Recharging Italian sim cards from abroad... TIM and Wind
 

I know this topic has been covered in the past, but I haven't seen anything up to date after 2007.

I have 2 wind card and 1 tim card that I'd like to keep active.

i registered on shop.wind.it website and tried to add money to my cards, but it says my IP address is outisde of italy and it only works for Italy.
Is there any other way to recharge the Wind sims?

My TIM card won't respond at all here in the US. I tried to send sms to *123# and it doesn't work. I also tried registering for the TIM website, but I am not sure which Codice Fiscale was used when that card was registered. It was already registered when I bought it at a store, and they never took my info.
Is there anyway to recharge this TIM card from the US?

I would very much prefer to do any of these recharges online.

sorry.. this should probably be under the Europe section.
Admins - please feel free to move!

Thanks!

I fear there's nothing you can do. The next time you come to Italy you'll buy a new sim-card. They are so cheap that it's not a big issue.

I managed to recharge my Wind phone on the website a couple of months ago but just tried again and they said BIN Bloccato. I then recieved an email which seems to say (I don't read Italian) That it will take 7 days to process and they will notify me by sms when it is approved.

BLC if you want to post the mail here we can translate it.

Message from Wind
 

That would be great if I could get a translation.

" Ti invieremo la ricarica direttamente al numero di telefono da te indicato dopo l'avvenuto pagamento con carta di credito La gestione dell'invio delle ricariche avviene 7 giorni su 7.
Nel caso avessi scelto il servizio di notifica sms, ti ricordiamo che per ricevere l'sms di avvenuta ricarica e necessario che il cellulare sia acceso, sotto buona copertura e che la memoria sms sia libera."

This was on 155.it.

I also tried TIM again and it won't work even with PayPal.

Barry

"We send you the recharge directly to the phone number that you have indicated after the credit card payment. The recharge shipment management happens all days.
In case you've chose notification sms service, we remind you that to receive the sms of confirmation it's necessary that the phone is switched on, under good coverage and with free sms memory"

Translation
 

Thank You,

I guess that means the payment didn't work. I'll be OK as we will be back in Italy in September before the 12 months is up but it is annoying not being able to top up before we go. Any idea's on why TIM and WIND don't allow the use of non Italian credit cards or even PayPal?

That means that they will recharge you as soon as you pay with the credit card... but that should be quite fast...

Wind
 

Unfortunately the message also said BIN Blocked which I assume means "Buy It Now" option is blocked so the transaction didn't go through.
It worked last September with no problem so this must be something new with WIND .

Wind
 

Just discovered something new on 155.it called Wind Ricarica Smart.

Signed up for it and they sent me a pass code but when I tried to use it they said they were having technical difficulties!

I was unable to recharge my TIM SIM from Canada because I was out of credit, even though the card was still active. Sending an SMS to 4916 did not work. *123# to get a balance did not work either.

But then I dialed *123*4916#, got an immediate callback and was able to recharge on the phone by entering my ricaricard PIN. Menus in english.

Maybe this will work for you for your TIM SIM...

unfortunately, i don't have a ricaricard. i was hoping to be able to recharge the tim sim online.

for wind, i did the smart ricarica because i had credit on one sim but not the other. so i transferred 4 euro from one to the other via sms. is that enough to keep the cards active?

No, you have to recharge your sim, 'cause the smart ricarica doesn't keep the card active :(

if i send a text from one phone to another, will that keep both active?

I am experiencing the same problem. I cannot send my codice by text to 4916 or get a balance, my handset (I have tried two handsets) gives a message to refer to operator! I have dialled 4916 and hear the balance message in English but when I press '0' to recharge it tells me that I am not able to use the service.
Have TIM barred rechargeing from outside Italy? I have also noticed that on ebay UK there was once many offers to recharge TIM but now there are none. I tried to recharge €10 on ebay Italia but when I confirmed the purchase it said that I would outside the area. I have emailed the seller but he never replied.
Can some of our Italian friends inform us if TIM have changed their policy?

Italian operators don't have a public policy on recharging with foreign credit cards or from abroad. It's a total mess. Another mess was done by eBayers selling prepaid cards with no registration or false registration. In Italy we have a very stupid law for registering prepaid cards: it makes things complicated for foreigners and doesn't stop any "crime" (yes, it's supposed to be an anti-crime law).
So, as I always said, unless you are very lucky, or you visit Italy at max every 11 months, forget your cards and buy a new one every time you come here back.

@ Effendi,

Thanks for the comments.

You may have a point here, I purchased this sim card on ebay about four years ago. It was pre registered which saved me the hassles of doing this when I arrived in Italy, it also gave me a working phone when I got off the plane.
I also found that some of my online account details had been changed a while ago. This point has been posted on this forum several times, it was not my personal details but the details that were registered by the seller of the sim.
I think you are correct about buying a sim card on every visit.

no, unfortunately. Effendi has explained very well the italian policy about sim card:(

if you haven't an important reason to keep active 1 number, it's better to buy a new card on every visit:)

so let me get this straight.
even if i send an a regular sms from the phone to another cell, that itself won't keep the sim card active? so even using the phone won't keep a sim with credit active? the only way to keep it active is to recharge within the 12months?!

if so, that is ridiculous...

yes, excluding 3it ( :rolleyes: ), to keep alive a sim you have to recharge it (like the majority of european operators do)

I know, but in Italy there are a lot of things ridiculous:D

The problem is I still have 50 euro on the card which I hate to lose! We will be in Italy a week after my 12 months is up on Wind, if I recharge then do I retain my credit on the phone?

Barry

Yes, you can bring it on new sim or obtain your credit by check

Success
 

The 155.it site accepted my Canadian Visa Card! I was able to recharge so I won't lose my number before we get back to Italy in September.

Barry