Hi. I ordered a TIM sim from intouch for my Sicily trip and they sent me a Wind sim instead.......... :thumbdown: so I had to call them and tell them to send me the right one that I ordered. They said that they don't sell TIMs (even though they have it listed on their website under their Italian sim) anymore based on the fact that they have problems with registration..........I'd rather risk it because everyone else i know will have TIM and I'll feel more comfortable coveragewise. Anyway, I don't mind stopping into a store to register it correctly or whatever, but what do I need to do to insure that everything goes smoothly? The guy on the phone offered to send me my correct sim anyway with some paperwork for registration but said I'd be on my own from there and would more than likely have to stop i a store to get it to work.

I have registered for the fiscale thingy and I'll have my passport and whatnot, but what else will I need to do? Would I be able to activate it without problem once I fly into Italy? Can the sim be registered online? Would I be able to fax documentation to TIM to make sure the card will work when I arrive? Thanks.

Edit:fyi, I ended up buying a quadband phone, so I'm otherwise all set.

Thanks.

But why want you to buy a sim on that site at 50$? Even if they say they have registration problems... It's pure nonsense.

Buy it HERE in Italy at an official TIM shop, give them your passport and fiscal code and they will register it automatically and you'll have your TIM sim-card perfectly working. And all for 20? including 10? of credit. No rip-off and card which works.

Otherwise keep the Wind card which is probably better, but that must be registrated in the same way as TIM (and Vodafone) too.

;)

yeah i didn tknow they were so much cheaper in italy.....I guess i just wanted to have it right away. I'll have my fiscale thingy and my passport when i get there though so hopefully they'll register it for me. Would I just walk into a TIM store and say, "Signore, puo aiutarmi con la registrazione del sim? Ho tutti i miei documenti qui."and then just hand the guy my stuff? Also, will I need to give him an Italian address or will that not be necessary? Thanks. Btw, I'm just a student of Italian so non parlo perfettamente.

That sounds good. Or you can say: "Dovrei acquistare una nuova sim TIM". And he'll ask you for your documents.
As far as I remember he asks you for an address too. But I may be wrong.

Eheh, no problems with Italian, even if you don't speak it very well, you'll surely find someone who will help you, it's not a problem to find someone who speaks English in bigger towns, and Italians are usually very "open-minded" in helping foreign people, expecially when they are girls! :D

The best deal is to buy a new TIM card at an official TIM shop ("Il Telefonino", with red/blue TIM logo) with Codice Fiscale and Passport. They should ask you an Italian address too, give them the one of your hotel/apartment and there's no problem. They will activate it for you, no faxes and other stuff.

If you already have a TIM card go to the shop and ask them: "dovrei attivare questa scheda prepagata TIM, potete aiutarmi?" ("I shoud activate this prepaid TIM card, can you help me?") and if you make a big smile they should help you! :)

Thank you all very much....I feel like an idiot now for spending so much money on that sim card and not just waiting....I actually thought it would be cheaper to get it here than there...... :thumbdown: Well, I know better now...hoepfully these people will send me the correct card in time. I did get my unlocked phone in the mail so all it needs is a sim card.....I'll test out th ephone with my sister's sim when she get back into tow.....lol.

Anyway, I'll check out the nearest TIM store when I get to Sicily. I'll have to see if I can find one in Syracuse or on Ortigia. You think there will be a TIM store inside the airport at Catania or Rome? I will first fly into Rome and then transfer to Catania......then from there, I'll be picked up with the other students. Does TIM have stations set up inside those airports at all?

Thanks.

At Roma Fiumicino Airport there's a TIM official shop "Il telefonino", it's in terminal A, look here.

Anyway surely in Catania and Siracusa there are official shops downtown.

Garzie Effendi! Sei gentilissimo!!!!!!!

I have a layover in Roma for I think 2 hours or something like that.....so hopefully I can find it and take care of it as soon as I get there. Thanks agian!!!

Wel, I just received my replacement (the CORRECT simcard) in the mail today. They sent me the SIm-Plus TIM card.....it's blue. Yeah, I know I got ripped off on the pricing of it, but I didn't know any better :( I know better now and from now on, I'll just be patient and ge tthe sim in the country I am going.

It is good to know I have the sim now though and all I have to do is stop by a TIM store (hopefully in Roma right before I fly to Catania).

I will put the simcard in my phone and then put the recharge card in my wallet.

Thanks agian y'all and I will be nice and prepared to talk to the TIM guy in the store. It will be good practice anyway :) . Hopefully, he'll get me all registered and ready to go in a timely manner when I stop in and give him my documents. Do they charge you for registering a simcard that you have or will they do this for free?

No, of course you don't have to pay a single cent. You can try to put the sim-card on the phone right now in the US to see if the simcard is already active or not.

I put it in..its not preactivated, but i'll take care of that when i get ot italy. i did go ahead and get all the TIM numbers off the sim and onto my phone......and I added my important numbers to the phone and made sure both phone and sim have the numbers. I am new to the whole gsm thing, but its pretty neat. thanks again. i dunno which part of the airport I will be in when I stop in Roma. hopefully i will be near the TIM area. i will have a little less than two hours of layover time which is enough to find the place, get lost and then get back to my plane to Catania....lol :)

Or you can use this document via fax (free toll number: 800.600119 :)

http://www.tim.it/showfile/8129.pdf

Yes but I suppose she doesn't have a portable fax and a landline to use it here, and public-faxes are a rip-off, you should know it well :( It's easier to go to a TIM shop, I suppose... hoping they will speak some English!

Sure, but the Tim Shop probably uses that PDF too :D

Thanks. I leave for Italy Tuesday night. I could fax that doc before I leave....thanks a bunch. Oh, how will I know that it is registered and how long do you think it will take them to do it once they get it? If I fax it shoudl I stop by a TIM store anyway when I get to Italy just to make sure its registered?

When it's registered it works, so you surely know that it's registered! :D
I keep on thinking that the shop is easier, but if you want you can try to send the fax as well, but you have to be in Italy in order to fax the 800.600119.

oooh okay! iw asnt paying attneiton....i thought that it was a toll free number i could fax to from the us....lol. in that case, i'll just wait and do it when I get there. do you think that filling out that form ahead of time and including that with all my other stuff would aid in registration when I arrive at the store?

Yes, it can aid for sure, if you understand Italian and can compile it, it's surely a good thing! ;)

Okay you guys, I just finished packing and am now dealing with all my paperwork. I am filling out the form for TIM but have a couple questions.

I presume that wherever I see the term "il sottoscritto" I simply print my first and last name. ALso, at the end of the form, I am to put my SIGNATURE because it says "firma del richiedente".

I also presume that I am to check SI' where it mentions the terms of service.

Something I am not clear on though is the top portion. Where it says "nato a", since I was born in Germania, do I put the city AND the country there OR do I just put the country?

Also, it says "Residente in"---do I put the region in which I am staying? I will be staying in Sicilia with a Sicilian family. DO i NEED TO CLARIFY WHICH CITY? I'll be in Siracusa. If so, do I put that where it says "residente in" OR do I put that after the street name where it says "via/piazza".

Aso what does "n." mean? After that there is also "c.a.p."----what does this mean?

Also what does "Recapito telefonico" mean?


Thanks for your help!!!! I leave late this evening.

Edit: I found out what "c.a.p." means but I don't know what my code will be. I will be staying on Via Vittorio Veneto in Siracusa, Sicilia......I know that much, but I will not mee my host family untill I arrive so I have no idea what the c.a.p. is there :(

Your assumptions are all right.

Place of Birth: "Germania" is sufficient.

Residente in: this is where you live most of the year. Therefore, my suggestion is to write "Stati Uniti" and then, just next to it, making it fit in the tight space "Domiciliata in Siracua, Via V. Veneto n. [street number]". This is because, as indicated in the few lines under which you are about to sign, you are "criminally liable for false statements" and it would be wrong to state that you are resident in Italy, since you live in the US.

"n." is the street number (stands for "numero")

"cap" for siracusa is 96100 (http://www.poste.it/online/cercacap/elenco_locvie.php lists all italian postal codes)

"recapito telefonico" is a phone number (you can put the one of the people hosting you).

Ciao!

aaah thank you! I didn't know it meant permanent residence! I will change that at once and then my docs will be complete. Oh, I do not have the landline phone number of my host family so do you think it will be okay to put the office phone of my study abroad program? Thanks again you guys for being patient and very helpful.

Yeah, no problem, just write an Italian number you could be able to use, but they'll never call you there, it's just a formality.

Thanks a lot you guys. It's all done then. Now I am very tired so I will get some rest. Thanks again for helping this clueless little American girl out! :-)

Hazelgirl, when you are in Italy and you TIM sim works you'll have to call us to say thanks directly from your voice! :D

but i wrote you a PM about that :D

well... have a nice stay in Italy :beer: