It was a UK card (Barclaycard, attached to my UK bank account), though the address on it is US. I assume they either didn't like the fact that the address wasn't really mine (it is a colleague's), or that the IP address on the browser was US, or something. As I said, the charge was authorized by Barclaycard.

The wandering around to find a SIM is what I've done in the past, and exactly what I was trying to avoid this time. Obviously, it is what I'll have to do again, but it really should have been avoidable. (If anyone knows where I should look in Manchester Airport, I'm all ears.) As for the eBay route, I hate paying for something that should be free.

If the IP address doesn't match the country of origen of the card the transaction may get rejected. They assume the card is cloned or stolen. I have had endless problems with this. I now try to use Paypal if it is accepted.

Normally that would be the CC company that rejects the transaction. (My US cards are the same way if I use them overseas without giving the company advance warning.) In this case my CC company was OK with the charge, Lebara and Nomi decided all on their own that I'm some kind of master criminal, using a stolen card to steal a whole 5 quid from them...

Anyway, I'm sure I'll survive. Thanks for the feedback, but really, I just wanted to vent. - DR

Lebara, being dedicated to the immigrant market are amongst the most cautious with online CC payments. Apparantly they were inundated with chargebacks in their early days. No doubt due to numbers obtained from Nigerian card databases. SIMs with cheap international calls that come loaded with credit are easy to flog on in immigrant areas.

If you need a UK sim card (un-used and un-opened) please don't hesitate to pm me...we can sort out a one for one trade!

Missed this one!!!
 

Vectone mobile UK

MVNO using t-mobile.....


Vectone Mobile - save money with low call rates at home and abroad

It seems to have launched a few days ago, after being in the pipeline for about two years. They now operate in 6 or 7 countries. The others have some cheap roaming, like a few minutes of free incoming, but I don't see it on here

It is interesting to read that Lycatel (who are the people behind the MVNO Lycamobile that has been mentioned higher up in this thread) are currently being investigated in the UK. The allegation is that users of their prepaid phonecards get fewer minutes than advertised, and that there are some hidden charges which are not made clear at the time of sale.

Though these misleading practices may be considered common practice in the telecom industry, it just goes to show that if you have good evidence, and put together a decent complaint to the regulator, then these things do eventually get taken seriously. If found guilty, Lycatel can get fined 10% of its turnover. Apart from this, if they have broken consumer laws, then individual customers could even apply for refunds through the courts.