Virgin Media Community

[Steveinuganda]

Hi, I got an email, saying a new sim has been sent out….(I pay monthly, and have not requested a new sim).

so this will be delivered at my home address and my current sim will be activated in 2 weeks.

however I’m currently in Uganda for a few months but I still need my sim to work for logging into things etc.

will I be able to activate new sim from Uganda?

why am I being sent a new sim when I didn’t ask for one?

thanks 

[Kath_F]

Hi Steveinuganda, 

Thanks for your post and welcome to the forums. It's great having you on board with us in the Community. 

I'm sorry to hear that a new SIM was sent without you being informed. This is likely due to updates being done to allow our customers to get better value for money. 

The SIM would need to be activated in the UK but if you have a friend or family member who can do this for you, they can then forward the SIM on to you in Uganda. It's worth noting though that as soon as the new SIM is activated, the old one will stop so you may be without a working service whilst waiting for the SIM to arrive. 

If you have any further queries or questions, don't hesitate to come back to us. 

Thanks, 

[Steveinuganda]

Thanks for reply, would they need to have an unlocked phone or me with virgin to activate it for me? 

[Kath_F]

Hi Steveinuganda, 

Thanks for coming back to us on this one. 

The SIM will need to be put in to a phone that allows a VM connection and the SIM will need to connect to a UK mast. 

You can find the instructions on how to activate the SIM here. 

Thanks, 

[pk9]

Hi Kath F

With my new SIM card Virgin have said that if I don't activate it in the 14 days, they (Virgin) will do it for me - so could this be a solution for anyone who is abroad? Just get the new SIM posted on, and Virgin will do the activation automatically. 

Would the new SIM then work when you pop it into a phone outside of the UK?

[Kain_W]

Hi pk9,

Thanks for posting and welcome to the community!

I would advise to activate the SIM whilst you are in the UK as the SIM will register on our network.

Are you currently abroad? 

Thanks,

[Steveinuganda]

Hi, I made currently in Uganda. Thanks 

[pk9]

Yes,

[Kain_W]

Thanks for the reply pk9,

As long that the SIM is activated within the UK though a handset then it should work correctly. 

Do you have anyone that can forward the SIM to yourself at all?

Thanks,

[Natty1 · Accepted solution]

Hi

I have the same issue, I'm currently abroad for several more months and won't be able to get the sim sent to me as the postal service is incredibly unreliable.

When so many things requires a OTP typically sent via SMS why enforce this in such a manner without consideration for sim holders overseas.

Yes upgrades are needed but for VM to deactivate a sim shouldn't be an option. 

What is the alternative for people like us?

Thanks