for 17 days without any issues on both an iphone and an ipad.

Whilst in France I also bought an orange recharge for my return visit next month and will take the email option as well next time as I'm only there for a week. It was a great solution for me so thanks for the information in this thread.

[jsteinhu]

Originally Posted by jsteinhu

I purchased an activated card from the ebay.fr seller discussed on this thread. When the sim arrived I was able to SMS another local phone using it and create an orange.fr account. However, several days later when I log in I get the following message whenever I try to do anything useful like add Internet Max. Suggestions?

I got to France with this never resolved. The Orange store was unable to add my identity to the SIM card because of something wrong with the way the card was in the syste. I eventually purchased a new card, activated it, waited 20 hours for the identity flag to be set (they checked my passport at the store) and bought internet max. Does anyone know if it takes exactly 48 hours or UP TO 48 hours to be activated? Is there a way to tell if it is active yet? It does show up in the account website.

Also for others reading, if you want to use the website interface, the initial password takes about 20 hours to be sent to you as a SMS even if you are in France.

[flychr]

hi Ibought recharge voucher from emy uk ,and it work ok!
but price is a bit high
Face 5€+1€ 7 days price £10 (generally in stock)
10€+2€ 12 days price £15 (generally in stock)
15€+5€ 20 days price £25 (generally in stock)
note euro/Pound
to ad recharge voucher from out side FR :
Dial #124*rechargecode# Send. Immediate text confirmation(not sms) of the recharge.
recharge voucher is send ind mail so ther is no ekstra shipmint.
Chr

[jsteinhu]

To answer my own question, I was able to start using Internet Max right away, once I could buy it, regardless of what is said on this forum and by Orange themselves. Not sure why that is in this case.
Another question, when I use up my 500MB, can I simply buy Internet Max again for another round? (I am here on business so it is not just FB that is eating into my quota...)