SIM Local

Having read the advice online that buying a sim card in town would be cheaper than getting it at the Heathrow airport, I thought if paying a bit more would save me the trouble of finding a mobile shop in central London, I don’t really mind. So I went to the Sim Local in terminal 1, got a sim card with a 30-​pounds vodafone «3GB data+ 1000 mins call + text messages» bundle plan that the staff assured me to be enough for my 12-​days stay in UK. I had the staff to activate the card for me before I left the shop. It was fine at first but unfortunately it stopped working after one day. I couldn’t use the internet, I couldn’t call, I couldn’t send messages. When I try to call, I would hear a voice message saying that I have no «credits» left. The staff in Sim Local told me that the plan I joined was vodafone, but when I rushed into a vodafone shop in town to seek help, they told me the sim card was a Lebara sim card, and even though it’s using vodafone network, they have nothing to do with the plan I signed up for. I tried calling Lebara’s customer service, but I couldn’t get through to any operator after much waiting. I went to another mobile shop to seek help, and after having them checked the sim card for me, I was told that the sim card had run out of credits, probably because the bundle plan was not set up properly so everytime I used the internet, it was deducting from the amount I paid. Basically he said the person who set up for me didn’t do it right, and I wasn’t using a bundle plan. I had no other choice but get a new sim card and joined a new plan which I used for the rest of my trip without problems. Just before I left the country, I went back to Sim Local on terminal 1 and found the same staff who sold me the plan. I explained everything and he checked the sim card for me. He said it should have worked and there was no way that I couldn’t use it after 1 day. But I told him that was what happened. I said I wanted a refund but he said he couldn’t do it and the manager was not around. He insisted that he set up the phone correctly for me and he had no idea why it didn’t work, and even though he agreed himself that I wasn’t using the plan I signed up for, I did use the internet and used up the credits so he couldn’t give me a refund. I just find it totally unbelievable that I would encounter something like this inside the Heathrow airport. Seriously do not buy from Sim Local, or any other place in the airport. If you buy it in town and you get a problem, at least it’s easier and less time-​consuming to go back to the shop and have them checked for you.

Just writing this review to save others from what befell a coworker arriving to Heathrow from the US. He fell victim to the tantalizing SIM vending machines that you’ll see as you work your way through the sterile pre-​customs areas in Heathrow T1, but if you’re patient and you wait until you’ve completely cleared through in to the arrivals hall, as you walk in to the area where hired drivers are holding up signs for their passengers, head to your right. SIM Local is right there (couldn’t find a real address, and even their website doesn’t tell you their locations, but how many people use the address when they’re going to the airport?). Much better selection of options for those of us with GSM phones, and they even have options if you’re leaving the UK for somewhere else. Quite handy. Plus the ability to talk to someone to work out your options for voice and data, explain the terms and process for topping-​up, etc.
However, when I requested just data, not needing voice for a short stay, I was basically given one option. It was price competitive with the other items I was browsing on the small shelves, so I didn’t fight it, but you might want to question your salesman a bit. Maybe I just wasn’t getting the fine print and what I thought were other options really weren’t other options. I noticed another gentleman before me was needing the same data SIM and was auto-​steered to the same Lebara SIM (which worked, great, was fast, no complaints, etc) as me. Maybe the salesman gets kickbacks? Who knows. The salesman did carefully confirm SIM size — while I thought I was clever for carrying SIM adapters in my bag… I’ve not yet had to use them. Oh well.