iPad 3 Verizon LTE sim issues

Another erroenous guess/answer from vzw,I dont know one person yet who needed to call before activating the 4G on the ipad. That's not right.

I'll update my status here after I bug some Verizon reps today. At the very least, it'll be interesting to hear their new story.

**Edit: And yeah, I don't know anyone who's had to call to activate a sim card. I'm just hoping they replace it and we get it to work.

Totally agree with you. If worse comes to worse, I could always make a big scene at an Apple store and insist they exchange the vzw with a att one. The idea has crossed my mind.

What is it gonna take to get an answer form either Apple or Verizon, stopped at a Verizon store today and got a different set of answers for a week before at another Verizon store? I am keeping the $20 a month prepaid plan until I'm finished with business travel then do the deactivate later and see what happens when I need the service agan in 3 months. This issue continues to fall upon deaf ears. I bought my New Ipad with the implied ability to turn on or off my Verizon LTE service as needed. I understand it will be for a minimum of a month at a time but still want an answer.

Back from Verizon.

Short story: It works. Kinda. I can now access/manage my dataplan from the ipad. Also, I think they called me an idiot. And they definitely implied that this was all my fault. Yes, Verizon -- it's not your network or your defective sim cards or your false marketing ploys that are the problem. It's me.

Long story: I explained the situation and stood by calmly as three Verizon reps tinkered with the ipad and mumbled about how they "just had to do this last week" (for another customer -- imagine that!) When I commented that I had read on the Apple forums that many people were having this same problem, one rep immediately responded with "No, that's not true. It's very rare." (OK, but didn't you just say you did this last week?)

When I asked why the problem was happening, I was told: "Well the problem is that you just don't know what you're doing. If you know what you're doing then this situation doesn't happen."

Uh. Huh.

"You see, you should have signed up for the dataplan when you first turned the system on."

But I didn't want a dataplan then. I thought the whole idea of going no-contract with a tablet was so I could turn the dataplan off/on as I needed, whenever I needed, for a flat rate?

"Well you still should have turned it on."

But I didn't receive any documentation with the product that told me I had to accept a dataplan the first time I turned it on or else this key feature wouldn't work. This is false marketing. How was I to know this would happen if I didn't turn it on immediately?

"You still should have turned it on."

My bad?

Here is their solution:

Option 1: Replace the sim card (they should swap it for free, since this is their f!!** up after all). Make sure the ipad acknowledges the new sim. Activate the dataplan from the ipad. Things will flow swimmingly now. HOWEVER, if you should EVER cancel the dataplan (you know, like the marketing leads you to believe you can), it kills the sim card and you'll have to go back in, re-explain the situation and get a new one. Bummer.

Option 2: Replace the sim card. Opt for a much more expensive, no-contract dataplan managed via Verizon.com. They tried to swindle me into this because it's "such a great deal," but no way was I going to pay $50 for 4GB when I just wanted 1GB for emergencies as I travel this month.

And oh yeah, when I cancel it I'll have to return and go through the whole song and dance again to turn it back on. They said *nothing* about there being a 60-90 day window to do so without killing the sim, however.

Oh, and Verizon? Not a fan.

***? oh man, reading your experience makes me want to drive down there and tell them how moronic their answers are and to stop talking out of their a****. First off, YOU DONT NEED to activate it right away. Seriously what kind of answer is that? Like it knows you turned on the ipad and signed in a Apple account. Ummm ok. Because that makes alot sense. Where in the manual does it say this. I would have been livid if they told me that to my face. I waited a good 3-4 months before activating mine so I know thats a bunch of *****.

They are soooo stupid at vzw it infuriates me. And worse, they come across acting like YOU dont know what youre talking about and they know everything..... I can understand if they want to listen to you, and get to the bottom of the problem and learn from it. But no, they just want to sign you up or make you feel like an idiot.

Glad to hear it worked out for you. It's clear VZW could care less about customer support and satisfaction. While it may not be Apple's fault, they are clearly falsely advertising a capability that doesn't exist; they should also be held culpable for this mess. ATT is definitely a better option. Anyone reading this thread should buy ATT if they haven't already committed to VZW (or if they can return their VZW device).

You should all be filing complaints with the FCC against Verizon advertising. The complaint type should be "Wireless Telephone", sub "Unlawful Advertising." Within a few weeks you will get a phone call from Verizon Management and they will handle the problems you're having, or Verizon will be paying fines in the millions.

http://www.fcc.gov/complaints/

Thanks for the direct link. I just reported them for this crap. I hope other people do as well.

There is hope!! After doing the same thing everyone else did, and reading this and other forums, I was nervous about ever getting this issue resolved. Here is what I did, and I can happily report that the issue appears to be resolved. I went to a Verizon wireless store. I told the rep that I had deleted my prepaid wireless account, it fried my SIM card and that I needed a new one. I took a very matter of fact approach like this was no big deal, happens all of the time (we know it does), you know how to fix this. Luckily, I got a rep that was somewhat familiar with the issue. He replaced the SIM card and REPROVISIONED the device. Per the rep (Joshua Bailey), a lot of the time, the device is not REPROVISIONED causing continued issues. So make sure you have the rep REPROVISION the device while at the store. Not wanting to run in to the issues of them trying to set up a postpaid account for me, I opted to leave the store with my new SIM card and REPROVISIONED device and try and set up my prepaid account on my own or over the phone with a Verizon wireless rep the way I did when I set up the prepaid the 1st time. I called Verizon wireless prepaid today, just in case, while I set up the prepaid. Worked like a charm!!! So far it's working JUST like it did before this delete fiasco. The rep today also mentioned REPROVISIONING the device. So apparently, this is pretty important. She also told me she could show me how to turn the prepaid off properly, per my request, but suggested that I call prepaid wireless should I decide to take it off of auto pay again, so that THEY can cancel the auto renewal properly. I think that is a pretty good idea. Couple more thoughts on the matter. The rep at the store, thought that there would be a charge for the new SIM card, however the manager did not charge me for the card, even though I would have gladly paid a few bucks. Did I mention REPROVISIONING enough?!?!? I did mention this forum to the rep. I was fully prepared to use the information in this forum to educate the rep in the store should it be required, but fortunately, I got a smarty. I was also prepared, if i did not get satisfactory results, to educate any customers looking at iPads in the store. I figured if nothing else, they would give me a SIM just to get me out of the store. So go, empowered with the knowledge on this forum, and get you iPad fixed!!!

I have wanted to purchase the i pad to use as a hot spot while travelling only, and don't really need it most of the time. So the Verizon prepaid option seemed ideal till my call in and then reading this blog.

In talking with the prepaid rep from Verizon, to her credit, she did tell me that I would need to replace the Sim card if I cancel / each time I do so. So the company seems to be moving glacially towards taking some responsibility. Having read the forum, it may make more sense to get a phone that can serve the same purpose and just get the wifi i pad, saving the cost of the phone in the process. Does this seem like a reasonable alternative?

unfortunately the i phone is not 4G, as that might have been the better way to go.

has anyone else gone this route?

I wanted to share my story so hopefully you can avoid the hassle I'm going through. I bought my ipad in April and activated a prepaid account in July as I was going out of town for a week. I even read the terms and conditions and saw that it would auto renew if not cancelled. No big deal, I'd cancel as soon as I got back which I did by selecting "Delete later" as I was planning to reactivate the service next time I would be out of town.

The problem started a couple weeks later I got an e-mail from Verizon that my account has been charged for the second month and my session was "in progress". So I tried calling Verizon immediately, and unfortunately this was on a Saturday. Of course could not get through to a live person and was disconnected from the automated service THREE TIMES. So I figured I would try again on Monday and hopefully be able to get through to an actual person. But in the meantime got on my ipad and deleted my account again and chose "delete now". Of course it isn't until you actually click delete now that I realized this permanently deactivated the sim, but at this point I was so frustrated with Verizon, that I can't see reactivating it anyway.

So Monday I call Verizon again and get bounced around between a few people before someone finally familiar with the problem told e they could not reverse the charges because the account was deleted. She said I should have selected "delete later" and I explained to her that I had, but that I billed again anyway. She seemed genuinely confused why that didn't work, but she also said that this wasn't the first problem like this she had heard and told me that all I could do was dispute the charge with my cc company. So that's where I'm out right now. Hopefully they can reverse the charge with no problem from Verizon.

I'm not sure what I'm going to do next time I'd like to activate the cellular data. Even if I can get a new SIM from them and get them to waive the reactivation fee, I'm hesitant to go through this maze again to try to cancel. Maybe the delete later button will work, maybe it won't. Not worth the trouble. I wish I had bought another wifi only ipad like my first, because that's about all I have right now anyway.

I have this same problem starting on 7/4/12. There was NO Cancel Later Option at the time. I have spoken with Verizon Customer service who could not help me as the SIM card was "wiped". I had to dispute the next month charges with my CC. This was not an issue.

The current issue is being told I have to buy a new Sim card for $20 and not go on a month to month plan. This is obviously against Apple and Verizon advertising. I understand that AT&T is working fine. This is either a software problem or a definite scam on Verizon's part.

I filed a complaint today with FCC. I hope this matter gets taken care of thru them and NOT thru a lawsuit where only the Lawyers win.

I had the same difficulties until one Verizon tech had me turn roaming on and then it worked without reloading, getting a sim card or leaving my house. Make sure in your settings that roaming is turned on! If that doesn't work Scream a lot til you are heard!

Two days ago I was contacted by Verizon Corporate in response to my FCC complaint. Very responsive and after a discussion on the matter, and the person stating she had no idea of this particular problem, a resolution was accomplished.

Corporate is sending a new sim card. Going to the local Verizon store and getting a free card would give them an inventory issue according to mgmt statement to the Corporate person. I was told if the card did not solve the problem I should take it to Apple for remedy. We know how that is.

TODAY, i updated my iPad 3 to the new OS6 with the original wiped sim card still installed. Guess what! The sim card is now available as it was when new.

SOOOOOO, the question arises.....Is it a Verizon or Apple issue? I will await further discussion before activating Cellular as I have no travel plans in recent future. AND no need to use the awful maps app in the new OS. Sorry about that snipe at Apple.

I hope this helps everyone (and the original wiped sim card is truly able to be used).