Living Abroad Can't use phone or account

[Will_Wil]

I have been living abroad in Germany for a year now and for sake of ease got myself a local phone number with a different provider, whilst keeping my UK virgin phone seperate. Over time I have used it less and less and now not for several months.

I contacted family where I used to live to discover I was likely sent new simcards that were never installed or sent over (other matter entirely) and this is likely why when I attempted to use my UK phone its sim now states "out of service". Attempting to log into my Virgin Media account found the secondary issue that I have lost the password. In attempting to reset password it asked for my number and would send a code. . .to a number that no longer works.

Without wasting time on multiple phone calls that likely won't progress anything is there anything I can do? I am still being charged monthly for my deal and would rather not just block bank payments.

[Mr-R]

Hey there,

Was this number a prepaid or contract number? If the former, it could have expired through non usage. If the latter and you’re paying a bill, it should still be working. 

[Will_Wil]

It was via a contract - though I had changed it to the lowest tarif offered at the time due to lack of use - and I still get payment notifications via my banking app. However it seems that the sim itself is no longer functional so no attempts to send a SMS code via any online resource has failed to get any results so far. I even tried swapping the sim to another phone with the same result. . .

[Mr-R]

That’s good that you’re still paying. Means the number itself will be active. 

It may be worth contacting customer care and arranging for a replacement sim to be sent and for your family to send it to you in Germany. 

I'm new to Virgin Media but guessing a new SIM card was needed when they moved to O2 as the host network. 

Hope you get a quick resolution to this 👍

[Reece_MH]

Hi @Will_Wil,

Thanks for your post, and welcome to our Community Forums.

I'm sorry to hear you're experiencing issues with your Mobile SIM. As mentioned by @Mr-R, we recently moved to the O2 Network, as part of our ongoing joint venture - as a result, some SIM Cards need to be replaced.

I've taken a look on our side, and I can see that this has been the case for you. We can definitely replace the SIM, but this can only be sent to a UK Address. From there, a family member/friend will then need to post this to you separately.

Please look out for my private message, so we can get this resolved for you.

Cheers,