Yesterday, I tried to make a call from my Cell C prepaid phone. Instead of being able to make the call, I was greeted with a message stating that my call could not be completed as I had not Rica'd my sim card. This is a sim which was Rica's many years ago, and I've had this number since long before Rica came into effect. So why am I now suddenly having this issue? :wtf:
After contacting Cell C customer care, the consultant eventually came to the conclusion that the issue was because I was using one of the old red Cell C sims, and that I needed to perform a sim swap to resolve the issue. I decided that my best option would be to go to my local Cell C store and get them to resolve the issue for me. No such luck, I was given a new sim and told exactly the same thing: I needed to perform a sim swap.
After going through the motion of performing the sim swap, verifying my info with customer care and waiting 2 hours before loading the new sim, I was back at square one. I was still getting the message that I have not Rica'd my sim. Interestingly enough though, I could receive calls, but I couldn't make them, check my airtime balance or contact customer care from the phone.
By 11:30PM, I made contact with Cell C customer care again, and explained the situation. The consultant was very confused, and couldn't understand why I was experiencing the issue, but told me that she couldn't help, and that I needed to contact their technical department after 9am today (18 September).
The person I spoke to today, suggested that I enter a USSD code to disable call barring. Obviously this didn't work, so the issue had to be escalated. I'm now told that someone will contact me in the next 24 hours.
So apparently it's possible to have a sim on their network for 10+ years, and have it disabled out of the blue with no reason or explanation. The first thought that crossed my mind was that somebody had commit sim-swap fraud against me, but that wouldn't explain why I'm still able to receive calls.
The most frustrating thing about this is that the customer care agents still seem convinced that the issue lies with my phone or a network issue in my area.
I know Cell C isn't the most reliable network, but I never even considered that something like this would happen. :(
If anyone from Cell C reads this, please fix this as I would like the use of my phone back.
After contacting Cell C customer care, the consultant eventually came to the conclusion that the issue was because I was using one of the old red Cell C sims, and that I needed to perform a sim swap to resolve the issue. I decided that my best option would be to go to my local Cell C store and get them to resolve the issue for me. No such luck, I was given a new sim and told exactly the same thing: I needed to perform a sim swap.
After going through the motion of performing the sim swap, verifying my info with customer care and waiting 2 hours before loading the new sim, I was back at square one. I was still getting the message that I have not Rica'd my sim. Interestingly enough though, I could receive calls, but I couldn't make them, check my airtime balance or contact customer care from the phone.
By 11:30PM, I made contact with Cell C customer care again, and explained the situation. The consultant was very confused, and couldn't understand why I was experiencing the issue, but told me that she couldn't help, and that I needed to contact their technical department after 9am today (18 September).
The person I spoke to today, suggested that I enter a USSD code to disable call barring. Obviously this didn't work, so the issue had to be escalated. I'm now told that someone will contact me in the next 24 hours.
So apparently it's possible to have a sim on their network for 10+ years, and have it disabled out of the blue with no reason or explanation. The first thought that crossed my mind was that somebody had commit sim-swap fraud against me, but that wouldn't explain why I'm still able to receive calls.
The most frustrating thing about this is that the customer care agents still seem convinced that the issue lies with my phone or a network issue in my area.
I know Cell C isn't the most reliable network, but I never even considered that something like this would happen. :(
If anyone from Cell C reads this, please fix this as I would like the use of my phone back.