Question

SIM card will not activate

  • 28 February 2022
  • 12 replies
  • 5381 views
N
Badge

 My son’s phone was just exchanged by Apple.  T-Mobile can’t activate the new phone. We have tried 8 different SIM cards plus e-SIM at 3 different T-Mobile stores.  Everything looks OK with the account. Our other 3 phones on the account are working fine. Nobody can figure out what is wrong.  If we try the SIM in a different device it doesn’t work either. Plus Apple ran diagnostics on the new phone and they said everything is OK.

The message we receive when attempting to place a call is “You’re being routed to T-Mobile.  It looks like you are trying to use a device that doesn’t have an active SIM card.” But the store confirms they activated the SIM card every time.

I’ve spent a total of 5 hours in 3 different T-Mobile stores over the weekend.  Nobody ever saw this happen before and they don’t know what to do.  The tech support that the T-Mobile employees from the store called didn’t have a clue either.

If this isn’t resolved in the next day or two I will have to leave T-Mobile after almost 7 years. . . .

12 replies

N
Badge

The only way to resolve the issue was for T-Mobile to provision a new number. This was after visiting multiple stores and working with them for hours.  Nobody saw this before and nobody knew how to deal with it.  Make sure you have backups for all your two factors before you do this - we lost one.

R
Userlevel 4
Badge +5

when they route the call to t-mobile talk to the rep and explain what is going on they may be able to work the problem out for you if not contct t-mobile through their online accounts such as facebook or twitter.

M

Have you tried a factory reset on the phone?  Make sure and put the pics and contacts somewhere first so you don’t lose them.  Sounds like its the phone not communicating with the SIM card.  Worth a shot.

Y

@NoMax have you had a response? i am getting a similar issue and no resolution

Y

@NoMax so this means, you were forced to get a new number? :( this sucks. Appreciate your feedback though, means a lot!

P

I spent two hours in the Apple Store today with 5 different Reps trying to get my new phone activated.  They sent me to a T Mobile store where they tried twice activating the phone with 2 different SIM cards. I was on the phone with technical support for over an hour.  I spent a total of 6 hours trying to resolve the problem and it is still not resolved.  The Technical Support person told me that all she could do is open up a ticket and it could take 3-5 business for it to be resolved.  I’m speechless.  I NEVER had this problem before Sprint and T Mobile merged.  

K

17 attempts to activate SIMs both esim and physical -12 hours in store and on phone. what do we do now?! 

P

 My son’s phone was just exchanged by Apple.  T-Mobile can’t activate the new phone. We have tried 8 different SIM cards plus e-SIM at 3 different T-Mobile stores.  Everything looks OK with the account. Our other 3 phones on the account are working fine. Nobody can figure out what is wrong.  If we try the SIM in a different device it doesn’t work either. Plus Apple ran diagnostics on the new phone and they said everything is OK.

The message we receive when attempting to place a call is “You’re being routed to T-Mobile.  It looks like you are trying to use a device that doesn’t have an active SIM card.” But the store confirms they activated the SIM card every time.

I’ve spent a total of 5 hours in 3 different T-Mobile stores over the weekend.  Nobody ever saw this happen before and they don’t know what to do.  The tech support that the T-Mobile employees from the store called didn’t have a clue either.

If this isn’t resolved in the next day or two I will have to leave T-Mobile after almost 7 years. . . .

I have the same problem that is still not resolved.  The technical support told me that they will put a “ticket” in and it can take 3-5 business days to resolve. Unbelievable .  

P

Having the same problem.  Still not resolved.  Unbelievable .  

P

Having same issue, numerous SIM an eSim tried by in T-Mobile Store, by 611, by Tech Support and Advanced Tech support, nobody can figure out why it’s not working.  On their end they show Sim or eSim activated, on my end say Activating… (waited over 24 hours then error popped up “Unable to Activate eSim. Your eSim could not be activated. Contact T-Mobile for assistance.) For over a week still no service. I tried activating my old iPhone 7 with physical sim as back up, and same thing happened.  So I know it is not a phone problem, it is not Sim or eSim problem tried 10+ different ones. I DO NOT WANT TO CHANGE PHONE NUMBER. I had same number for almost 20 years with T-Mobile.  I think if I move my 4 lines to other carries, maybe they could get my existing phone number to work with sim on my iPhone 13 Pro (less than year old).  I have been over 8 hours on with different tech support and still no resolution. 😖

T

Figure it out? Having the same problem 

V

Is it possible that SIM protection was enabled on the account ? That could prevent new SIMs from activating in that account. Just a thought.

Reply


New badge winners

  • Curious George
    soojin.m00nhas earned the badge Curious George
  • Curious George
    msctchrhas earned the badge Curious George
  • Curious George
    VolvoCarhas earned the badge Curious George
  • Curious George
    dadachiphas earned the badge Curious George
  • Curious George
    Mannyb32has earned the badge Curious George
Show all badges
Terms & Conditions