German Fonic questions...

[theotherbob]

Originally Posted by SIMCollector

Also, is it possible to top-up online ? If so, is it necessary to create an account with them and is English available ?

Originally Posted by inquisitor

Unfortunately you can only top up online through a German bank account. Their website is only available in German.

It appears that the top-up cards are available online with many payment options including PayPal and credit cards through merchants like aufladen.de. Aufladen.de has an English-language option. Anyone have experience with this site?

I just used a similar service in here in the US for a local prepaid CDMA, and everything went smoothly.

[kuba.g]

Yeah I do. Didn't work. I assume it's because they perform an address check with the credit card you pay with (and it it impossible to enter an address outside of Germany).

You could try Cabox.de though.

[theotherbob]

Originally Posted by kuba.g

Yeah I do. Didn't work. I assume it's because they perform an address check with the credit card you pay with (and it it impossible to enter an address outside of Germany).

You could try Cabox.de though.

Others that look promising from a web search include :
Fonic online aufladen Handyguthaben
Prepaidpunkt- Aufladen auf den Punkt gebracht!

I won't get my Fonic SIM until I go to Germany in the summer. Any personal experience with these, or Cabox.de?

[Niro]

Originally Posted by inquisitor

Exactly.

Remember that there are three data tariffs for internet usage:

• volume-based billing at € 0.24/MB, which is the preactivated standard option
• daily flat ("Tagesflatrate") for € 2.50/calendar day with a cap at €25/calendar month (basicly internet is for free after the 10th day of usage within a calendar month), which can be activated through customer care (call 80000 or send a message through the contact form on their website)

Alternatively to these you can activate the "Handy-Internet-Paket" for € 9.95 which will give you an internet flatrate valid for 30 days with bandwidth throttling after exceeding a total data volume of 500MB.
To subscribe to the "Handy-Internet-Paket" send a text message with "START HANDYINTERNET" to 36642.
It will be extended automatically for the next 30 days if there's enough balance left. Otherwise it will be disabled and won't be re-enabled automatically if you top up later. If you wish to unsubscribe manually send "STOPP HANDYINTERNET" to 36642.
The "Handy-Internet-Paket" is being activated on top of the two aforementioned data tariffs, so as soon as the "Handy-Internet-Paket" is disabled you'll fall back to one of the tariffs above (depending which you had before).

i bought a fonic SIM at a local grocery store in Germany for 9.90, i sent the Handy-Internet-Paket text to start it, but now after almost 2 days, i got a text saying i need to add money to get data.

i thought i got 30 days free? or something like that upon activating the HandyInternet. How can i go about getting the 9.90 30 day data?

[inquisitor]

There's no free internet included with Fonic SIMs. However you should have had an initial balance of € 10 on your account, which should have been enough to activate the "Handy-Internetpaket" for one month. How much credit have you left at the moment? (request your current balance by calling *101#)

[Kritiker]

I have been offered a Fonic SIM card that has already been activated/registered and still has some time left on it.

I understand that registering a Fonic SIM card the first time doesn't require a German bank account anymore (discussed earlier in this thread) or the provision of a passport or ID card (does purchasing it in a store?) but the Fonic besitzerwechsel form still seems to require both the German bank account and eine Kopie des Reisepasses oder Personalausweises, a copy of a passport or ID card, for an ownership change. This last is an unacceptable practice to a North American. No telephone company gets that documentation from me!

What difficulties are there in leaving the ownership data as is, assuming the previous owner doesn't care? All I really need, AFAIK, is to change the caller-id that is displayed when I call people?

Any other gotchas? Thanks.

[dg7feq]

Originally Posted by Kritiker

I have been offered a Fonic SIM card that has already been activated/registered and still has some time left on it.

I understand that registering a Fonic SIM card the first time doesn't require a German bank account anymore (discussed earlier in this thread) or the provision of a passport or ID card (does purchasing it in a store?) but the Fonic besitzerwechsel form still seems to require both the German bank account and eine Kopie des Reisepasses oder Personalausweises, a copy of a passport or ID card, for an ownership change. This last is an unacceptable practice to a North American. No telephone company gets that documentation from me!

What difficulties are there in leaving the ownership data as is, assuming the previous owner doesn't care? All I really need, AFAIK, is to change the caller-id that is displayed when I call people?

Any other gotchas? Thanks.

When you buy the card in a shop they write down the data from your ID or passport. This is obligatory in germany to buy any SIM card from any provider.

however if someone sells his already activated card you can use it without any problems. If you now trigger a roadside bomb with the card the former owner will get questioned by the police, not you...

[Kritiker]

Thank You.

[inquisitor]

Generally registration of SIM cards is a legal requirement in Germany as in most European countries and most operators will ask you for your ID card when you buy a SIM.

However Fonic SIMs are not being registered by the personnel if you buy one in a shop, but you have to provide your personal details yourself either online or - if registered by paper - on the form that comes with the SIM card. Also Fonic do not require any proof of identity upon activation.

I believe the fact that they require an ID card for an ownership change is just a security measure to deter people from changing ownership without the original owner's approval.
But be aware that the change of ownership is subject to a charge of € 10 (see p.2 "Besitzerwechsel" of http://www.fonic.de/html/pdf/FONIC_T...Preisliste.pdf).
I wouldn't change the ownership if I were you.

Originally Posted by Kritiker

What difficulties are there in leaving the ownership data as is, assuming the previous owner doesn't care?

The only disadvantages of not changing the personal details are that you won't be able to request a new SIM card (with the old number) if you lose your's and you won't be able to export your number to another operator.

All I really need, AFAIK, is to change the caller-id that is displayed when I call people?

First of all you can't change the callerID, but you can only disable it so no number would be presented to the called party. But why do you want to change the callerID? If the SIM card is your's, why shouldn't people see your number and so be able to call you back?

[Kritiker]

Originally Posted by inquisitor

...
First of all you can't change the callerID, but you can only disable it so no number would be presented to the called party. But why do you want to change the callerID? If the SIM card is your's, why shouldn't people see your number and so be able to call you back?

Ah, I had forgotten that the caller-ID is number caller-ID only. I was thinking of name caller-ID but if no name, only the number, is displayed then no name change would be required/possible.

Thanks again.