"Invalid SIM Card" on VZW iPad 3 after trying to sign up...ugh.

[BfB]

So I got my new Verizon iPad at Best Buy, only store in the area that carries it, refused the stupid hotspot offer, didn't let them unwrap it and walked out of the store with it. Came home, set it up, noticed "Verizon" at the top with 4 bars of 3G before I even made it to the data setup. I forgot about it for a while and just now tried to sign up, picked my plan, filled everything out, went to process the order and got back:

"Invalid SIM Card - Sorry, we cannot activate your device because the SIM card you are using has already been associated to another account or is no longer supported. Please visit a Verizon Wireless store or call 1-800-256-4646 for a new SIM card. (73015832)"

I am in the same boat too. Went to the Verizon store, tried to charge me a $35 activation fee and wanted me to go post-paid. I refused.

Y'all aren't the only ones! I bought 2 Verizon models, sent one to my cousin. Mine activated without issue, but hers did exactly what y'alls did above. So she called Verizon and they told her that it was Apple's fault and they (Apple) put a the wrong sim in it that was pre-paid, and he said it required a new sim and he was sending it to her. Not only that, but he charged her a $35 activation fee, and THEN went ahead and charged her $30 for the service when she don't even have the sim yet!

I'm about to call both Verizon and Apple and get a bit cranky on them. I'm PO'ed like no other right now. This is just CRAP customer service by Verizon, and I'm shocked they are allowing their reps to do this. If anyone has any advice, please fill me in! Thanks in advance!

 

[fs454]

Y'all aren't the only ones! I bought 2 Verizon models, sent one to my cousin. Mine activated without issue, but hers did exactly what y'alls did above. So she called Verizon and they told her that it was Apple's fault and that they put an sim in it that was pre-paid, and he said it required a new sim and he was sending it to her. Not only that, but he charged her a $35 activation fee, and THEN went ahead and charged her $30 for the service when she don't even have the sim yet!

I'm about to call both Verizon and Apple and get a bit cranky on them. I'm PO'ed like no other right now. This is just CRAP customer service by Verizon, and I'm shocked they are allowing their reps to do this. If anyone has any advice, please fill me in! Thanks in advance!

Yeah, call them back and get on them for this, postpaid is NOT where you want to be and NOT what Apple intended. You're supposed to be able to start and stop service at will from your iPad's settings, which is prepaid.

 

[BfB]

Yeah, call them back and get on them for this, postpaid is NOT where you want to be and NOT what Apple intended. You're supposed to be able to start and stop service at will from your iPad's settings, which is prepaid.

Thanks!

I'm on the phone with a much better rep now. He's very courteous and understands exactly what is happening. He explained to me that Apple originally didn't upload all the SIM card info to Verizon (I tend to doubt that, and probably what higher-ups are relaying to their reps for a simple excuse to the customer), so they weren't initially able to get some of them activated. However, he said, they were able to get all the info updated as needed, so he's going to try and activate the pre-paid sim now and states that it will in essence prevent the pre-paid from activating (he said it hasn't been created fully yet since it was just done earlier).

Something tells me that I'll still have to call and yack to get the $35 activation fee and $30 post-paid money back. Otherwise, I'll just call AMEX and refute it.

 

[BfB]

Update, was transferred from him to another rep (the 4th one I've spoken to in the last 30 min). She's a bit upset for me, and understands the frustration of being sent all over the place. However, she says since they put me on contract that now that has to be resolved first. She's put me on hold and is calling the sales department (the same # that the prompt on the iPad states to call), and is going to try and get this canceled. She said it's a simple fix for the iPad to get it activated, and that she activates them all the time, and she said there is absolutely no reason we should have had to go through this.

IMO, the salesman earlier today was just trying to make a quick bonus. What a jerk!

 

[BfB]

So weird! So she made me do a recorded voice mail to the original salesman who sold the post-paid service. I had to give the cell #, the # associated with the post-paid sim, and also the order # and location # from the order. I'm completely lost here. What a mess!

 

[BfB]

Sorry for the multiple posts.

Okay, she (Alice, the rep at Verizon) did a conference call with the sales department that sold the post-paid sim/service earlier today. The salesman that came on informed me that I can't cancel that order over the phone and that I have to refuse the package now so it'll get sent back to their warehouse and then it'll be canceled. I then told him that was not acceptable and I told him how I felt about this whole ordeal (without cursing, naturally), but he then said I need to lower my voice or he'll disconnect. So I told him I want a supervisor and he then hung up, all while the other Verizon rep (Alice) was on the phone with me trying to get it taken care of with him. Alice sounded shocked at him, but I didn't expect any less. This calls for a BIG "WTF?!?!". I was 2 shades from red, but I've officially met red now.

Anyway, she's now called the pre-paid tech support and is trying to resolve the current sim card (the one that came in the iPad) issue for me. I give him major props, but every other rep I have spoken to has either transferred me away from them, because they obviously didn't want to deal with it, or they have been a complete jerk.

 

[FarSky]

I got hit with this when I got my iPad 3 replacement after the yellow screen fiasco. I called Verizon and they said there had been some problem with the initial signup. They took a bunch of information from me, and said that if I needed the data immediately, to go back to Apple and get a replacement, but if I could wait, then within 72 hours I'd be able to initialize it. Sure enough, after about 36 hours, I was able to successfully sign up. Something to do with their service.

 

[BfB]

A followup: The Verizon pre-paid tech guy spent over an hour with me on the phone. We were able to get the sim recognized and working, as well as get the cellular plan activated (and surfing, woohoo!), but right now we are not able to log into the account directly from the iPad, as it states we have an account that is currently not able to be modified directly from the device. He said that he has escalated it and he expects it to be resolved within 72 hours. He also mentioned there's a LOT of this happening right now that they are trying to correct.

 

[cpurser]

For anybody having this problem: I called Verizon on Monday after having this problem for several hours. Turns out the process by which they activate the accounts from the iPads was getting completely overloaded. The rep manually activated my account (which was, apparently, sitting in a queue somewhere, despite having been authorized for the credit card charge already), I restarted the device, and since then, everything has worked great. So, presumably, the moral is: call 'em.

I took your advise and called Verizon; and I ended up to discuss this matter with Apple customer support. They did not have the solution to fix the problem this afternoon and they beleive it is the software problem. When I hear from Apple tommrrow, I will share the feedback.

 

[cpurser]

After discussing with Apple, it has somthing to do with the accout type.
The VZ account type has to be " pre-paid "; not the " post paid ".

FYI -
I went to VZ store at Brier Creek, NC. They've been very helpful.

 

[macanut]

I had the same problem, after originally purchasing data directly from the ipad it wouldn't let me view my account and I got the error that this ipad already has an active subscription that cannot be managed through this device. I spent 1 month waiting for verizon to figure out what the problem was. Basically they have no clue how to fix it. Just get a new micro-sim. Verizon won't give or sell you one though.

I ended up following the advice of one of the other posters and bought a Verizon 4g micro sim from ebay and replaced the microsim that came with my ipad. I re-signed up for data directly from the ipad and everything works as it should.

 

[hunu]

I got the Invalid SIM card message on my Verizon iPad 3. Here's my saga:
* called Verizon, got transferred to Verizon Prepay
* the tech apparently never heard of an iPad, kept telling me it was an Android problem...finally he said to take it to the nearest Verizon Wireless store
* at the store I was told their instructions are to not touch iPads because Apple has to address all problems
* I went to the Apple store, signed up for an appointment with a Genius. He said it's usually a problem with the SIM reader inside the iPad and got me a service replacement, which did not come with a SIM card. He put the old one in and, surprise, got the Invalid SIM card error. I was told Apple does not carry Verizon SIM cards and was sent back to the Verizon store with the replacement iPad...by this time the iPad I'd bought was boxed up for return.
* Verizon was not receptive to helping but I insisted and they called their support number. They popped in a new Verizon 4G SIM card and that fixed it. I was told that anytime in the future that I cancel service, that SIM card would be deactivated and I'd have to come in for another. They didn't try to charge me anything.

I consider this a strong endorsement for AT&T next time.