Verizon Pre-Paid 4G SIM replacement Issues

[RetiredInFl]

I'm still confused with how this works. So basically for Verizon, you have to press Cancel Plan > Delete Account Later > Reset Subscriber services in order to preserve the SIM card?

Just DELETE ACCOUNT LATER.

Also, if you don't use your inactive account for 5 months the SIM goes dead no matter how you canceled.

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NO WAY MAN! Its the principal of the matter. Of course i have $5 to spare, but this is PATHETIC customer service.

By the way, it's PRINCIPLE not PRINCIPAL. "PAL" is the guy in a school.

OK, so don't spend the $6 but spend $100 worth of your time and aggravation fighting with them over principle and a $6 sim. My time is worth more than $6 and it isn't worth getting aggravated and dealing with the VZW morons. 5 minutes and $6 and everything was taken care of. Well, actually I bought 3 sim's to have them "in stock" because if your account is inactive for 5 months they kill off your sim and you are back having to deal with them again. Sometimes it just ain't worth the aggravation but if that's what floats your boat than enjoy.

 

[jlinear]

Just DELETE ACCOUNT LATER.

Also, if you don't use your inactive account for 6 months the SIM goes dead no matter how you canceled.

When I cancelled auto-renewal for my Verizon iPad account I got the following message: "After 5 months of inactivity your account will be deleted from Verizon Wireless."

 

[RetiredInFl]

When I cancelled auto-renewal for my Verizon iPad account I got the following message: "After 5 months of inactivity your account will be deleted from Verizon Wireless."

OK thanks, I edited my posts ... I thought I saw 6 when i shut mine down ... or maybe I REALLY meant 6 months from the first day of your last month of service. Yea, that's the ticket!

I'm re-upping again tomorrow for a trip so when I cancel again I will look more carefully.

 

[wordoflife]

Just DELETE ACCOUNT LATER.

Also, if you don't use your inactive account for 5 months the SIM goes dead no matter how you canceled.

Are you serious? The SIM goes dead either way? ... even if you reset the subscriber information (as mentioned on Apples website)?

 

[RetiredInFl]

Are you serious? The SIM goes dead either way? ... even if you reset the subscriber information (as mentioned on Apples website)?

Yes, I am serious. 5 months of NON-USE. Resetting subscriber information is meaningless, you don't have to do that, but even if you do after 5 months of non-use it's gone.

AT&T will cancel your account after SIX months but they don't kill the sim.

 

[Jane333]

Update

Kevin from the Verizon store called me yesterday and said my iPad is now fixed and ready to go. I will be going in when they open to pick it up. This whole thing is crazy, though. Why would Verizon want this to happen? I am just not seeing the benefit from them. Also why would they want to deactivate after 5 months of nonuse? I can see deactivating the account, but the sim card? Why????

 

[RetiredInFl]

Kevin from the Verizon store called me yesterday and said my iPad is now fixed and ready to go. I will be going in when they open to pick it up. This whole thing is crazy, though. Why would Verizon want this to happen? I am just not seeing the benefit from them. Also why would they want to deactivate after 5 months of nonuse? I can see deactivating the account, but the sim card? Why????

Fixed it? Be very careful they didn't "fix" it by putting you on a POSTpay account unless that is what you wanted. Verizon (also Best Buy) has been scamming anyone who walks into their stores with a "SIM ISSUE" by putting them on POSTpaid because that is the only SIM they say they can provide (plus they get commission on POSTpaid not PREpaid). WIth POSTpaid you are billed every month then when you realize what happened and you don't want service for a month you have to cancel the POSTpaid account and then ZZZZZAP your SIM is gone again.

Just spend $6 each on a couple SIMs off eBay and save all the aggravation.

 

[Jane333]

TB07 - that was exactly my concern - when I picked it up yesterday, they assured me that I am still on prepay and that they gave me an extra month to make up for deactivating the SIM. I will try to check this today.

If I got a SIM card off of ebay, wouldn't I still have to go through all of this for Verizon to activate it? If not, I will definitely buy one (or two) next time.

I am just so confused why they set it up this way in the first place.

 

[EDH667]

TB07 - that was exactly my concern - when I picked it up yesterday, they assured me that I am still on prepay and that they gave me an extra month to make up for deactivating the SIM. I will try to check this today.

If I got a SIM card off of ebay, wouldn't I still have to go through all of this for Verizon to activate it? If not, I will definitely buy one (or two) next time.

I am just so confused why they set it up this way in the first place.

You should be able to verify you are on a pre-paid plan by going to general settings, cellular data, view account and sign in.

If you purchase a new SIM on eBay, you can sign up to a pre-paid plan through the iPad.

 

[rsvrfactory]

I agree with most of you. Just buy the Sim card off if eBay (I bought 3) and set up the prepaid plan through your iPad. It's that simple.

 

[zorinlynx]

Anyone know if Verizon has fixed this issue yet? Do SIM cards still expire and become "burned"?

I'm considering ordering a Verizon iPad 3 and don't want to have to deal with this. (I want Verizon specifically because it allows tethering)

You'd think Verizon would have fixed these issues by now?

 

[Anti-Lucifer]

For those who are thinking of buying a Verizon LTE ipad:

I just bought a 32GB Verizon LTE ipad for one of my family member. She burned thru 2GB of data in 4 days! So we tried to add more data, the view account manage page inside cellular data said the account status was pending. I called into Verizon, NONE of these guys have a clue. They kept telling me it is an apple issue when it's clearly nothing to do with apple. I was able to get 2GB for $30 initially and it's when the account was used up, the problems occured. They told me to cancel the plan and delete LATER. I did exactly that. I got a 2nd email confirming payment of another $30. Then 1 day later, her LTE signal disappeared and was stuck on 3G. No connection at all.

I called back and finally someone who has a brain at verizon confirmed the sim card was burned. I had to get a new one at the corporate store for $6. I go down there and they will not let me buy a pre-paid sim. I must sign up with a shared data plan, $30 for 4GB + $10 for ipad device add-on. Then there is the dreaded TAXES! I cannot believe how ridiculous this was for I myself have an AT&T LTE ipad and have not had one single problem deactivating, resigning up without burning the sim.

At the end of 1.3 weeks, I went in to apple and returned the verizon lte ipad for an AT&T one. All my problems solved! And yes, I can confirm via Verizon technician that if you do not reactivate or activate your created account on the ipad (if you have a telelphone number for the ipad, you have an account), the account will get deactivated and the sim destroyed.

Verizon is really messing up how the iPad should be and forcing you on their post-paid plans.

 

[jacg123]

Yea...I don't blame you for getting the ATT one. I do like verizon's hotspot feature, and use it alot. I am not convinced if its worth the aggravation.

 

[RetiredInFl]

For those who are thinking of buying a Verizon LTE ipad:

I just bought a 32GB Verizon LTE ipad for one of my family member. She burned thru 2GB of data in 4 days! So we tried to add more data, the view account manage page inside cellular data said the account status was pending. I called into Verizon, NONE of these guys have a clue. They kept telling me it is an apple issue when it's clearly nothing to do with apple. I was able to get 2GB for $30 initially and it's when the account was used up, the problems occured. They told me to cancel the plan and delete LATER. I did exactly that. I got a 2nd email confirming payment of another $30. Then 1 day later, her LTE signal disappeared and was stuck on 3G. No connection at all.

I called back and finally someone who has a brain at verizon confirmed the sim card was burned. I had to get a new one at the corporate store for $6. I go down there and they will not let me buy a pre-paid sim. I must sign up with a shared data plan, $30 for 4GB + $10 for ipad device add-on. Then there is the dreaded TAXES! I cannot believe how ridiculous this was for I myself have an AT&T LTE ipad and have not had one single problem deactivating, resigning up without burning the sim.

At the end of 1.3 weeks, I went in to apple and returned the verizon lte ipad for an AT&T one. All my problems solved! And yes, I can confirm via Verizon technician that if you do not reactivate or activate your created account on the ipad (if you have a telelphone number for the ipad, you have an account), the account will get deactivated and the sim destroyed.

Verizon is really messing up how the iPad should be and forcing you on their post-paid plans.

You can buy all the Verizon iPad sims you want off eBay for $5/$6 with no hassle and they work just fine. I have a drawer full (well, 6 anyway) to CMA just in case. https://forums.macrumors.com/threads/1351655/

 

[zorinlynx]

This mess has convinced me to not upgrade to a Verizon iPad (I wanted to drop tethering on my phone, and get a Verizon iPad with 2Gb a month with tethering). I'm just going to keep tethering my existing iPad through my AT&T iPhone, and if I decide to upgrade to retina later, just get Wifi and keep doing that.

It's not worth the aggravation, and the "Share Everything" plans on AT&T and Verizon are both not worth the money.

I'm kind of pissed at both companies for screwing this VERY SIMPLE IDEA up.

 

[Anti-Lucifer]

You can buy all the Verizon iPad sims you want off eBay for $5/$6 with no hassle and they work just fine. I have a drawer full (well, 6 anyway) to CMA just in case. https://forums.macrumors.com/threads/1351655/

Why should I? The ipad has no contract month to month cancel anytime you wish to. Verizon is the only one burning SIM cards. AT&T model does nothing ludicrous like this. I do not have to buy an ipad and then shop on eBay for replacement SIM cards.

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This mess has convinced me to not upgrade to a Verizon iPad (I wanted to drop tethering on my phone, and get a Verizon iPad with 2Gb a month with tethering). I'm just going to keep tethering my existing iPad through my AT&T iPhone, and if I decide to upgrade to retina later, just get Wifi and keep doing that.

It's not worth the aggravation, and the "Share Everything" plans on AT&T and Verizon are both not worth the money.

I'm kind of pissed at both companies for screwing this VERY SIMPLE IDEA up.

The kicker is verizon gives you 2GB for $30. Att gives you 3GB for $30.

If you want to pay $30, att is better deal. The verizon LTE is super fast but she used it all up (2GB) in less than 4 days.

 

[RetiredInFl]

Why should I? The ipad has no contract month to month cancel anytime you wish to. Verizon is the only one burning SIM cards. AT&T model does nothing ludicrous like this. I do not have to buy an ipad and then shop on eBay for replacement SIM cards.

Why should you? As Rhett Butler (Clark Gable) so succinctly put it in Gone With The Wind: "Frankly my dear, I don't give a damn!" It was simply suggested as an easy way to not have to deal with the idiots at Verizon, have no hassles, and still keep their LTE with 50x the coverage and (usually) much faster speed then AT&'s.

 

[barkomatic]

I think Verizon is making it difficult on purpose because it's not in their interest to allow people on pre-paid data (which makes it easy for consumers to control costs) so they burn pre-paid sim cards and make it complicated to acquire a new one. They want people on either their more expensive data share plans or post paid plans where people will end up paying for data they don't use. This may be why AT&T iPads still have a higher resale value. Unless you are in an area without decent AT&T service there is no way I'd go with Verizon.

 

[kimly33]

Verizon is the worst. Go to Best Buy.

I had a similar experience - waited 6 months from purchase to activate my new iPad and received an invalid sim card error. After many frustrating experiences with Verizon - phone calls in which they told me "I hope you have your receipt because Best Buy sold you a used iPad and we can't do anything" (it was brand new out of the box) and after spending over an hour in a verizon store trying to get them to sell me a sim card without hooking it up to a post-paid account - I finally walked into Best Buy mobile and they gave me one for free, no questions asked. Popped in the new card in and everything worked perfectly.