mark and sacha Posted July 19, 2007 Share Posted July 19, 2007 I have done a search on the forum but dont seem to be able to find an answer to my question. We have a french orange payg phone. We havent used it for a while, went to use it yesterday after charging it up and an error message is telling me there is a sim card faliure. Does it "run out"? can I reinstate it? any info would be gratefully received.regardsmark and sacha Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ecossais Posted July 19, 2007 Share Posted July 19, 2007 How long is it since you put credit on the phone? The networks disconnect PAYG numbers if they are not used for a while, usually 3 or 6 months. You could try calling Orange Customer Service and ask if they can re-activate the number, otherwise you’ll need to buy a new SIM.Orange t&c’s - http://animation.orange.fr/fis/mobicarte.pdf Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sharkster Posted July 19, 2007 Share Posted July 19, 2007 Same thing happened to me on SFR. You need to top up at least once every six months otherwise the cut off you number, even if you still receive incoming calls. We switched to Virgin who give you 9 months before cutting you off, their calls are cheaper and credit is valid for longer. Also Virgin runs on the Orange network so if you call it from a FT land line it is the cheapest mobile network to call (since you are billed for calling Orange). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brettonflyer Posted July 19, 2007 Share Posted July 19, 2007 Hi, my french PAYG mobile is a cheapy from EXPERT. It works fine and I top it up at my local Tabac, but my only problem is I can't understand half the messages i get from orange. Is there a standard translation for standard messages anywhere. Or can I request english texts from orange.fr ???????Can anyone shed any light on this ???????? Regards Richard & Lin Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
powerdesal Posted July 19, 2007 Share Posted July 19, 2007 come on, get real. In France you should expect French language messages. Would you reasonabley expect to be able to ask BT for messages in French whilst in UK - no. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tenniswitch Posted July 19, 2007 Share Posted July 19, 2007 [quote user="Sharkster"]Same thing happened to me on SFR. You need to top up at least once every six months otherwise the cut off you number, even if you still receive incoming calls. We switched to Virgin who give you 9 months before cutting you off, their calls are cheaper and credit is valid for longer. Also Virgin runs on the Orange network so if you call it from a FT land line it is the cheapest mobile network to call (since you are billed for calling Orange).[/quote]Could you post a link for Virgin? Thanks. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ecossais Posted July 19, 2007 Share Posted July 19, 2007 Tenniswitch,Is this what you're looking for - http://www.virginmobile.fr/ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mr Coeur de Lion Posted July 19, 2007 Share Posted July 19, 2007 [quote user="powerdesal"]come on, get real. In France you should expect French language messages. Would you reasonabley expect to be able to ask BT for messages in French whilst in UK - no.[/quote]I would expect BT to do messages in Russian or Polish though..... ;) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Onion van man Posted July 19, 2007 Share Posted July 19, 2007 [quote user="LyndaandRichard"][quote user="powerdesal"]come on, get real. In France you should expect French language messages. Would you reasonabley expect to be able to ask BT for messages in French whilst in UK - no.[/quote]I would expect BT to do messages in Russian or Polish though..... ;)[/quote]You can get English messages in Russia but, you have to know enough Russian to select the options. Anyway I would expect most countries to have things in English because english is the international business language is it not? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mr Coeur de Lion Posted July 19, 2007 Share Posted July 19, 2007 It is, but I was just throwing off at how pc the UK is and how it seems obsessed with trying not to offend anybody -unless they are English of course. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tenniswitch Posted July 20, 2007 Share Posted July 20, 2007 [quote user="Ecossais"] Tenniswitch,Is this what you're looking for - http://www.virginmobile.fr/ [/quote]I guess. That's a pretty racy site. [;-)] Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mark and sacha Posted July 20, 2007 Author Share Posted July 20, 2007 Hi,thanks for your responces. How do I go about unlocking my phone so I can go to another network(Virgin) I dont want to have to buy another mobile.regards,Mark and Sacha Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cooperlola Posted July 20, 2007 Share Posted July 20, 2007 [quote user="mark and sacha"]Hi,thanks for your responces. How do I go about unlocking my phone so I can go to another network(Virgin) I dont want to have to buy another mobile.regards,Mark and Sacha[/quote]Normally, this involves contacting you provider (Orange France) - but some companies' t's and c's state that phones cannot be unlocked unless they've been used for a certain length of time. Best to have a look at the paperwork which came with the phone, assuming of course that you still have it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ecossais Posted July 20, 2007 Share Posted July 20, 2007 Mark and Sacha,I think someone has said before that in France you are entitled to get the unlock code free from the network after having spent so much on top-ups or having used the phone for so long, so it may be worthwhile contacting Orange.You can unlock some of the older Nokia models yourself – you can get the unlock code by entering the IMEI number of your phone (key *#06#) and the network to which it is locked on this website: http://www.trycktill.com/eng/ (there are probably others). Follow the instructions very carefully as you only get 5 attempts at entering unlock codes. If there are several unlock codes listed for your IMEI, usually the first one or the last one will work. You will need to put a non-Orange SIM into the phone in order to trigger the phone’s unlock code entry procedure.Alternatively ask at shop in a big town selling mobile phones where you can get your phone unlocked locally. In the UK it costs about £10.Some phones cannot be unlocked just with a code and have to be connected to a PC (with special software) to unlock them. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
liz Posted July 20, 2007 Share Posted July 20, 2007 [quote user="mark and sacha"]How do I go about unlocking my phone so I can go to another network(Virgin) I dont want to have to buy another mobile[/quote]I went into the France Telecom shop and they gave me a phone number to ring. I didn't actually bother to pursue this so I don't now have the phone number required. Have you tried the Orange web site? My enquiries were some time ago and I know they didn't have any info on unlocking then but they might have updated by now. The word you need is 'déverrouiller'. Alternatively France Telecom may, at least, be able to get you restarted on the Orange network. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mark and sacha Posted August 7, 2007 Author Share Posted August 7, 2007 Thankyou to everyone for your help. After a bit of to and fro via email, I finally plucked up the courage to use my limited French and phoned orange (3972) and have managed to get our phones unblocked. With orange it is free to have the phone unblocked after 6 months of being with them - before that is 76euros!! Now its off to www.virgin.fr for two new simms.RegardsSacha Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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