Q: iPad 3 Verizon LTE sim issues

I had that same problem -- where the Delete Later option was not present. In my case, it came about during the sign-up process. I'd had an account on a previous iPad through VZW, and when I went to sign up it wouldn't take my email address -- kept displaying 'account already in use' or something similar. Of course, I'd canceled the service on the old iPad, but that didn't matter. After going through VZW support, they got it working, but the Delete Later option was never present. I finally returned it to Apple (still within the return window) and ordered a new one, along with 2 backup sims from eBay -- they can be had for $4-$5 dollars each. Signed up on the new one with a different email address and everything worked perfectly.

I wanted VZW service since all of our phones are AT&T, and having that diversity when traveling is very helpful. I must say though, if it were not for VZW's broader coverage in rural areas, I'd have stuck with AT&T for everything. They make the prepaid accounts so easy -- as they should be. VZW is really clueless, or just plain corrupt in handling the iPad prepaid accounts. I believe with AT&T's new Mobile Share plans, the new iPad will finally function as a hotspot, so one less reason to go with VZW.

If you must have VZW coverage, pick up a few extra sims off of eBay, and avoid entering a previously used email address when you set up your service. Seems to work that way.

I really hope they sort this out. Good luck all.

Yes, I believe I had a similar issue.  When I originally tried to sign up for service through my iPad I got an error message.  I called the number listed in the error message and a Verizon rep completed the activation.  Perhaps they did something incorrect when completing my registration.  When I finally got a new SIM card, I set up a new email address specifically for the iPad and was able to register and stop service through my iPad without a hitch.  My suggestion is not to use the same email address if you've ever had an account with Verizon in the past.  Use one specifically set up for the iPad.

Agree with KMB, it's not worth getting a vzw ipad if this is the case.  Im glad there's a fix for it by buying a sim off of ebay, but really, this shouldnt work this way.  I was concerned because down the line I eventually will sell my ipad or pass it along, so then I would deactivate my service. So the next guy will find out that he/she can NOT activate the cellular service because of the burned sim.  So in a sense, if they dont fix this problem, the vzw version ipad is a one time activation, one account use LTE device. After deactivation it becomes a wifi only device without doing a workaround that the end user has to figure out. Pathetic how the ball was dropped on this one. 14,000+ views since May 11...I think theres a problem.

I'm sorry so many more people are having these issues. I, too, did not have a "deactivate later" button when I  was able to see the options on my iPad at all. These issues are really disappointing, as others have noted. I ended up calling Apple Customer Support and complaining to them on the phone. I explained that by aligning themselves with Verizon and having these communication failures (e.g., Apple store employees don't seem to know what they are getting customers into), it made me dislike my iPad. I think the only way to get the system to work properly is by having Apple exert pressure on Verizon to create a workaround or to fix the issue with a software adjustment. Clearly, Verizon won't do anything to fix the situation on their own.

I dont know if I like my iPad any less, but I think I expected the "turn on and off" vzw service on the iPad as just that simple as it was explained to me when I asked about it.  I never ever thought there was a "catch" to this whole thing either, and I certainly didn't expect it coming from an Apple product. As i see it,  even if I chose the deactivate later option, I would still have to reactivate within 5 months or the sim gets burned. What's up with that.  That doesnt sound like "turn it on and off whenever you want" to me.

To make matters worse, it seemed like no one or very few people at Apple and VZW were even aware of the problem. I admit Apple at least tried to do their very best to help me, but vzw was useless. I want to encourage more people to post their experience with this to maybe focus more attention to it.  idk what else to do, thus far, seems like its a non-issue to either company.

I agree with many of you -- Verizon has dropped the ball.  My experience was a bit different than others, though.  The VZW rep was aware of the Apple support document: http://support.apple.com/kb/HT4572 and told me that all I needed to do was choose Delete Account Later to turn off data and be eligible for a refund (I was also a victim of auto-renewal).  By choosing Delete Account Now she was unable to pull up any information on my account or refund the $30 I was charged (despite being billed 2 days before my current data would expire).

I don't think Verizon should be able to market the data feature as prepaid.  Also, the 5 month time frame to re-activate data services before the SIM card is invalid is unbelievable.

I urge you and all others to challenge these unearned prepaid Verizon charges with their credit card company.  I have challenged mine with AmX and am waiting to hear back if Verizon disputes the attempted reversal.  If they do, there needs to be a revolution re this "because your account is closed we can't reverse the charge" credit card practice.  It's not that Verizon "can't" it just chooses not to and knows the hassle a reversal through one's CC company requires one to endure.

Yea, like ChiTownGuido I disputed the charges with Amex.  The VZW CSR urged me to do so.  We'll see if Verizon denies the reversal.

Just bought the Ipad3 with 4g. 
After reading these posts, I have a bad feeling. I've had problems before with Verizon's billing system (my FIOS account was slammed by them and they could/would not return my service to it's previous status).  I have also had problems with their stores vs. on-line support.  One person tells you one thing and the stores tell you another. 

It was suggested to me that I could use my smartphone as a hot spot should I need to go cellular with my IPAD. Perhaps this would avoid the problems mentioned here?

Value-wise that might be a better decision (phone hotspot add-on vs iPad data plan), but you'd be sacrificing real-time GPS.  From my experience using the iPhone with hotspot enabled, the location data is updated every few seconds on the iPad.  This is decent for direction overviews, but not a real substitute for a GPS unit.

This may not be an issue today, but with the voice-guided turn-by-turn directions in iOS 6 it might be of importance to you down the road.  On the other hand, maybe we should just stick to our iPhones for turn-by-turn directions and call that good.

I think the best solution is to use the information we've uncovered and remember to choose the Delete Account later option.  Also, remember your card will be auto-billed roughly 2 days before your current data expires.  As long as you don't plan on keeping the data off for more than 5 months I think you shouldn't have a problem.

BTW, my charge was reversed for the month of data in the auto-renewal.

OK, here;s another twist to be aware of. I too got the "Activation Error" on day one when the iPad arrived on release day. I had to call on the phone to finish activation. Once this occurs you are not a "PrePaid" account in their system, thus the account info screen will tell you that you have an account that can not be managed on the device. If you go online it will tell you that you have a device that can not be managed online! Each month when the data expired I would have to call the number and they easily reactivated the service. However I hated it as I had no way of knowing how much data I was using and had the inconvenience of wasting 20 minutes or so reactivating. I was also flipped back and forth between Apple and Verizon tech support (I knwe it was not Apple's fault, verizon transferred me there. Good news is that Apple tech support seems to be able to get you to a higher level Verizon support rep. After conferencing with VZ and APL support, they made the sinple determination that I needed a new sim and that could be done at any store, and they would flag my account with instructions to save me having to explain (again) to the store.

When I went to the store they were clueless as ever and after 45 minutes told me that they did not have the sim required and they may or may not be able to send me one and if they did it would take a week and I would be down that time. Their solution was to replace the SIM with a "contract" SIM which would work, but I would not be prepaid, but could easily manage the account from the Verizon App. The contract would be month to month with no termination fee. A bonus was that the "Tablet Plan" would include 6Gb for $40 rather than the iPad 5G for $50 so it was a win/win. So after 2+ hours in the store I leave with a working iPad and while not optimal at least I can manage my account and set it up to autobill.

Now a couple weeks later, I get a bill for nearly $100 and they have charged me a $35 activation fee, and with additional fees, the plan is $10 higher than my prepaid $50. I get an extra Gig so that would be fair had it not been misrepresented at the counter!

I have called and they are reversing the activation fee after over a half hour on the phone. FWIW, I have ATT Uverse, but traditional phone and it took many hours and several disconnects to geet them to both bill properly online as they also maintain different billing systems and corporate stupidity. If either one had a clue, they would have a great marketing campaign - Go with us, We suck less!!!!

Remember when it was a hated monopoly, but at least everything worked!!!!

Suggestion. File a complaint with the Federal Communication Commission against Verizon. Verizon will then find a solution. You can do this online by googling FCC Compaint.

Hello everyone,

I have the 32g Verizon LTE ipad that was purchased from Apple back in March. This morning I tried setting up the $20/1gig data plan but every time I attempt to register, I get an error telling me to contact Verizon. Curious as I am, I now see that there is some kind of serious problem with the Verizon ipads. Crummy.

I'd like to get the plan activitated today so I intend to call Verizon to do this, but after the month is up I want to shut it off. At that point, should I just pick up a sim card off ebay (I read to use the Verizon 4G 3FF SIM) and install it myself after restoring the unit to factory default so I can turn the data plan on/off at my leisure? Or has Verizon figured out a fix that avoids killing the sim card after I turn it off?

A friend of mine whose Verizon sim card had got deactivated, went to the Apple store she purchased it from and told them about it. They were unaware of this happening but they eventually replaced her sim card.  However, she did mention she already had spent plenty of time with vzw and apple tech support before coming and asking for the sim card replacement.

On a side note, she did mention that she wanted to downgrade her 2gb/mo service to 1gb/mo but she said the iPad did not let her do it.  She just kept the 2gb/mo service until she killed her sim card by deactivating it.  Try the 2gb/mo and see if that works? I guess?

Still a mystery to me why we have to do all these stupid workarounds to get the service working as it should.

Interesting. I just spoke with Verizon about the account activation error. They're telling me that the new ipads require you to call an 866 # to activate the sim card before it'll work. When we tried doing so, the system encountered an error and I am now advised to run to Verizon and get a replacement sim card for free.

I don't recall ever reading that anywhere...