Spark eSim - an open letter to Spark

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#3122577 1-Sep-2023 10:54

boosacnoodle:

One gives you a reusable QR code that you can print off and store somewhere safely. Is it really that hard?

Spark do the same thing - its only useable once but the painful part if you have to physically visit a store for them to give you a new one!
Apple supports OTA transfer on setup of a new phone but not sure if this will work or if Spark has updated their systems for this. Guess we'll find out with the new iPhone releasing soon!

-- opinions expressed by me are solely my own. ie - personal

midiii

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#3129688 20-Sep-2023 11:31

As expected, tried to arrange an esim as a roaming customer. Rep told me to nominate a friend who could go into a store for me to get the esim qr code.

Sadly the rep refused to be my nominated friend.

Will try the roaming support number and see how I go with them.

Behodar

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#3129692 20-Sep-2023 11:50

https://support.apple.com/en-gb/HT209096

"Carrier Activation" and "Quick Transfer" seem to be standardised ways of handling this sort of thing... but none of the NZ providers offer them.

midiii

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#3131061 23-Sep-2023 19:38

New phone here, hoping Spark get back. to my request so I dont have to fly to visit a store. 😂

boosacnoodle

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#3131083 23-Sep-2023 21:09

The stupidest thing about this policy was during years gone by if you had, or claimed to have, Covid they would just let you SIM swap over the phone rather than risk you - infected - walking into a store, defeating the point of the policy entirely.

If banks in NZ didn’t still - in 2023! - rely on SMS as MFA we would not be having this talk I suspect. More than a few times NZ telcos have paid out settlements to people whose bank account was compromised due to SIM swapping fraud. Realistically IMO all of the liability for this should really have fell on the banks. Impersonating someone is already an offence under the Privacy Act.

migrif

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#3131147 23-Sep-2023 23:02

I did my eSim Swap in store yesterday at Spark Sylvia Park, the whole process took 5 minutes. I was impressed. Would be better if it was Quick Transfer, but was painless once I made it to the store.

Back in 2021, they did the swap over the phone for me, due to the level in effect at the time.

nakedmolerat

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#3131169 24-Sep-2023 08:55

Nate001:
I read a blunt response the other day on GZ, who in a nut shell said, if you don't like the swim swap process, stick with a physical sim. Thats the current state of eSim in NZ.

You raise many valid points and I do sometimes consider going back to a physical sim incase I'm caught out in a situation as you listed.

What if I'm travelling overseas and break my phone and decide to replace it? I'm out of luck.

As someone who travels a lot, changing phone regularly, I have moved back to regular SIM.

I also stopped using LTE watch and back to the analog watch because I can't be bothered with the process of swapping them require a trip and my time wasted at the physical stores.

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Trade NZ and US shares and funds with Sharesies (affiliate link).

Goosey

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#3131210 24-Sep-2023 10:35

Telcos just need to look at using “real me” for authentication.

if it’s good enough for passports……..

heavenlywild

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#3131225 24-Sep-2023 10:54

Nooooooo.......

Real Me is a real disaster from a UX perspective.

Two factor auth is much better.

stick

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#3131368 24-Sep-2023 15:20

heavenlywild: Nooooooo.......

Real Me is a real disaster from a UX perspective.

Two factor auth is much better.

They recently made it 'modern'..?

Goosey

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#3131390 24-Sep-2023 17:32

heavenlywild: Nooooooo.......

Real Me is a real disaster from a UX perspective.

Two factor auth is much better.

Explain how you think it’s a disaster for the user?
As far as I can see…. You simply go authenticate yourself once and then periodically (just as you do with the bank).

Handle9

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#3131576 25-Sep-2023 04:10

Tinkerisk:

It's sad that you have to write something like this to the provider.

Every point that is asked for here is included in every monthly 1€/GB with voice flat rate and the eSIM is simply changed in the provider's APP if the smartphone supports eSIM (here in GER).

Germany has 14 times the population density and 17 times the population of NZ.

It's a lot easier for providers to invest there and achieve economies of scale for this kind of backend infrastructure.