Vodafone prepaid: Need help from Canada

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Gigi

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#23210 22-Jun-2008 13:07

Hi everyone,

I purchased a Vodafone NZ prepaid sim card off Ebay in preparation for an upcoming trip to Australia and New Zealand next month. I was expecting to be able to register at Vodafone.co.nz to get my $10 bonus credit, but to my disappointment, it required that I enter a temporary password that was sent to the phone number. Since I am in Canada, I could not receive this pw so I could not register. I emailed support and they confirmed that this is a security measure so there is no way around this.

My biggest concern right now is that I will be heading to Australia before NZ. I had been expecting to roam in Australia with the prepaid sim, but now there appears to be no way to activate/ensure roaming, nor any way to top-up the phone when I need it in Australia.

Does anyone have any solution to my problem? The only thing I can think of is to see if I can somehow purchase a code for a credit voucher before I leave or while I am in Australia, and hope I can top up while I am in Australia.

Thanks for any help and advice.

sbiddle

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Biddle Corp

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#139711 22-Jun-2008 13:12

You can auto roam in Australia with a VFNZ Prepay SIM. This means that when you turn the phone on in Australia you should be able to receive a TXT message with the password for the account. There is no need to activate roaming as it's automatically activated.

johnr

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#139715 22-Jun-2008 14:20

As advised above it will just work its called camel roaming. You dont need to do anything but if you want your sms from registration it will expire if not delivered in 4 days and another will need to be requested.

mushion22

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#139754 22-Jun-2008 16:45

You should be able to top up via credit card if you want to get credit on it. Just go to a net cafe once you get to aussie and register online and you should be sorted.

Note that Vodafone NZ's roaming charges are relatively expensive (compared to what you might be used with Canadian carriers) so you might be better off buying a prepay Aussie sim card once you get there instead, depending on how much you intend to use it.

Gigi

3 posts

Wannabe Geek

#139824 23-Jun-2008 00:54

Thank you all, for your very helpful replies. Since SMS will expire after 4 days, if I tried to re-register right before I leave, I should be able to get the message upon arrival when I land, right? (My flight will take less than 4 days.)

@ mushion22: Thanks for the reminder about roaming charges. I really only plan to use my phone for emergencies, so hopefully, it'd end up costing less than having to buy a separate sim for Australia. And being from Canada, I am already used to exhorbitant wireless rates!

mushion22

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#139830 23-Jun-2008 07:16

Hah, I am in Canada at the moment and wireless charges are cheap here compared to NZ, believe me!

garvani

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#139847 23-Jun-2008 08:47

you would be better to buy a prepaid vodafone sim card in aus.. They sell them for $3!! (obviously dosnt come with any credit) but for $3 its a hell of a lot better than the roaming charges you will face, especially if you happen to roam onto optus without realising (as i did when i was over there.. ouch!!) Last time i was there i picked up my sim card from within the brisbane airport store, and binned it on my way back out of the country.. :)

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Gigi

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#139885 23-Jun-2008 10:57

garvani: you would be better to buy a prepaid vodafone sim card in aus.. They sell them for $3!! (obviously dosnt come with any credit) but for $3 its a hell of a lot better than the roaming charges you will face, especially if you happen to roam onto optus without realising (as i did when i was over there.. ouch!!) Last time i was there i picked up my sim card from within the brisbane airport store, and binned it on my way back out of the country.. :)

Wow! $3????? Ok, that's what I'm going to do then. Should I be getting a sim from Vodafone Australia? Or is there a better option? And does anyone know where in the Sydney airport that would carry these? Thanks so much.

allstarnz

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#139898 23-Jun-2008 11:35

$2 Vodafone Aus sim cards are only sold at places like Target, Kmart or BigW (there are probably others). They will not roam into NZ automatically though. They don't seem to have the same agreement we do.

garvani

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#139902 23-Jun-2008 11:46

I picked mine up at the airport vodafone store in brisbane.. thought it was $3 but $2 is even better! its definetly the best option, just use it in aus then throw it away on your way out, easy as..

garvani

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#139903 23-Jun-2008 11:46

I picked mine up at the airport vodafone store in brisbane.. thought it was $3 but $2 is even better! its definetly the best option, just use it in aus then throw it away on your way out, easy as..