Anyway, upgrading makes sense, since you'll get the UM+ SIM for free (only if ordered until July 31st) and the +423 SIM will stay activate as long as you have credit (which you can still recharge even after upgrading).

Thanks for the copy of the email Mr K...

UM+ a no-brainer to me for existing users, as they get a free UM+ SIM with free shipping if they move before August 1.

You can run both cards in parallel if your travelling needs require this.

Get clicking, is all I can say!

-S:)

Wonder if there will be any changes to terms and conditions re topup amounts / frequency. Any gotchas in the small print?

No, in UM's FAQs it says:

I think the minimum topup for both cards is 25 euros....

I just signed up for the free upgrade and now my account just shows that my card has been upgraded to UM+ (but no +44 number is showing). I was never asked for a shipping address for the sim or any other data. Is this other people's experience as well? Does that just mean that they'll ship a sim card to whatever address they have on file and that the credit gets transferred on activation?

They should have a shipping address from you. The one that the old card was shipped to.

Does anyone have the rates for the UM+ for companies like enlinea and cbw? I continue to need to have a callback option, but looking for a pretty cheap one.

Bummed that China is gone, but could use this in other prices if it lowers the Call back costs to the phone.

Anyone have experience transfering balances, or converting balances to $ from Euro? I had the first Riiing card in Euro, but $$ would work better for me in the long run.

Here is the rub with this....rates listed on cbw and enlinea for uk mobiles which I assume would be the applicable rates are much higher than other European countries...in the vicinity of 40 to 50 cents US whereas Germany and France are 28 cents US.....I have felt this was reflective of high termination fees to Isle of Man mobiles and again part of the way really low cost international calling is discouraged.

Whatever shipping address is in your profile is what they will use I think. At least that's the one showing up on my invoice when I click on orders, then click on the invoice(pdf). Yes, you are correct, no number is assigned yet. May be the new number will need to be registered once you receive it. I believe you actually have to transfer the credit yourself.


EDIT: Order is showing as shipped and there is now a number assigned. It will have to be activated via the PUK code on the sim upon receiving it. After which credit can be added/transferred.

So you mean that when I have, lets say 10 euros of credit on the +423 card, and I transfer only 5 euro to the new +44 card, I have two cards active at the same time? So only when transfering the complete 10 euros (so my balance on the +423 card is 0) my +423 card is disabled?

I haven't looked at the transfer page yet, but CS told me, the +423 SIM would be valid until there's no credit left.
Is it actually possible to transfer only a part of the remaining credit?

It seems possible.......But you are not sure untill you receive the card.

I bought the +423 number for my trip to China in 13 days. I really need the free incoming in China.

Would I still be able to recharge the +423 number if I switched over?

I am not sure if they really cover China. they used to have problems with this country some months ago. Check with the CS. The +423 remains valid if you take the new card as long as their is credit in the sim.

I have already brand new UM+ SIM card. Was sent on friday. Will let you know more later on.
So first experience:
Classic callback. It sends caller ID. Sound is very bad. I would say not able to use it at all.
Correction of above for location on outskirts of Prague Czech Republic.
Sound is very bad. I would say not able to use it at all. O2
Nice sound. T-Mobile
Not working. Vodafone

Another update. It receives Caller ID. Can be reached with Betamax. Easy.

So it seems O2 has some problems while Tmo works well? I should receive it too, but unfortunately I'm not in Genova till friday...

More corrections
 

I have moved closer to Prague City Centre. Now both O2 and T Mobile roaming working. But once I have experienced the same problem on T Mobile network like before on O2.

Card doesnt work with Motofone.

All the time using SE W700i.

Vodafone is not roaming partner in Czech Republic.

Here is link for the Jersey Telecom Roaming Partners.
http://www.jerseytelecom.com/upload/...n_30072007.pdf

Nice find on the Jersey Telecom roaming list.

Hope the audio problem issue you found isn't a consistent problem with this new card...just a problem with some mobile phone carriers they use.

My new sim is in the mail. Will try it in the USA for SMS and balance check (to check audio without the the zone 6 roaming fee) on T-Mobile and AT&T when it comes later this week.

Works fine now on both networks. No audio issue any longer.

And how about the activation of the SIM itself?
More precisely, I have some questions about the balance.
Did yiu test the +447937 SIM with zero balance or you had to transfer some/all the balance from the +423663 SIM before?
If you hadn't transfered all the balance, is you +423663 SIM still active?

How did they ship the card? Postal mail or courier (DHL, TNT, UPS or Fedex)?

Activation is done by typing in PUK code in My Account section of UM website. I have got my card with airtime credit balance, bought as brand new one. SO balance transfer was not issue.

SIM card was sent by airmail from Kloten, Switzerland. So this meant I think they are sending them directly from Zurich Airport Post Office.

UM's headquarter is in Kloten, which is the same district of the Airport, but they are not so close, I can assure you, a taxi is needed! ;) Anyway they always used Swiss Post which of course uses ZH airport! :)

Talked to UM customer service last week about shutting down a +423 card.

What they told me is that when not used for x month it is not shut down automatically but a person has to do this. She said that for some card it could even take 1.5 years before they shut it down. If this is true ?

Got mine yesterday and put it through some tests but of course since I am in the USA, can't actually finish off calls or make calls as pricing to make or receive calls in USA is asiniely high.

1. Caller ID works both ways...

2. On AT&T long distance, calls go through pretty quickly so it seems that I will be able to use it when I travel (next trip two weeks to London, although as noted before, have always used a British PAYG in London as calls to the USA from there are dirt cheap on various PAYG's). In the past I was able to call forward from my landline to UM at an astoundingly cheap rate of 11¢/minute but those days are gone...calls to UK mobiles on my call forwarding plan are listed at 28¢/minute, not disgustingly bad but not as good as in the past. I assume there is no further surcharge to Jersey mobiles that it is treated as a call to a UK mobile.

3. The alternate 1016868 service does not seem to recognize the number so I couldn't complete any calls that way....

4. Don't know about sound quality, can't actually complete any calls (unless I want to throw away my credit) but I wonder wouldn't the sound quality be mostly dependent on the roaming partner being used? At least that's the way it seemed to work with the +423 (not that I hardly used their service to make calls but receiving calls was fine....using cbw and enlinea back in the good old days of 14¢ (can't believe it's only been 3 or 4 months) was not always great but that's understandable due t0 the nature of CBW and enlinea (they clearly route the calls through ISP's of some sort_ but then again wouldn't calls made and received with some of the phone cards with hundreds of minutes also go through these ISP's?

The big hang up, at least at present seems to be setting up my voicemail. In the past when I received the +423 card, to set up voice mail I shut the phone, waited about an hour for it to de-register from the US roaming partner (usually T Mobile USA but sometimes Cingular (interestingly enough, th ephone now say AT&T when roaming on Cingular/AT&T) and called into voicemail from a landline to re-set the pin and record my personal greeting. In any event, with the phone off, I can't seem to get through via any of my ld carriers...I get a message on my AT&T your international call cannot be completed. Please check the number and dial again or ask your operator...wonder if that is again caused by the fact it is a Jersey number or is just not working when the phone is off or needs some sort of activation...turn the phone back on and it registers and calls can be made (at least the phone rings)..see what happens today but this could be a problem.

Finally, interesting enough, when making a call via +44 UM, it's the usual callback we've grown to know and love but before you get the call back, the card flashes your balance on the display....that is nice and new.

Today I received my UM+ SIM, which I upgraded from my +423 SIM including a silver number at the cost of € 25.
To my surprise the card came with an initial credit of € 25. So in the end the silver number was for free. LOL

>>Wonder if there will be any changes to terms and conditions re topup amounts / frequency. Any gotchas in the small print?

>No, in UM's FAQs it says:

Quote:
Originally Posted by United Mobile
Q: When does the United Mobile SIM card and the credit expire?
A: SIM card and credit will become invalid if the credit has not changed for nine months.

______

I have transferred my balance over but now when doing a balance check
it says

Your remaining credit is EUR 10.25
<b>Expires in 359 days.</b>

This does not tie up with the FAQ which says the card will expire if a chargable activity isn't done for nine months.

So if I make a call now does it reset to 365 days or just keep counting down?

If this is the case then the FAQ entry ought to be changed to something like:

If the card isn't used for a chargable activity within nine months it will be cancelled and credit forfeit.
If the credit isn't used within 365 days it will be forfeit anyway.

Or have I misunderstood something?

I've just sent an SMS from my UM+ SIM to my German O2 SIM. The message instantly arrived, allthough my UM+ phone said "sending failed". Afterwards it displayed the message "remaing credit EUR 25.00. No expiry".
Not only that the message wasn't charged a single cent, but my credit seems to have infinite validity.
UM is very generous to me!

You are very lucky!

My new UM+ card arrived this morning via regular airmail.

Plan to check it these evening and will report back on UK coverage...

Steve :)

================================================== ====

Later - works flawlessly on all four UK GSM nets (Vodafone, O2, Orange and T-Mobile). Caller ID present on outbound calls (which are processed rapidly via the usual callback options).

Phone flashes up balance remaining before callback initiates - nice touch - and call quality is excellent (much better than the +42 service). Also the balance enquiry service trips a text with the balance, instead of voice, and tells me I have 364 days left on my credit.

I transferred 65 of my 68.10 euro balance over to the new card and both are now working in parallel.

So far - so good. Off to Paris on Saturday for 10 days, so the cheaper calling is really helpful.

Steve :)

Steve (or others) can you check your balance by navigating the phone menu, select United Mobile then Services then Balance and report what the expiry date says (underneath your balance)

Mine said no expiry.

You're lucky guys. My SIM hasn't arrived yet - all I have so far is an online info: "This SIM card has been upgraded to United Mobile+" ;-).
BTW, anyone of you has obtained the new SIM in a registered letter? If they send SIM in regular letters, I'm a little bit afraid about mine because the local post office and postmen in particular are excellent in losing letters or delivering them to wrong addresses :-P

Same here...they sent mine out without including the zipcode. Once I saw the invoice and realized that, I contacted them right away, but it was already sent out they replied (On Saturday am). All the other information is correct. Usually, even with missing zipcode, the US system can still track down the correct delivery address based on the other information (name, city, street name). it just that it will be a couple of days delayed or so. So, we will see...

I've discovered and reported another issue:

If your UM+ phone is switched off callers will be told, that the dialed number doesn't exist instead of being told, that the number is only temporarily not available (tried that from 2 German GSM networks).
With other carriers (VoIP services) nothing happens after dialing a (temporarily unavailable) UM+ number.

Yup...that's the problem I referred to above....when the phone is switched off as noted, instead of going into voicemail (previously with the +423 card the voicemail was active when I recieved the card with a temporary pin as the last 4 digits of the PUK code..now they include a voice mailbox temporary pin) the caller hears a message, "Your international call cannot be completed as dialed. Please check the number and dial again or ask your operator for assistance."

This is not right.

China Use
 

I can speak to this directly as I use the +423 extensively in China. Yes, it works but at least once every trip it just won't work. Usually if you wait for an hour or so it will start to work again. There is a connection and you can "dial out" but you never get the call back and any calls to you go to your VM if you have it set up. I've sent numerous emails and they are aware of the problem and have an entire team of people set up to fix this problem (tongue in cheek). Seriously, it works pretty well but if you need it for business you should buy a sim there.

Yes - 364 days on my card... :)

Same here - interestingly, when roaming on O2 UK network, the SIM says voicemail is 171, but this is NU.

Must be a bug - hope they iron this out...

Steve