Hi all, I was conflicted by the varying information concerning the expiration of SIM cards. I emailed Telestial support and received this answer today.
quote:
Dear customer, The card is valid 12 months from the last time you added airtime. Kind regards, Support
Now, if I could only remember the last time I recharged my phone.....
Now, if I could only remember the last time I recharged my phone.....
I'm sure there is someone on this board heading to Italy that would be more than happy to recharge your card for you if you just mail it and some money to them.
I have done it for friends in the past and am sending mine with another friend next month to have it recharged, just in case I don't make it back before my month is up.
From what I've read here you can also recharge online although I have not done that yet.
Posts: 690 | Location: Michigan | Registered: 14 January 2005
I think you have to have an italian address to recharge online, but I'm not sure. I do know that if you have a spare ricaricard of as little as €5, you can recharge from the U.S. (at least for TIM SIMs). From what I understand, you can also have someone in Italy buy a ricaricard and recharge your number from Italy for you. That way you wouldn't have to send your SIM and money to someone else, unless that is what you wanted to do.
I'll see if I can find the information about having your phone recharged remotely.
(editing: actually unless you have a generous friend in Italy you probably would still have to give them some money )
Posts: 174 | Location: Portland, OR | Registered: 06 February 2005
I believe that in order to have your TIM SIM recharged remotely, someone in Italy would have to go to one of the places where they sell recharges (e.g., Centro TIM or Il Telefonino stores, or a tabaccheria), and give them YOUR telephone number and some cash for the recharge.
Or, you could have someone in Italy purchase a Ricaricard and scratch the silver strip off and email the secret code to you. You should be able to roam in the U.S. (or wherever you are) with your TIM number. To recharge you dial 4916 (toll-free from abroad), which is the "recharge from abroad service" option (4916 functionality changes slightly when you are not in Italy). My prompts are in English so I just follow them.
You can also recharge via SMS if you don't have English prompts. To do this you create a new message with the text "RIC " followed by the secret code from the back of the Ricaricard. You then send this message to 4916 (toll-free). You should get a message back confirming the new credit.
I just read that you can only recharge from abroad if you have some remaining credit on your phone.
Hope this clarifies instead of confuses.
Posts: 174 | Location: Portland, OR | Registered: 06 February 2005
You can also recharge via American Express, Diner's Club, and some other charge cards which I don't think we have in the U.S. by dialing a call center for these cards.
Thanks to all of you for this information. The main problem is that here, in Fairbanks, I cannot get service, no matter what band I choose (other than emergency only).
I wish I had researched this sooner so I could make arrangements for someone to recharge my SIM for me. I leave here 1 June, and don't know if there is enough time now to get the SIM card to someone, get it recharged, and then back to me.
I can help you. I'll be in Italy in May. I'd be happy to do a remote recharge for you then if you think it will be soon enough to keep your card from expiring. I'm pretty sure that all I'd have to do is go to a place that sells recharges, give them your cell number and a few euros and you'd be recharged on the spot.
Do you want to try it?
Allison
Posts: 174 | Location: Portland, OR | Registered: 06 February 2005
DMae Why won't this work for you if you have an internet connection? It is from the TIM recharge page.
With "il Telefonino on-line", you can recharge your prepaid TACS or GSM mobile phone over the Internet, 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.
All you have to do is register at the store and possess one of the following credit cards:
CartaSì (Visa or MasterCard) Carta Aura Diners Club BankAmericard
You can also purchase mobile phones from our on-line catalogue and take advantage of special offers and discounts on the latest models to arrive on the market.
To enter the Il Telefonino on-line world, click here. The site is only available in Italian.
I also have been trying to figure out how to recharge my SIM card. I spent part of yesterday on the TIM site trying to recharge on-line. The problem is that when you try to sign up with a sign in name/password, you have to put an Italian address. If I am reading the website correctly, I think you actually have 13 months to recharge but I am not sure as I have read:
quote:
Service Life The Telecom Italia Mobile (TIM) Italian SIM card lasts for one year from the last recharge. There is also an additional one month period where all airtime credit is lost but free incoming calls can still be received. If airtime credit is not added during the 13th month, the SIM card will be de-activated and the number will be recycled.
And also:
quote:
Remember: You can recharge your TIMCard whenever you want before its expiration date (12 months after the first phone call plus one month for receiving calls only).
The last time I recharged my SIM card was on June 14, 2005. I will arrive in Italy on June 14, 2006. I am hoping that I will still have time to recharge the card before the number expires. My confusion is the statement: "after the first phone call". Does that mean first phone call after the recharge? Does anyone know if the recharge time actually is 12 or 13 months? I would try to charge it online but am not sure about the address part - what to do.
This SIM thing seems so confusing at times! At least finally I have figured out how to recharge with one of those TIM RICARICards after reading the website.
It sounds to me like you can recharge in the 13th month and keep your SIM from expiring. But you'll lose any remaining credit after the 12th month so you won't be able to make any calls until the recharge. Since you can still receive calls in the 13th month, it means that your SIM hasn't expired quite yet. But maybe someone else who has firsthand knowledge of this can give you a more definite answer.
Allison
Posts: 174 | Location: Portland, OR | Registered: 06 February 2005
With "il Telefonino on-line", you can recharge your prepaid TACS or GSM mobile phone over the Internet, 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.
Jane, have you tried this personally and had success? Every time I try it asks me for a username and password so I go to sign up for a username and password and it requires me to enter in an Italian address. I'd love to hear how you did it.
Allison
Posts: 174 | Location: Portland, OR | Registered: 06 February 2005
Thanks Allison, I didn't think about losing my credit. I wish I could remember how much money I had left. If anyone knows about the address part (if it could be a friend) or if it needs to be the original address used to register the phone, that would be very helpful. Maybe I will try to add money online. I can't get roaming also here in Hawaii but it may be because my Italian cell phone is not a tri-band.
the first step to access to the TIM web site as registered user must be done by sending a SMS to a TIM number that enables the "ibox"service.
From you mobile phone write a SMS as the following
IBOX 123456
123456 is the password, you can choose another number but it has to be 6 or 8 chrs.
Then dial 49001 and send the SMS to this number, shortly you will receive from TIM a SMS that says that your IBOX is enabled.
Now go on TIM web site and as user type your TIM mobile number 33xxxxx and password the PW you chose before with the SMS. Now the first page you see should be the one with all your personal information that you gave to TIM when you bought the SIM,check it and just click accept.
Now you should be able to browse TIM site as registered user and recharge your SIM online.
Hope this helps.
Ciao Marco
quote:
Originally posted by AllisonK:
quote:
With "il Telefonino on-line", you can recharge your prepaid TACS or GSM mobile phone over the Internet, 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.
Jane, have you tried this personally and had success? Every time I try it asks me for a username and password so I go to sign up for a username and password and it requires me to enter in an Italian address. I'd love to hear how you did it.
you should receive the SMS from TIM few seconds after you sent yours for the service activation, you don't have to wait for a long time. I suggest you to use your TIM SIM in roaming with T-MOBILE in the US.
Ciao Marco
quote:
Originally posted by AllisonK: Marco -- Questo è fantastico! Grazie mille.
I've just sent the SMS message and am waiting on a response. I'll report back if it works...
Hi Marco, thanks for the directions for the TIM site. I only wish I could access any network with that SIM card here in the middle of nowhere, and I could recharge in the comfort of my own home!
Originally posted by Jane: This link from TIM, in English, clearly lists the way you can recharge. TIM Recharge Info Just click on that link on this page.
Following the link above I was able to recharge, from New Jersey, my SIM with a RICARICard that I bought from "Mike in Chicago", dialing 4916 to get to the recharge menu, then 0 to recharge using a RICARICard, then 1, then the secret number on the card, after which the number was read back, then 8 to confirm, after which the voice confirmed my 25 Euro credit,then 9 to exit.
Hi MarcS, I am glad you were able to recharge your phone using the online instructions! I do believe that recharging the SIM is quite simple. I did it several times while in Italy.
One thing I think everyone has missed in my quandry is that there is no cell service available where I am. The cell system providers here do not recognize the SIM, other than for emergency calls. Thus, I cannot call 4196 or any other number to recharge the phone. I cannot register online as it requires an SMS to be sent and received. Even with an internet connection, one must be able to connect to a cell system to recharge. (Yes, I talked to my cell service provider and they said, "No way."
AllisonK will attempt a recharge for me, in the interest of curiosity. If she can get it to work, we will both be delighted. If not, we both will have learned something.
I am taking a vacation, and I am not worried about the cell phone at all. It is just technology and as I see it a managable issue.
Thanks again to everyone for the information. It is much appreciated by me and very useful. Unfortunately, here on the edge of Nowhere, it just does not apply.
Originally posted by Fibonacci: Does anybody know how to do this with Vodafone Italy?
Go to Vodafone Italy, register your cellular (click on 'Registrati qui') and after that, click on 'Ricarica qui il tuo cellulare'. Follow the instructions.
Ciao Marco, Just saw your post. Thanks for the directions! Unfortunately I am in the same boat as DMae...can't get roaming here or at least I have no idea how. I attempt to send the message but get the no network available message. At least it was a good review on how to type an SMS on my phone. I am also not sure just what info was given to the TIM company when my friends from Coccaglio bought my phone and registered my number. I will either see if they can stop by a Tim store to recharge my phone or lose the extra money left and recharge when I arrive. If I am lucky since it will be 1 year to the day when I arrive since I last charged my phone, perhaps my $ left on my card won't be wiped out yet?? At least if what I read on the website is correct, I will be able to keep my number. again, mahalo and grazie! susan
Topic Closed
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If she can get it to work, we will both be delighted. If not, we both will have learned something.