Callkey Manx-based SIMs completely offline no calls possible

[MATHA531]

..got the same e mail but as noted in the other thread. if I can't personalize it by calling into the mailbox rather than having to dial in, at the rates they charge in the USA, that's a problem that I haven't had with previous UM cards; although I note that when they sent out the sim cards, they used a generic pin code for voicemail for all accounts...in the past your temporary password were the last 4 digits of the PUK code.

[synopsis]

I'm new to this forum, so pardon my ignorance if i didn't read all the threads leading up to this, but from what I can see IOM products - in so many variations which i didn't know about til this week seem to be pretty much out of business.
I was attending gitex show in Dubai couple weeks ago and ran into three of such providers showcasing their products: CherryMobile, QiiQ and CallBlueGSM. I am new to this product/service and thought of such a product to be pretty decent and I am constantly in Europe and Middle East. I bought a SIM from CallBlue, even though their prices are ridiculous from Canada, almost $2 a minute to call U.K. I am almost glad I didn't buy one from Qiiq or cherry mobile as i would've been left complaining as i'm in Rome next week.
Now that I've been introduced to the wonderful world of so called "free" roaming, it seems to be more of a soap opera - ranging from dozens of callkey resellers looking for alternatives to so called "financial" problems.
Let's see how this unfolds..

[MATHA531]

From geosim's web site

Service Update
17:32 2nd Oct 2007
Received from service provider 17:15 BST.
"We are acutely aware that you are waiting for news and we have not been able to deliver this to you for a little while. There are intense activities going on to enable us to restore the system very quicky.....
There will be a further update later in the day."
________________________________________
Service update
14:27 2nd Oct. 2007
No further information has been received from the service provider regarding the service outage at this time.
GeoSIM is sourcing alternative services and will advise customers in due course of the proposed solution.
Thank you for your patience in this matter and sincere apologies for the inconvinience caused
__________________________________________________ ______
Service Update
08:48 2nd Oct 2007
At this time no further update has been received from the service provider regarding the current system outage. The last report from them was at 19:30 1st Oct advising there was no further information on when the system would be operational.
We are looking at various alternative options on resuming service for customers at this time.
__________________________________________________ ____________
Service Alert Update.
Received from Service Provider 12:02 Monday 1st October
"There is no update to the status of the system that we can give at this time - it is still not functioning for all SIM activities.
There will be a further update at 6pm BST today."

Not holding my breath!

[petkow]

I had an email from my supplier (eKit) this morning. The key line was:

Unfortunately we do not know if or when the service will be restored.

They told me they were offering free replacement SIMs with another provider.
So I got on the phone to them! As suspected the problem is with Callkey who have gone down in spectacular fashion! Anyhow, I have been told I should have replacement SIM's by the morning. Apparently most of the older callkey +44 7624's will cease to exist and will instead all be replaced with +44 7924. This is not really a problem for me as my 3 SIM's were all 07924 as is. I don't know any further details yet as to what product it is and which countries are included etc.

[bbob]

Just talked to the supplier of my manx sim and he told he he received a letter 2 am this morning saying callkey has stopped and has gone out of business.

More updates on their website and they will look for an alternative offer for their existing customers.

[petkow]

Yes... I will echo that as I posted in the other thread! My supplier eKit have confirmed this but have already managed an alternative. I hope to report back to you guys as soon as I have it.

[ygeffens]

Originally Posted by petkow

Yes... I will echo that as I posted in the other thread! My supplier eKit have confirmed this but have already managed an alternative. I hope to report back to you guys as soon as I have it.

I also got an alternative solution from eKit. They are sending the new cards within 2 business days.

On the Globalsimcard contactpage I read this:

10:00 3rd Oct 2007

At 03:00 3rd Oct. our service provider reported to us that they have officially ceased trading as of October 2nd 2007. They report that one of their objectives is to seek a basis for the continuity of the business for the benefit of distributors and end users.

We are actively sourcing a replacement service for our customers and will be advising you as soon as possible of a replacement service.

Our customers are advised that a number of other SIM providers are also affected.

[andy]

I made a phone call a few minutes ago that suggests that nothing necessarily that final has happened or been communicated. This is not a reseller but someone who will know.

It is not impossible that all of the existing SIM cards will work again.

[ygeffens]

Originally Posted by andy

Sorry, but both of these posts are not accurate.

I made a phone call a few minutes ago that suggests that nothing that final has happened or been communicated. This is not a reseller but someone who will know.

And two other resellers do not have this message, but another they didn't elaborate on. What is more, the message from ekit does not say that either.

Don't panic or rely on incomplete or possibly partial information from resellers wanting people to shift to a newer product without disclosure of why.

I want to believe you, but we can't rely on Callkey anymore do we? This could have been avoided by Callkey if they published the problems they were having theirselfs on friday last week.

If you know more, can you tell us all you know, or have you agreed in an NDA ?

[andy]

Originally Posted by ygeffens

I want to believe you, but we can't rely on Callkey anymore do we? This could have been avoided by Callkey if they published the problems they were having theirselfs on friday last week.

If you know more, can you tell us all you know, or have you agreed in an NDA ?

Sorry, Yves, but a company is not obliged to publish its internal workings, and what on earth could you have done about it last week?

I haven't agreed any non-disclosure but ...

Two other resellers do not have this information.

Another involved party was not sent this information by Callkey; they had the reseller website mentioned to them in the last hour.

I just rang ekit.

I asked if they knew for absolutely certain that the existing SIM cards would never work again. They do not know this. Also, I already knew that the other arrangement they have was not made this week, and was not made for reasons associated with this.