Teacher
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19 Messages
MAJOR pet peeve with iPad Air SIM card activation!
Okay, so I got a 64GB iPhone 5S and a 128GB iPad Air for Christmas this year. I was using an iPhone 5 and Galaxy Tab 2 10.1 previously. With the phone, switching the sim card was all that was needed and all was good. The real irritations began when I tried to get my iPad Air activated.
The Galaxy Tab 2's SIM won't work in the iPad Air because it's too large. So I cancelled the account attached to my Galaxy Tab 2 and went to my local AT&T store to get a new nano SIM card for activation on my device. Having been through this with my iPad 2 before, I knew it was easy enough, and it could all be done by me without further assistance ON THE iPAD. Well, the representatives at my local store absolutely refused to give (or even sell) me a SIM card, even though they verified my account and verified my identification that showed that I was actually the account holder. They kept insisting that I HAD to activate it in the store "in order for it to work right", they said. It's worth mentioning that all this didn't keep them from trying to "upsell" me on changing my data plan to get some kind of $100 bonus I didn't want, but that's another story.
I went to different stores, and all of them held the same party line that they couldn't give me the SIM card unless they themselves activated it for me in the store, presumably to add to their tally of activations that they're graded on store by store, and to try to "upsell" customers on other services and accessories. Well, no thank you. Why do these carriers have to make things so difficult if they don't need to be?
Now, some people might ask: why not just let them activate the device for you? Well, for one thing, I don't need them for that; the iPad allows for easy activation right on the device, provided you know how to do it, and I do! For another, because it should be my choice as to how it's done, not theirs. As long as they get my monthly fees, they shouldn't care. I could understand if the devices came from AT&T, but they came from the Apple Store.
As an epilogue to all of this, I got a blank nano SIM card from an authorized dealer, paid $5.00 for it, and activated it ON MY OWN, and it's working just fine! So obviously, I DIDN'T need them! It was quite a day for something that should have been so simple.
Sorry for the long post, but it was necessary to tell the whole story right.
Anyone else have to go through this lately?
ATTDmitriyCM
Former Community Manager
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10.4K Messages
10 years ago
Hello @PDADoc
Thank you for posting and I'm sorry for your bad experience with some of our retail locations. We want to look into this matter further and reach out to those stores to find out what happened. Can you please send me a private message with store locations and any representative's names that you may have? You can send me a message by clicking here.
I'm glad to see that you were able to have your issue resolved, but please let me know if there is anything else I can do for you.
Thank you,
Dmitriy
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PDADoc
Teacher
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19 Messages
10 years ago
PM has been sent. Thank you.
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vrivelle
Contributor
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2 Messages
10 years ago
Today this happened to me. I was on the phone for 45 minutes with an ATT rep, and wanted to add two iPads that I already own (my new one, and my wife's that she had on an independent data plan). I was told that I would need a new SIM for the iPad already on its own data plan, and that this would be free. The rep told me I could go to the nearest ATT store and get one free. I went to 260 Canal Street, where a rep refused to give me a SIM card unless I signed up through him. He said, "I could get fired for stealing sales, so I'm not telling you what to do, but I have to set up the line if you want a SIM card. The phone reps are always telling people to come in and get SIM cards but then go back to them for the sale. You can set it up here or you can set it up on the phone." Aren't they supposed to give me one? It's all the same company, and ATT should not let its sales reps' competition with each other screw its customers.
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GeekBoy
Master
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4.1K Messages
10 years ago
If you go into an AT&T corporate owned store they can give you a replacement SIM card for free. Now, if the store you went into is an "authorized reseller" for AT&T, then they can (and most do) charge you for SIM cards. Sometimes it is hard to tell which type of store you're going into because the resellers try their best to hide that fact and try to make you think they are a part of the AT&T corporation.
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wingrider01
Expert
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12.2K Messages
10 years ago
Actually they are required to have the "Authorized Retailer" on their ATT Approved marque or displayed prominently inside the retail space if they handle multiple carriers
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