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View Full Version : My Vodafone Micro SIM adventures today



Hands0n
25th June 2010, 10:18 PM
Today I picked up a shiny new Apple iPhone 4 from the Apple store in Bluewater, Kent. They had squillions in stock, there was no problem picking one up on the day following the first day of sales.

I should have visited, but didn't bother, the Vodafone store to pick up a Micro SIM for the handset and have my mobile number re-assigned to it. This was to cost me some anxiety later in the day. But I was in a rush and no end of other excuses.

Tonight I when I got home I decided to activate the new iPhone 4, but it will not do so without a SIM installed. And so it was on to the Interwebs, a bit of Google'ing and some YouTube'ing to see how to modify my standard sized SIM into a Micro SIM. After all, it can't be that hard, surely.

And it wasn't. In not very much time at all I had cut my full sized SIM down to a perfectly fitting Micro SIM and popped it into the iPhone 4. Catastrophe! The iPhone 4 doth protest loudly that no SIM was fitted. Damn and blast. Curses.

After much analysis and fiddling around I decided that this was going to be a complete show-stopper. But there was a ray of hope, it was 7:55 and the Bluewater stores are open until 9pm on weekdays. Right, off I go.

I don't think that I've managed that journey in quite such a low time so I'm claiming my own personal best time for getting from my study to the Vodafone doorway in Bluewater, 20 minutes flat, and that includes finding my car keys :)

The chaps at the store were probably well versed in dealing with people like me this week. No sooner had I popped the iPhone 4 on the counter than he was reaching for the box of Micro SIMs. A few taps on the keyboard and a flick with the barcode scanner and that was it. Job done. I was told that within 15 minutes the SIM would become active with my new number. And it was.

I cheekily asked if they had any adapters to convert the Micro SIM into a full sized one and he handed one over to me free and gratis. I really don't think that I've ever not spent a single penny in that store and come out with something!

So, credit where it is due - the folk at the Vodafone store in Bluewater were very helpful, knowledgeable and efficient. Well done Vodafone, and thank you too.

Ben
26th June 2010, 12:15 AM
It didn't work? I bet it was the wrong way around. Mine was. I basically ended up snipping all 4 corners off and rotating it until it worked ;)

But if Vodafone have microSIMs now I may well go and get a proper one.

Hands0n
26th June 2010, 12:38 AM
No, I was very careful before making the first cut to ensure that I had it keyed right. In the end I cut another corner off and tried reversing it but it made no difference.

If you go pick up a new Micro SIM from Vodafone don't forget to ask for the full-size adapter, just in case you ever need to shift the Micro SIM into another handset. And keep it safe, they're tiny and fragile!

Ben
28th June 2010, 09:48 PM
I'll pop into Canterbury's store next time I'm in town. I'd like to have a proper micro SIM rather than the jagged bit of plastic currently inside my £600 precious!