I know that it's possible to recharge (add minutes to) an Italian cell phone here in the U.S., but is it possible to do the same with a French SIM card? Could a friend in France add minutes without the card if she had the number? Thanks for the help.

Clarified title - marta

This message has been edited. Last edited by: Marta,

Hello Ann,

SFR, one of the largest French mobile service providers, offers recharging via their Web site. Even if yours isn't an SFR SIM card, it may be worth checking your company's site.

On the SFR site, I started the process (recklessly ignoring the advice that a site security license had expired). It required the mobile number and a "personal code." I have an SFR non-subscription phone and had no knowledge of a code, but there's a link to click to receive your code by e-mail if you don't know it.

Since I stopped at that point, I don't know what follows but I imagine you'd need to choose the euro amount and nature (mix of text and voice) of the recharge and make a credit card payment.

The Web pages are in French, but maybe your friend in France reads French and could do this or coach you.

Dave

quote:

Since I stopped at that point, I don't know what follows but I imagine you'd need to choose the euro amount and nature (mix of text and voice) of the recharge and make a credit card payment.

However, if it's like the Italian TIM site, you can't do this unless you have a European credit card.

See this topic in the Technology forum for some more ideas about recharging an Italian SIM, which may help with doing it for France.

- Roz

Thanks, Dave and Roz. It's a Orange SIM, not an SFR, so I'll check out the Orange web site. I appreciate the help.

SFR sends the code in an SMS message that you receive on your phone. So you have to be in France to get the code. Then you register your number and code on their site but you absolutely need a French bank card to refill your phone.

It seems like much the same thing is true with Orange, which sent a message which I of course can't retrieve in the U.S. But that indicates at least that the number is still good, which was my concern.

I have an ORANGE SIM/phone number for my travels to France.

After loosing one number and the balance of my credit because I did not recharge in the 8 months it is required...I bought another SIM/number.

ORANGE doesn't allow anyone to use a credit card outside of France to recharge.

The first time this happened, I had a friend in Paris buy a recharge ticket and Email me the PIN.

Now when I am in France, I buy a couple of 5/10 Euro recharge tickets and bring them home with me.

I can then recharge from my cellphone anywhere (although it was like pulling teeth to find out how).

Alaskaitaly, thanks for that info. Could you possibly share with us how you recharge your cell phone from the U.S. with the recharge ticket you buy in France. That would be great to know!

I was going to write the instructions earlier but could not find where I had filed them! Panic ensued.

But..

put the ORANGE SIM card into your phone

Enter:

#224# your 14 number code/Pin

hit send

Customer Service number from abroad - (0033) 607.626464

For anyone who needs the ORANGE recharge pin..I have a 10 Euro and a 25 Euro with me.

If someone wants to buy one of these from me, let me know.

unacuoredoro @ hotmail dot com

I will be in France again in a couple of weeks so can get some more then.

We have a Bouygue mobile phone, and have recharged it from countries other than France, including the US. We have to BUY the recharge (a code from a tabac or phone store) while in France, but can then recharge online from anywhere.
Anne

Thanks for the added information. So it seems the thing to do is to buy the "recharge" in France before we leave, and then use it when the SIM is about to expire - assuming we have to wait that long to go back to France Thanks for the help, and please correct me if I've got it wrong.

quote:

So it seems the thing to do is to buy the "recharge" in France before we leave, and then use it when the SIM is about to expire

Right, but you need to find out how to do it online if you can't use the phone from home. With my Italian TIM card, I had to set up an online account, and it was a bit complicated. I think if I recall, I had to be in a place where I could get a text message to do that, because they sent a password via text.

Maybe you did that when you said they sent you a text message that you can't retrieve? Will you have Internet access in France, so you can check that the online account is working?

(I never did recharge my TIM card online because my account got totally screwed up and the password stopped working -- also, I could do it from the phone itself, since I have a quadband.)

- Roz

I could never figure out how to use the online option - other than their option to charge online by using a credit card (which I can not do as I do not have a French credit card.

I speak only "food" French and I could only find the ORANGE site in French so it might be there hidden from me.

So I do buy extra recharge tickets when I am in France. I live in Italy but as to recharging the ORANGE SIM, it is just as if I were back in the States.

One other tip...when you buy the recharge tickets in France - make a xerox copy of them and/or write the code numbers down where you will be able to find them. The ink on recharge tickets (from the TABAC) fades quite quickly and you will not be able to read the numbers to make your recharge.

And, with ORANGE, I think you have to recharge every 8 months to keep your number.

If you sign onto the Orange webpage (putting in your French phone number and your password) - the page will show you how much time you have on your phone and - click on the little plus sign to the right of "suivi conso" and it will tell you when you must recharge by to avoid loosing your number.

If anyone finds a way I can change the ORANGE site to an English version - please let me know!

Wow, this is great info. Roz, I have a quad band, so that should help. And of course I have the 10-digit French cell phone number staring with "06." But I have no idea what the password is, since a kind Slow Traveler passed on the card to me (and I've since loaned it out a couple of times but gotten it back). Maybe I can get some help in France. AlaskaItaly, I checked the Orange site, and I think the info on "mobiles" is in French only. Thanks to you both for the help.

Ann...you create your own password on the site.

When you go to "register", inputting your phone number and then creating your own password. That is all you need to register. (I think I remember that correctly)

Then you click on the "your mobile" signing in - then click onto the little plus sign to see when your number will expire .

Yes, I input my phone number and was sent a password "par SMS" but I don't think I can retrieve the password here, even with a quadband.

Ann...I am talking about you going onto the www.orange.fr website and registering...NOT the cellphone.

You can create your own password on the website.

Thanks, AI. For others, here's the link to the Orange web site registration page. Unfortunately, I had already been sent a password for the phone, which I don't think I can retrieve until we're in France, and my password for the site doesn't work to access my phone account.

Ann..I don't understand.

When you go onto the Orange site and set up/create your account/register ..putting your phone number and then creating your own password -

you have not been able to see what your minutes are?

The password sent to you on your phone should not have anything to do with your account you set up on the website. (or it didn't with mine)

Perhaps the problem is that I went to the Mobicarte reg. site first, and the password was sent by SMS. Now Orange wants that password, not the one I set up myself. So until I can access that message with the password, I can't see my minutes. Am open to suggestions, of course. And thanks for the help.

Ann, are you sure you can't get a signal with your French SIM card? You said you had a quadband phone, so it should work if you can roam with that card. I don't know how the French cards work, as I've never had one, but the Italian card roams on the T-mobile network. If the French card works the same way and you can get T-mobile where you are, you might be able to get a signal via your French card and pick up the text message.

- Roz

Hi Roz. I put in the French SIM card and it picked up the signal on my T-mobile network, but there was no message. Ah well, guess I'll just wait till a few days and resolved this in France. I appreciate everyone's help.

Try this,which has mobile assistance in English for Orange:

Orange UK