Questionas about old WIND Sim

[Aclan]

Hi guys

I have an almost-year-old WIND SIM card. It seems like I'll go skiing to Italy next week, so I dug it out and dusted off I have some questions about it:

1) I've put it in the phone. It logged to the Polish network, *123# says that I have 0€ of credit on it. It means that it's still active, amirite? Is there any way to check its expiration date?

2) Last year I had Mega Ore 50 active on it. I didn't deactivate it when I left Italy - I hope that when I top up my account it won't suddenly charge me for 12 month of unused Mega Ore?

3) There is an activation fee of 4€ when you want to switch an service on. However, I didn't deactivate my Mega Ore, so it should be active as soon as I top the account up, right? No need to send any SMSes and I save 4€?

4) I've lost all the papers apart from the SIM card (I have the PIN written on it) and I don't know my WIND phone number. Could the 10-digit number starting with 320 which is printed on the SIM be my phone number?

[Effendi]

1) Dial *124*4242# and check the validity. If it's in Italian wait till you hear a voice in English

2) 12 months maybe no, but at least one yes.

3) The 4€ activation fee is only when you activate an option, not when you renew. But I hope your option has been deactivated, otherwise you won't pay the 4€ but you will pay the 12 months of the option you didn't use...

4) Yes, that's the number.

In any case I'd rather buy a new one. Mega 50 Ore is quite a shitty option. Buy a new card and activate Internet No Stop. This is my suggestion.

[Aclan]

Thanks for your answer, Effendi. I will buy a new SIM then (although the buying process is a real pain in the ass with all those Fiscal Codes and everything...). I will try to get a Coop Voce SIM, since the TIM network may perform better than the Wind, which was quite dodgy in the small village where we stayed and will be staying this year as well. If I won't succeed, I will get another Wind card.

[Effendi]

I fear you cannot buy a COOP Voce simcard if you are not a COOP member.

[Aclan]

Originally Posted by Effendi

I fear you cannot buy a COOP Voce simcard if you are not a COOP member.

Now when I'm back it's time for some updates

I got two COOP Voce SIMs (one for internet and one for telephony). In first COOP where I went the computer network was down, I got it in the second one but it took over half an hour to process the paperwork. Nevermind, the bottom line is that you don't have to be a COOP member and it is possible to get their SIM using only a foreign ID and a fiscal code generated with communi.it.

The SIM itself cost nothing, the 5€ you pay at the counter you can use for telephony. TIM network has much better coverage in Val di Fassa than WIND, i got HSDPA everywhere and the internet worked very snappy. I got 30 hours of it for 8€ billed per second, which was more than enough. There was also a promotion for calling abroad - a call to Polish mobile cost 10c.

I encountered some more problems though - first of all - the number for topping up the account which is written on the scratch card is obsolete - instead of 42888 you have to dial 4342888. Second problem is that it is very troublesome to change the service language - the option is buried deep down in the voice menu, which of course is in Italian. But i managed

The last and the most important problem - I tried and I tried, but I had no idea how to deactivate the Internet monthly service. So now I'm in Poland and it is still active - well, so it mean that I have another SIM card that I can't use next year. But overall I was happy with the COOP experience

[Effendi]

Did you try to write NO 30 ORE to 4243688?

[Aclan]

Sorry for the delay, I wasn't on the board for a while.

Yes, it was the first thing I tried, unfortunately without any effect. But from what I've read on the webpage, the service is stopped when you have an empty account, so the SIM will still be usable next time I'll be in the country.