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The great CDN nano sim swap

W

wysiwyg1972

macrumors regular
Original poster
Aug 2, 2012
190
152
Toronto, Canada
There's similar threads for the UK, so I thought I'd start one for Us Canadians to discuss challenges obtaining a new sim card for their unlocked iPhone 5 purchased thought Apple.ca. This discussion is for all providers that support the iPhone in Canada.

What we know so far:

1. iPhones don't come with sim card when purchased online (unlike previous years where you were given an option and it was shipped separately.)
2. Apple is suppose to give one in their stores, but this is unconfirmed.
3. While some people are succesful, most stores don't have them yet or don't want to give them out unless you get a phone activated from them....

What's everyone's success so far? I think this is going to be more challenging than getting the actual phone!
 
I got mine on Thursday through a Rogers kiosk in my city.

Hoping the myrogers website is back up and functional by Friday so I can swap my sim info on their wireless management page.
 
I tried 4 locations so far (Rogers) and no luck..

3 had them, but kept them for sales on Friday.
1 independent dealer stated that he didn't receive them yet. :mad:
I did ask at the Apple store and they told me I could pick one up there, but the place will be a zoo on Friday.
 
wysiwyg1972 said:
I tried 4 locations so far (Rogers) and no luck..

3 had them, but kept them for sales on Friday.
1 independent dealer stated that he didn't receive them yet. :mad:
I did ask at the Apple store and they told me I could pick one up there, but the place will be a zoo on Friday.
Click to expand...

This has been my experience in Ottawa with 7 different Rogers stores. Some aren't selling, others haven't received them. Rogers stores are hoarding them until Friday and it appears that they are ordering them in a 1:1 ratio with their iPhone 5s, screwing over their customers that ordered from Apple online.

Friday is going to be nuts. Aside from getting the nanoSIM on friday, I'm sure that Rogers' activation servers will crash like every other iPhone launch so even if you get it from Apple you'll be **** out of luck.
 
When I bought my iphone4 2 years ago, I remember getting 2, one with contract (upgrade) while the other was unlocked. I used the sim card from the upgrade in the unlocked, which I kept.

I just HOPE I can get the sim card at Apple on Friday without having to stand in line. I have a felling Rogers is pressuring all phones (unlocked or not) be activated in store so they can charge us with a processing fee! I need to go to Apple anyhow to try to get another cable, hopefully I can just walk in for that.
 
Hey wysiwyg1972 thanks for starting this thread!


I also hope to get a nano sim from an Apple store in Halifax. From what I've read, Apple is swapping them out for free? Can anyone else confirm this? No point in giving Robbers $10.
 
Was told by Bell that because my phone is unlocked and purchased directly from Apple, I would have to pay an activation fee. Cost is 'about' $20, but I wasn't able to get out of them if that includes the cost of the nanosim or not. Apparently it has something to do with registering the new serial number of the phone. This has to be done in store.

I went to my 'local' Bell store in Kingston and they wouldn't give them out until Friday, although I have heard someone managed to get a couple from that same store. I was hoping to avoid the madness on Friday, but looks like I'll have to go there after work to get my nanosim activated.
 
this is so stupid. i dont know what the big deal is about selling a ****ing sim card early is. i am going to be so stressed on friday with the crowds of people. ugh.
 
Mine is coming with the iPhone 5 that I purchased through Telus. I will only have to go online to Telus site and activate when it arrives.
 
Instead of going to Rogers, Bell, Virgin etc. try, as someone already mentioned, Futureshop or any independent mobile kiosks in your local mall (e.g.. Tbooth). They'll sell you a nano-SIM from Rogers, Bell for around $10 (well, $9.99).
 
I've been trying to find a Koodo kiosk that would sell me one and most of them said they'd be lucky if they'd even receive the SIM cards by then.
 
Called a bunch of rogers stores and wireless wave stores in the GTA before lunch. Most of them had stock but wouldn't sell them until Friday. Finally got a rogers store to agree to sell me a sim. 10 bucks plus tax, went online to the rogers portal did a sim swap and put the nano sim in an adapter and it is running on my sgs 3 no issues.
 
wysiwyg1972 said:
Please share the store, this is what this thread is for (or pm me if you refer) thanks!
Click to expand...

It was the Rogers store at Bayview and Eglinton (hopefully they won't get in trouble)

I called the one in Fairview Mall, they didn't have any yet. I called the York Mills and Leslie store they wouldn't sell one until Friday. Called Wireless Wave in Fairview they had and would not sell till friday. Called some other dealers around the same area they didn't have.
 
I've tried a few Rogers stores in East Hamilton and haven't had luck.

It really is quite stupid. I really have never cared about Apple moving forward in the past (micro sim, floppy, dvd, lightening cable, etc) but selling a new phone and having to waste time running around trying to get a new nano sim is annoying.
 
Well, I went there and there was a lady and she didn't know what I was taking about, so she asked a guy out back. They said they won't have them until Friday which is obviously a lie. I told them that this is crazy since you will all be so busy on Friday and the response was "yeah, forget about getting one Friday"
 
Got my Nano Sim card for $10 at Batteries and Things located just East of St Andrew's subway station (Toronto) in the PATH. They had Fido and Rogers. It appears like they just had 5 of each though.
 
I went to Wireless wave in Calgary downtown last weekend and they told me they would sell fido nanosims by midweek. I've just given them a call to see if I could come and buy one but they said they won't sell it to me because of "Apple's restrictions". They said I need to get an iphone tomorrow to be able to get a nano-sim.

I miss the days when Apple cared about these little things and shipped their phones with sim cards.
 
no one will sell me a stupid sim card. this is by far the biggest thing that is pissing me off about an apple launch.
 
Tried several Fido and Telus corporate booths/stores in downtown Vancouver over the last few days and none of them would sell me a nano-sim. They all said they couldn't sell until Friday - as if somehow Apple had a blanket no sell order on SIM cards LOL :rolleyes:.

The Wireless Wave in Pacific Center said they had them but couldn't sell them until Friday either, citing concerns that they only had enough for new phone activations.

Anyway, I finally was able to buy a Fido nano-sim from Wireless Wave on Robson yesterday afternoon.

I also talked to two different Apple store iPhone activation specialists at Pacific Center on two different occasions. One said to stop by on Friday and they would give me a nano-sim. The other was clueless and said he had no idea what was going on with nano-sims and to check back on Friday.

I still need a Telus nano-sim so I'm hoping I can get that at the Apple store tomorrow.

Seems like a nano-sim may be more difficult to get than an iPhone 5. :rolleyes: :confused:
 
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