Phone issues and SIM cards

I simply closed my UK Amazon account and opened a French Amazon account same day, used my French sim ever since, changed some language settings on Amazon video and nothing has been a problem ever since.

No - they’ve made some significant changes to logging in and my laptop isn’t compatible so a phone number is essential. The site won’t even let me change it.

I have, or had, a UK account (to use in order to send gifts to family in the UK) AND a French account. I use the French account weekly but because I only bought six items last year my English account was closed with notification, much like the EE contract. It’s not so much a matter of accounts but of getting into them, in particular my French Prime a/c that has items sitting in the panier waiting to be paid for. I just can’t get past log-in without a phone number and trying to change it doesn’t work. Going through security used to be easy with an OTP emailed to you and an 2SV but that’s all changed, even the chat facility has disappeared. Messaging Amazon Help on Twitter results in a link which requires a phone number and so throws you into the same never ending circle.

Except that my French number clearly belonged to someone else as the code is sent to an unknown email address. The same thing happened with AirBnB when I input my then new French number and ended up in someone else’s account. I frequently receive calls and appointments for someone else who obviously used to own this number.

Is this needed? I have my original account that I use for UK. France, Italy, Spain & Germany- the same details used for all with just one account.

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Yes, But if you want Prime in each country it needs to be paid separately to each country to get it and the benefits.

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I can also get all I need in France/Germany without paying large postage charges as with UK Amazon, although if desperate I can still buy UK sourced goods from Amazon UK.

Is that common? Does Prime is,say, Germany benefit you if you live in France?

Cheaper postage I think, I have Prime in the UK and France, Prime is useful in the UK for Prime Video UK content.

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Maybe it would just be easier to get a new email address and start from scratch? You can set up Google authenticator as an alternative verification route and nominate trusted devices etc. Your problem sounds really frustrating.

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Karen, that’s fascinating. I’d never heard of an APN before. I have Googled it, and can see on my phone it’s an 'SFR webphone. (With sinking heart) presumably this means I need to speak to Réglo to ask them about ‘Points d’accès’. They were utterly useless and unhelpful last time I tried to speak to them about this, giving me 3 completely conflicting, and ineffective explanations last time I discussed the issue of not being able to access Réglo in the uk.

UK roaming is included in their standard package, ie 5Go of data plus 1 hour of calls per month.

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Indeed it is. I’ve never experienced anything like it in all my years with Amazon. It doesn’t really matter about the UK account as if I want to buy presents for family in the UK I can go elsewhere - it’s just that it was convenient as I had a list and could check what I’d bought in the past but to close it without notification is not something they are supposed to do. On the other hand, my French account, which is a Prime one, is set up for various subscriptions and I really wanted to stick with a specific email address. The Prime video app is still working and as I’m unwell today and rushing through a series in the hope they don’t cut me off from that! Last night, I could still access the page with what was in my panier (but unable to get past log-in); now they appear to have closed that.

I also have reglo as my french sim, and these are the APNs I use :-Paramétrages SMS, MMS, Internet et modem - Réglo Mobile the first column is the relevant column which I use, I have just double checked my APN settings on my android phone and they match.

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Thanks @digitracker The APN in the left hand column is exactly the same as mine. I guess the question is whether this needs to be changed for use in the UK. Have you used your Réglo SIM in the UK and if so, did you need to change the APN (to which setting?).

I havent used my sim in the uk as I also have a uksim, I only use the french sim for public services/utilities, I use it mainly for internet whilst ime camping as I find the signal strength to be usually good where I do camp, also I have both my sims set to roaming if that helps.

you could try googling in case there’s a forum where other Reglo users report the same problem. These telco boards also seem a rich source of “bad language” and slang terms in French…

Or maybe HUACA Reglo customer support, ask them about APN’s and see if you can get them to agree to remonter to support technique? I’d call them early in their day on a Tuesday or Wednesday

PS wondering if powering down the phone when next in the UK, rebooting at a minimum, or better : manually selecting the network if the phone has a parameter/settings option for this… might work or at least reveal no UK network will accept a connection from your French SIM as you try one after the other…

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This was more or less my situation, keeping a UK SIM alive for use in the UK and for security issues, and a cheap and annoying French (Bouygues) SIM for public services/utilities here. I removed the SIM from my MiFi/hotspot and have used that instead to re-establish contact with Amazon, thankfully - a temporary fix until I can get a new secure SIM, most likely Reglo. Can I ask, Digitracker, which UK SIM you have? Mine was with EE and, having read the T&Cs, they state that you either have to spend at least two months plus within every four in the UK (unrealistic unless you’re going back and forth or working there) OR have ‘a stable connection with the UK’, however that can be interpreted. My issue with them though is that they never informed me they were disconnecting me.

I am with Smarty https://smarty.co.uk/ and have had no problems with them about my usage in France, they have a fair usage policy of capping your overseas internet usage to 12gbs per month. and I call uk/france as much as I want without any extra charges. Plus its a monthly contract so you can leave at will with no penalties. They seem to like the Orange network over here, but with roaming they do go for strongest signal.

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Postscript…

Sensible advice.Entertainingly the only entry that came up…was my own question on SF!

Great advice…Early today, I was put straight through to a lady in service technique who immediately and confidently led me through the various amendments needed to my APN settings. I was amazed. I was not expecting this level of service and help from Réglo at all. A dastardly trick!.The APN settings are now slightly different to the ones that @digitracker kindly linked me to above.

Obviously it remains to be seen if this works (!) but she insisted the APN changes will work regardless of whether I’m in the UK or France. Puzzlingly she also said that calls from the UK are now unlimited and there is 10Go of internet use per month, far higher than previously advertised.

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Thank you digitracker - I’d wondered about Smarty but hadn’t found anyone who actually uses it to ask. I’m seriously considering Reglo but there’s nothing on their website that suggests you can port a number. Using the Bouygues MiFi number as a temporary fix has proved to be successful (no unsolicited calls so far and Amazon all sorted). Also, I have a 4G Box now so I don’t really use the MiFi and a Reglo SIM would be much cheaper.