Travellers bewarned - no esim transfer if you lose your phone

[Jb_2847]

Just a heads up, particularly to anyone abroad relying on eSIMs - if you lose/break your main phone, there is no way to transfer your esim to a new phone.

Three requires you to visit a Three store or send you a physical sim by post to your UK address.

This is because they insist you use their app to initiate the transfer, which requires logging in, which requires an SMS to the number you no longer have access to.

I've had multiple conversations with customer support to confirm this (the policy appears to have changed).

The workaround seems to be

1. get someone to collect your post and send the sim on to you after activating it in the UK.

2. leave Three - get a PAC code (support are happy to do that without SMS verification) and move to another network that lets you activate a SIM abroad to reclaim access.

[Clever-Trevor]

Thanks for this. 

[littledesk1]

I hate MFA via SMS, for this and every other reason. However, a few points. 
- You don’t need to use the 3 App to change eSIM. 
- The web interface supports this. 
- Just log in from time to time via the web on a device to ensure a cookie is set. 

Why can’t 3 via Live Chat send you an authentication email to facilitate an eSIM change? 

[Jb_2847]

“Why can’t 3 via Live Chat send you an authentication email to facilitate an eSIM change? ”

Yes indeed that is the question! They will send an authentication email to speak with live chat, but not to issue an esim.

“Just log in from time to time via the web on a device to ensure a cookie is set. ”

I had done on occasion but it’s not exactly something that could be relied on - no guarantee as to when they require an SMS again.

[littledesk1]

I went on Live Chat. Was informed that - yes - they cannot send email for MFA to authenticate to allow them to facilitate an eSIM. This is garbage nonsense. I asked if they could send an SMS to the second phone number on my (PAYG) account for MFA. They said they could switch the contact number to facilitate that. So, looks like a potential way forward. 

Otherwise, yes, have to have a SIM mailed. Not much use when my phone doesn't have a SIM slot (and never will). 

[Jb_2847]

“They said they could switch the contact number to facilitate that”

I’m curious if that’s applied consistently- I asked if I could open a second account and switch the verification number to that but was told no, because the original number is my ‘primary’. 

“This is garbage nonsense.”

Agreed!

[Andy2]

Thanks for posting this. I started the thread here about transferring an eSIM when abroad. I was just transferring an eSIM I had bought for testing, and despite having logged into the app a day or two before the transfer and using the same phone, I could not log back into the app because I needed to receive the OTP by SMS on the eSIM that was being transferred. I was sent the QR codes I needed to complete the transfer by email.

It does seem ridiculous that Three do not offer alternatives to SMS for MFA. Surely they must realise that one of the reasons you need to log in to the app is because there is a problem and you cannot receive SMS messages to your main number. It is not as if there are no alternatives. 

Perhaps someone from Three would like to comment on this.

[littledesk1]

You don’t need to use the app to replace or activate an eSIM. When you navigate to this option in the App it just sends you to the web interface. 

In your example, I’m struggling to understand why logging into the web interface immediately before generating the QR codes wasn’t a viable option for you?

[Andy2]

The web interface also required a OTP sent to the eSIM number that I was transferring.

[littledesk1]

Just trying to understand this. I swapped an eSIM yesterday between phones using the web interface ‘replace SIM’ option and was not prompted to receive an SMS message. 

Are you saying you were?