Report on using Orange Mobicarte in France

[Usas]

Hi,
Purchased the Orange card on ebay with 15 euro credit. After setting up card but before receiving my mot de passé (took 24 hours as other members have indicated as usual), I received an email from Orange acknowledging my 15 euro "pass voyage d'orange" and asking me to "responded TA a ce SMS, besoin de + ou-de mn faites le 444 gratuit".
I SMS'd "TA" and then got a message " Orange info: pass internet international 25E=50Mo de connexions valuables 7 jours, souscription au 444 grauit"
Problem is, even though I am only 2 days into my 7 and have only used the card to SMS in search of my password and my data is off, I am told I have no credit. Can anyone tell me why and if it is possible to retrieve the credit?
Thanks

[scirocco]

I think what has happened is that you have accepted one of Orange's sales SMS's offering to sell you some access (in this case their "International Internet Pass", 25 euros for 50MB over 7 days). As soon as you accepted this the relevant credit was deducted from your account. Don't ask me how they gave you a pass worth 25 euros when you only had a 15 euro balance. Maybe it's a welcome gift .

Anyway, that's where the money has gone I would say. Be aware that you will quite often get SMSs from Orange offering you various plans and deals for calls, SMS and so on.

The plan you have bought is not good value for internet access (unless you plan to use it outside France). Within France, the Internet Max and Mail options are the only really good ones.

If you want to activate the Internet Max before you arrive in France, you will need to add some credit. You can't do this via the Portail Orange unless you have a French credit card. The easiest way to get a recharge is via ebay UK seller emy351. She is reputable but charges a premium over the face value of the recharge.

[Usas]

Thank you Scirocco, you were spot on with your diagnosis. Fortunately the solution didn't require me waiting until I went to France or a new recharge from the english ebay seller.
I spent quite some time tracking down an english speaking employee at Orange France but then they, after determining I had made a mistake cancelled my old contract and subscribed me to internet max all in a matter of seconds. Thanks again for your help!

[woody1]

I used a Mobicarte in France a couple of years ago, and I discovered that if you subscribe to a data option and you want to change to a different option, you first have to cancel the first option before you can add the new subscription. In my case, this meant a call to a non-English speaking service rep. It took some effort, but I was able to make it work.

The customer interactions, setup, etc., for Orange in France is pretty primitive. I had a much simpler time setting up an Orange subscription in Austria, where the guy at the store was knowledgeable and helpful.

[randomelemental]

Just got a 25 eu pre-paid sim from ebay.fr from the guy previously mentioned. I was advised to place the sim in my phone and call another phone to get the number which I need to setup an account on the orange portal in France.

I am still in the UK at the moment. So.....when I try and ring another phone to get my number, nothing happens, it dials then drops the call, no tone, nothing. I have a good signal, so it's not that. On the piece of paper sent to me, it says pin:0000, but my phone doesn't ask for any pin. My phone is the xperia X10 mini pro running android.

I've been through my settings menu to see if it lists my number but it says 'nothing'.

Any ideas where I go from here....I need my number!

Thanks

[flychr]

hi are you calling the right number? If you are calling from orange sim
and a in the United Kingdom, just call your own phone number(from orange sim) with no extra ciffers. The orange sim know it is in uk
chr

[randomelemental]

Originally Posted by flychr

hi are you calling the right number? If you are calling from orange sim
and a in the United Kingdom, just call your own phone number(from orange sim) with no extra ciffers. The orange sim know it is in uk
chr

THanks for your reply.

I tried calling another mobile number using the orange sim to see if I could find out what my orange number is, but the phone won't connect, the call just drops.

There must be another way to find out what my orange number is?

[fsotirop]

can you please send a link of this item on ebay.fr ?

[scirocco]

Originally Posted by randomelemental

On the piece of paper sent to me, it says pin:0000, but my phone doesn't ask for any pin. My phone is the xperia X10 mini pro running android.

The seller should provide you the number written down. When I bought my SIM I got the number written on a piece of paper like I posted back in post 72 in this thread. Did you get anything like that?

I think poster flychr got his number sent by separate post to the SIM. Maybe it will come in a day or two.

Edit: Failing that, if the call is dropping out, perhaps try a different carrier - maybe manually set the carrier in the phone menu. Have you got good reception? What network has the phone connected to? How many bars signal? Or try sending a text to another phone instead of a call.

Or try dialling 225 to get a text with your phone number and remaining credit.

[fsotirop]

does anyone has a link for buying this activated orange sim card?