experience with prepaidsimcard.org ?

[f300]

I learned about the site mentioned above from simcardabroad's signature and it looks fine assuming it does at all "what it says on the tin"; the selection of operators while not absolutely optimal is still more than "good enough" and being local decent operators big surprises aren't really to be expected.
I don't think we need to start discussing again the pros and cons of the local SIMs versus internationa ones; anyway this site looks like a good alternative especially for countries where it's harder for a non-resident to get a SIM (this is why I open this thread here, at "International GSM prepaid cards" even if they offer technicaly national SIMs).

To make a long story short - any experiences, comments, etc?

[bylo]

First impressions:
• awfully expensive, at least from Canada, compared to buying SIMs locally on arrival, e.g. €60 for Germany, €80 for US.
• relatively small selection of countries, e.g. Germany but not Austria, Australia but not NZ.
• in the case of US, at least, SIM lasts only 30 days before top-up.
• SIMs appear to be from MVNOs rather than incumbent carriers (don't know how important that is, e.g. for coverage, speed, reliability, support.)

[dg7feq]

yes, very expensive but might be something that people are willing to pay if they are too lazy or afraid to go to local stores.

[simcardabroad]

Bylo - when you mention that the Germany SIM Card costs €60, you forgot to mention that is not an empty SIM that costs €60. The German SIM that costs €60 comes with flat rate 5GB 3G speed internet and €5 call balance included in the price.

PrepaidSIMcard.org also offer a 1GB German SIM for 29,90.

These prices also includes activation and registration of the SIM card, which is a manual process that requires that you understand German language. We also provide instructions in english with all SIMs (that we've translated ourselves - if you buy it locally you won't get that for most destinations).

The same goes with the US SIM that includes flat rate calls, data and up to 20 hours of international calls.

You are making a mistake comparing these SIM-cards, with empty SIM cards that is for good reason cheaper.

Some SIMs on prepaidsimcard.org are from MVNOs, that's right. But most are not.

[JoniKicks]

prepaidsimcard.org review
Requested a SIM with DATA in UK and Ireland.

Received a SIM with phone number in Austria and told to roam in UK and Ireland. This is terrible as you don't receive the speed and service from the tel-co (3) as if you had a local number. PLUS you can't receive calls from locals without them paying long distance charges!!

After 2 days of using it, data stopped working for 4 days. I was driving through the UK and wasted half a day talking to 3 (who said I needed to call Austria), 3 local representatives (who had no issues with their data), and online/email conversations with prepaidsimcard.org regarding help. I was told that this was a issue with every 3 customer at first (lie), followed by the 3 tel-co is looking into it, to "we can't help you any further as it is in 3's hands..."

I asked for another card shipped to my hotel for another provider that worked, and was denied. They charged the same as a local supplier and provided 1/4 the service.

[samsay]

prepaidsimcard.org NO NO NO...BAD BAD BAD

they disputed a SIM I received very very late.
I sent it back unopened, they would never issue a refund....bad bad bad company
it's a hoax.... never use a prepaid online SIM card with this company

[fer20alv]

I bought two cards with an average cost of $ 200 euros, since I received the sim cards, I observed a product of low quality, when installed on my mobile phone, those sim cards never worked, I called to the call center several times complicating my trip excessively and never they couldn´t found the fault, only spent on other cards, I could not enjoy my trip around Europe and it was one of the worst travel experiences I have ever had in my life.

[ghostrider]

Originally Posted by fer20alv

I bought two cards with an average cost of $ 200 euros, since I received the sim cards, I observed a product of low quality, when installed on my mobile phone, those sim cards never worked, I called to the call center several times complicating my trip excessively and never they couldn´t found the fault, only spent on other cards, I could not enjoy my trip around Europe and it was one of the worst travel experiences I have ever had in my life.

I own lots of roaming dedicated sim cards and I will never stop repeating that you should avoid, whenever possible, recurring to third party sellers.
There are lots of excellent sim out there and among them based on my continuous experience, I recommend:
1) Tellink Traveller sim (best card for Europe, comes with a Belgian mobile number, it never expires and since it's based on Mobistar Belgian network has excellent roaming agreements with the carriers including 4G+ access). It works worldwide but there are no data bundles outside Europe.
2) Travelsim/Lemonsim/Airbalticcard (the gotha of pure international sim. In this case they provide an Estonian number - very expensive to call indeed - but can receive for free in more than 100 countries. You can also ask for US and UK numbers and they have lots of data packages for different countries. Expires within 2 years if not used).
3) Mtx connect (data only, bundles available, excellent for Europe, other countries worldwind coming.
4) Ortel mobile (German mobile number, expires in three months if not recharged, excellent for Europe, as far as I know it doesn't work outside Europe).
Really hope it helps.

[wolfbln]

Well, I only partly agree on your verdict to stay away from 3rd party sellers. They often take a national product with roaming and sell it as a xxx roaming SIM with a high surcharge.

But staying away from these sellers completely, limits your choice considerably. Only worldwide marketed SIM cards like those of TravelSIM and its many clones at very high prices or any purchase within the (home or destination) country remain an option excluding 3rd-party offers.

There are many countries without a registration scheme in place where national SIM cards are marketed only within the country by the providers. This leaves a gap for SIM card re-sellers through eBay and other online platforms selling local SIM cards abroad.

For example, it's not possible for many users to travel to the UK to get a local SIM with roaming from Three, but instead they buy one from eBay. In the US T-Mobile charges $25 for the SIM alone in one of their stores. Why shouldn't a user buy an "activation kit" for $1-5 on the internet before travel?

In some countries like Spain and Germany these sellers have even found legal ways to bypass the rather rigid registration laws and sell SIM cards through the internet. They do the registration for you which comes at a price. How did you get your "Ortel SIM" mentioned in the list without going to Germany and do a very complicated registration? The only other choice remaining are 3rd party offers.

These re-sellers are often people in independent mobile phone stores. Sure, some of them are reliable and some of them are not. And for some problems, they can't be accounted for. For instance a delivery of Ukrainian SIM cards to Germany was held for 3 months in the customs - I can't blame the seller for this.

So I think these vendors remain a valid option for certain products. Always check their ratings/feedback and conditions and how much they charge additionally to the local price for activation and delivery and make up your mind if this surcharge is worth it for you. But without them, your choice will be even more restricted than the list you have mentioned.