AT&T Community Forums

Emergency Calls Only

So I bought a Blackberry Passport online to use on my AT&T Prepaid Account. I meant to buy the AT&T branded one, but bought an unlocked one instead. I went to the store and got a new SIM card. The lady put it into my account and the phone wouldn't read it. She tested the SIM in another phone and the card itself is working fine. Assuming there is something wrong with the phone, I can get a refund or swap it for another. The big issue is there is a restocking fee if I do a return. When I boot it up with the SIM, it just says "Emergency Calls Only" and the options say there is no SIM inserted

So should I bother trying to swap out the phone or should I just eat the restocking fee and buy an AT&T branded one? Is there anything else that would cause this?

Thank you.

Responses

formerlyknownas

ACE - Sage

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117.5K Messages

6 years ago

A few things may be the issue.

1. It may be old enough that is requires a BIS data plan, which is not available on prepaid. Test it with a postpaid SIM card.

2. Is it a dual sim phone? It’s not reading the SIM card the sim is in the wrong slot.

3. It’s a non US model with no compatible bands.

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Dk.bryant

Tutor

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6 Messages

6 years ago

It's not a dual sim and I believe it is a US model. I checked out the bands and everything looks good there.

Is there any way to check the first issue? I don't have a postpaid sim and honestly don't know anyone that uses AT&T postpaid.

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joeldf

ACE - Guru

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1.2K Messages

6 years ago

Being a Passport means it's a BlackBerry 10 phone. BIS is not required and never was for BB10.

Also, there was never a dual sim version for the Passport... anywhere.

So, those two ideas are out.

Pretty much all three models they made work with AT&T's bands - 3G, 4G, and LTE.

If the SIM doesn't work, that leaves the possibility of damaged contacts in the SIM slot. Since it's nearly impossible to find new stock (although, there could be some new-in-box units out there... somewhere), you more than likely ended up with a used phone. Who knows if someone tried to jamb the wrong sized SIM in it, or an SD card in the SIM slot, sometime in the past.

I think all you can do is try to return it and try another one.

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