Prepaid SIM card in France with Free mobile
I bought a SIM card for 29.99 euros from Free mobile, offering unlimited data for 30 days in France. I used my credit card and they didn't take down any of my personal details. I used the address of the hostel I was staying at and probably entered my email address. I also used my nickname instead of real name because I figured its not even a mobile plan.
Now I traveled to Barcelona and used the roaming Internet (a priori included in the plan) a bit and they said I owe them more than 40 euros! Is it possible for them to charge me for it? I mean I thought it was a prepaid card and was supposed to stop when you finish using the credit! I bought the SIM from the machine in the store.
Best Answer
Unfortunately, while this offer is competitive, it has some caveats. One of the main, regarding included roaming in some countries, is that you should be a customer for more than 60 days. It is written in their conditions (page 3, in Services inclus):
Pass Destination (valables après 60 jours d’ancienneté au Forfait Free): ...
Regarding the prepaid nature of the plan, it is also a bit complex. While you can, through their web interface, usually prepay for international communications, it is not actually a prepaid SIM card (but a postpaid plan) and there is no limit on how much you can spend. Free mobile notifies you when you reach some amount of communications and allows itself to stop your consumption above some threshold. On page 7 of the same document:
Communications au-delà et/ou hors forfait par ligne
Appels/SMS hors forfait sur la période de facturation de plus de 40€
SMS+ (SMS surtaxés) de plus de 30€
Appels/SMS depuis l’étranger et Outre-Mer hors forfait sur la période de facturation de plus de 100€
Internet/MMS depuis l’étranger et Outre-Mer hors forfait sur la période de facturation de plus de 40€
And on the following page, the details of what Free mobile can do:
En cas de dépassement du seuil figurant dans les tableaux ci-dessus, l’abonné est informé et invité à payer la somme correspondante depuis son Espace abonné sur mobile.free.fr. En cas de non paiement et constatation d’un accroissement du dépassement, le service pourra être restreint jusqu’à la date de la prochaine période de facturation
This also means that to pay, you should go online (you should be able to log in - maybe the information to log in was sent to your hostel).
Pictures about "Prepaid SIM card in France with Free mobile"
How can I get a free SIM card in France?
Free SIM Card and Freebox Offers in France....As of 2021, Free Mobile has 6 main offers for Internet, know as its Freebox:Which SIM card is best in France?
The best SIM Cards for your trip to FranceWhere can you buy a SIM card in France?
The SIM card must be ordered online (in French) or bought in an SFR store (in French). The top-ups can be ordered online or bought in SFR shops, in supermarkets or in Relay shops (including in airports).Does a prepaid SIM come with a phone number?
A sim card does not come with a pre-assigned number. That is done when the sim card is activated. If you are adding a new line, a number would get assigned then and then that number would be activated on the sim card.How To Get a SIM Card in France - Using Phone Data While Traveling in France- International SIM card
Sources: Stack Exchange - This article follows the attribution requirements of Stack Exchange and is licensed under CC BY-SA 3.0.
Images: Lum3n, Silvie Lindemann, Anete Lusina, Anete Lusina