Lidl

[dclobato]

Originally Posted by kuba.g

See http://www.prepaidgsm.net/forum/euro...ps-online.html . If you don't manage with a non-European credit card you can PM me, I can help

I'll try this one before the trip. IF it fails, I'll try to buy the voucher at the airport. Thanks!

[inquisitor]

Actually you can search for nearby recharge voucher sellers at https://www.fonic.de/html/filialfinder.html (enter a city or postal code and chose "Aufladebon" from the drop down-menu).

[dclobato]

Originally Posted by inquisitor

Actually you can search for nearby recharge voucher sellers at https://www.fonic.de/html/filialfinder.html (enter a city or postal code and chose "Aufladebon" from the drop down-menu).

Very nice! Found a seller just across the street of my hotel

[inquisitor]

A word of warning:

Since Monday Lidl also sells SIM cards with the "Smart" tariff (300MB + 400 domestic minutes or SMS for € 9.95/month) preactivated (indicated by red sticker on wrapping) which requires a German bank account for debiting of the monthly fee and so cannot be activated by visitors without such. Therefore explicitly ask for a SIM card in the "Classic" tariff!

[DaveRo]

My experience of activating Handy Internet Flatrate on a new SIM:

Sent 'START HANDYINTERNET', was asked for confimation, sent 'JA', and got an SMS that it would be activated soon : 'Sie erhalten in Kuerze...'. Nothing for 3 days. I tried using the AP 'Internet, but still on volume-based charging.

So yesterday I went on the Mein Fonic site
https://www.fonic.de/selfcare2/servlet/Start
and changed the data tariff there - very easy. I got an SMS to say it was activated today, 18 hours later, and the balance has been debited.

[inquisitor]

The frequent delays or even failures when requesting tariff changes by SMS is really annoying and a shame as well. May be I should add a warning that SMS-triggered tariff changes sometimes are not applied at all at LIDL mobile - Prepaid Wireless Internet Access which currently says: "tariff changes made online seem to become effective faster"

P.S.: just changed the text to "Tariff changes requested by SMS often take much longer to take effect or even fail sometimes, while those made online seem to become effective reliably and much faster. Therefore tariff changes should preferable be made online."

[DaveRo]

Lidl does seem rather slow. Today - 6 days after registering the SIM and a day after finally getting the Handy Internet Flatrate working - I received 2 emails.

One welcomed me to Lidl mobile and, inter alia, told me about the Mein Fonic online service.

The other suggested I try Handy Internet Flatrate - and offered a 1 month free trial:

Senden Sie einfach eine SMS mit "START PROBESURF" an die Telefonnummer 54356 *
*("LIDLM"). Sie erhalten eine Bestätigungs-SMS und danach können Sie kostenfrei surfen*. *
*

[inquisitor]

I've guided dozens of people through the activation procedure and I have never seen similar issues so far. There are also two reports from people who couldn't get their SIMs activated at Registered but no service - Prepaid Wireless Internet Access.
I assume they had some system maintenance or so - maybe this trial month, of which I hear for the first time, is a result of this.
Your report about the trial month, about which I hear for the first time, gave me a hint of why your tariff change by SMS failed: Lidl seem to have introduced their own number for SMS subscriptions which is 54356 (LIDLM) while before they shared the number with Fonic (36642 = FONIC).

[Motel75]

I've just activated two Lidl SIMs with no problem at all, welcome letter received two days later. Next I'll see how smoothly the (ex-Vodafone) numbers are ported from Solomo.

FWIW, one other difference between Fonic and LM not mentioned in this thread is that the phone displays "LIDL MOBILE" not "FONIC".

[DaveRo]

I posted earlier on my problems activating Handy Internet Flatrate on my new SIM. I put the SIM in an iPad and verified that it worked. For the next week I had free internet at my hotels so I didn't use it. When I then tried to use it it wouldn't work. I put the SIM back into a phone and discovered that I couldn't make calls either, though I could receive them.

That evening I had wifi again and saw that on Mein Fonic it said Status SIM Karte: Nur erreichbar.

I used a UK mobile to ring customer service on 0176 8888 0000 - I'd read that they had English-speaking operators. They didn't - at least not on a Sunday evening. I don't speak German but I think I heard 'morgen' so perhaps they do during working hours. But I was only in Germany for two more days and I wasn't willing to waste more money trying to solve the problem. I did however send a message, via Mein Fonic, in English asking why the SIM was blocked. I was promised a response in 3 days.

I'm now back in the UK. Yesterday I got an email yesterday saying: "Unfortunately, the processing of your email inquiry is still going on. We therefore ask you to be patient."

If they ever tell me why it was blocked I'll let you know. I can think of 3 possible reasons:
1 The Berlin hotel I gave as an address was rejected. (Do all German SIMs require a German address?)
2 They detected the SIM was used in an iPad and they don't allow that.
3 The muddle over SMS and online change of data tariff confused their system.

On the plus side I got the 5€ credit for the referral!

(We enjoyed our holiday though: walking on Rügen Island and in the Hartz, and a couple of days in Berlin.)