Verizon LTE Accidental SIM Deactivation

randymac88 said:

This afternoon I set up a $20 data plan so that I could test-drive the Verizon LTE in my area. Worked great. Then, because I only wanted one month, I went in to cancel my account.

I guess I went one step too far, and de-activated my account and and SIM card. This wiped out my plan and made my SIM card "Invalid", in two taps.

I called Verizon and got passed around to three different departments, got dropped, called back, and talked to a woman who basically said that I couldn't get my $20 back, was out of luck on the data plan, and would have to buy a new SIM card at the Verizon store. ???

It's not like I got any warnings or anything about this...I just went in to cancel and then said "deactivate account". At the time, I didn't know what "deactivate" meant in this context. Has anyone else had this issue? Advice?

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I would go into a Verizon Store and talk to someone.

Same Issue

I did the same thing because I didn't want a 5 gig data plan renewing every month. I still have my data plan for the month but now I have to go into the Verizon store to get a new Sim card. Really annoying... I wonder what idiots didn't see this coming? Whoever is at fault, this is my first experience with Verizon and I have had nothing but problems. Repeating menus on the Verizon telephone support, not been able to find anything on the website. I couldn't find any place to leave feedback and eventually got a link from Verizon phone support, but when I go to fill out on my iPad it won't finish sending. Absolutely disgraceful, I will never be going to Verizon for anything else again.

DjJax33 said:

I did the same thing because I didn't want a 5 gig data plan renewing every month. I still have my data plan for the month but now I have to go into the Verizon store to get a new Sim card. Really annoying... I wonder what idiots didn't see this coming? Whoever is at fault, this is my first experience with Verizon and I have had nothing but problems. Repeating menus on the Verizon telephone support, not been able to find anything on the website. I couldn't find any place to leave feedback and eventually got a link from Verizon phone support, but when I go to fill out on my iPad it won't finish sending. Absolutely disgraceful, I will never be going to Verizon for anything else again.

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Sorry to tell you, but you're the one at fault.

Apple Support: How to deactivate a cellular data account

Sorry, but Apple has clear instructions on what to do. Delete now essentially means terminate the account, which in effect deactivates the SIM card.

As posted by skedssays, the instructions are available. Next time, don't rush through the options. Best of luck on getting a new SIM card.

skedssays said:

Sorry to tell you, but you're the one at fault.

Apple Support: How to deactivate a cellular data account

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Yes, but the on-device instructions could be a bit clearer. Plus, I haven't seen any warnings anywhere that deleting the account will deactivate the SIM card and force you to get a new one. Seeing how the iPad data plan is advertised as start/stop whenever you want to, I don't think it's obvious that deleting the account will leave you with a disabled SIM card. The natural assumption would be you'd be able to sign up for a new plan when you want to. To add to the confusion, the AT&T iPads SIM card dont self destruct when you delete the account. You are able to sign up for a new account anytime by going through the sign-up process again.

skedssays said:

Sorry to tell you, but you're the one at fault.

Apple Support: How to deactivate a cellular data account

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To be fair, those prompts aren't exactly intuitive. To me, deactivate later implies the same thing as "cancel" - I could easily see people getting confused. And not all of us have every Apple instructions webpage bookmarked.

pelicanflip said:

Sorry, but Apple has clear instructions on what to do. Delete now essentially means terminate the account, which in effect deactivates the SIM card.

As posted by skedssays, the instructions are available. Next time, don't rush through the options. Best of luck on getting a new SIM card.

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Also, you probably should have checked macrumors about this issue. People have been bitchin' about this very issue for weeks.

randymac88 said:

Sorry bro, disagree.

Why would anyone think they would need to check Macrumors before ending their auto-renewal? And where does it tell you on your ipad what deactivating means? In my case I had no idea what that meant - for all you know, deactivate means deactivate auto-renew. But then it doesn't, and you're screwed.

What are people going to do if they don't use a data plan for 5 months? Will it be "their fault" when Verizon deactivates their sim because they went 5 months between data activations?

Putting that aside, in case people on here haven't seen this, you can buy a new sim off eBay - confirmed in this thread here:

CONFIRMED! eBay purchased Verizon Micro-Sim works fine in NEW iPad

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I should have edited my post to say that it's too bad you didn't check macrumors first. You're right that you should be able to maintain your data plan in a straightforward way. I was only pointing out that this has been a known issue for a while and it's too bad you didn't come across it before accidentally zapping your sim.

The Delete Account Later option is no longer available under Cancel Plan in the 3rd generation Verizon 4G LTE iPad. Yesterday, I spoke with a Verizon prepay rep on the phone. He confirmed this change after checking with tech support.

The following message is shown on the Verizon 3rd gen iPad before you click Submit:

“Are you sure you want to cancel your Account at this time? All cellular data service will cease immediately, and you will forfeit any unused data. All personal information, including payment card details will be immediately removed from your cellular data account, and your SIM card will no longer be usable. To activate cellular data service again, please visit a Verizon Wireless store to get a replacement SIM card.”

This rep confirmed that if you cancel your Verizon LTE iPad's cellular data account that you will need to acquire a new SIM card. When you choose Cancel Plan, you lose your unused purchased data and your service will "cease immediately."

On my Verizon iPad 2, I was able to purchase cellular data on a month-to-month basis and continue to use the plan until the data ran out or the month-of-use ended, which ever came first. I could restart that plan as long as I restarted the plan before 5 months of inactivity had transpired.

The Apple link for cancelling your Verizon Cellular Data Account is not up-to-date. It still incorrectly shows Delete Account Later as an option.

I was unaware of this change prior to purchasing the new Verizon iPad 4G LTE. I will be returning it for a refund because I do not need full-time cellular data access.

keeth said:

The Delete Account Later option is no longer available under Cancel Plan in the 3rd generation Verizon 4G LTE iPad. Yesterday, I spoke with a Verizon prepay rep on the phone. He confirmed this change after checking with tech support.

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I just checked, and I still have the "delete later" option. Did you recently accept a carrier firmware update?

This does not affect me directly, because I leave my data plan on all the time, but the convenience of being able to turn cellular data on or off anytime we want is one of the best features of the iPad, and I am deeply disappointed with Verizon!

Just now

The Delete Account Later choice was missing after initial setup of the iPad. If I had known about this change, I would not have purchased the Verizon version of the 3rd gen iPad. Because I'm still within the Apple Store 14-day return window, I'm returning the iPad.

keeth said:

The Delete Account Later choice was missing after initial setup of the iPad. If I had known about this change, I would not have purchased the Verizon version of the 3rd gen iPad. Because I'm still within the Apple Store 14-day return window, I'm returning the iPad.

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Go to Settibgs > General > About. What does it say for "Carrier"? Mine says Verizon 12.0. Do you have a different number?

Night Spring said:

Go to Settibgs > General > About. What does it say for "Carrier"? Mine says Verizon 12.0. Do you have a different number?

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My iPad shows Verizon 12.1

Verizon 12.1

The Delete Now & Later buttons are both still there.... I hit the wrong one yesterday, Fried My sim card and lost a $30 plan that just renewed two days ago. Three different people from Verizon have told Me I'm SOL because I no longer have an account with them they can't help Me. Apple said they can't help either..... So basically they confirmed I paid $130 extra for a functionality that I can no longer use after a month of Ownership.....

MavFan2007 said:

The Delete Now & Later buttons are both still there.... I hit the wrong one yesterday, Fried My sim card and lost a $30 plan that just renewed two days ago. Three different people from Verizon have told Me I'm SOL because I no longer have an account with them they can't help Me. Apple said they can't help either..... So basically they confirmed I paid $130 extra for a functionality that I can no longer use after a month of Ownership.....

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Go to VZW and get a new sim

I went to a Verizon store to get a new sim card. There is a new problem after the installation - it says "
SIM Card Already Active - The SIM Card inserted in this device is already active on a subscription that cannnot be managed on this device. Please call customer care at 1-800-786-8419 if you have any questions. "

So, what do I need to do now? Any suggestions?

I had the same problem. After discussing with Apple and VZ, the local VZ store fixed the problem by tranfering the post paid to the pre paid account.

I hope this info helps.