Expert: DebiN - 8/13/2009

Question
I love my shine, and its my only phone I have. I turn it on, and it says "insert SIM" yet it is in already! So I tried multipul cards, blah blah blah. Dude said clean it, I used rubbing alcohol, and an ereasure (Wal-Mart phone guy's suggestion), to no help. I shoved a paper inside, and it helped, but when i went to send a message it went back to "insert SIM." I then went to Radioshack, and the guy told me it may not be making contact, and to try to get the "prongs" up so it will work. Didn't help. I would aprecieate it very much if you have any clue as to what I can do to this. Thanks!

Answer
The phone needs to be repaired. It is the contacts that touch the SIM card that are broken. The sad part is that all those people had you doing things that you never should have done. You don't swap out a SIM card when it says "Insert SIM". This means (100% of the time) that the SIM is not making contact with the contacts in the phone. It doesn't mean anything else. Rubbing alcohol, erasers, nothing will solve this. You need to either have the phone professionally repaired or get a new phone. Only way to do this. You have tried everything else and it is obviously beyond a simple bit of alcohol to fix it. I'm so sorry that you taken on this wild goose chase with these folks. This is a simple problem that can be repaired. If your phone is still under warranty, it will be free from your carrier. If it is not, you will have to pay for the repair. There isn't any home repair for this. Anything you would try to do could potentially make things worse. I hope this helps. Thanks. DebiN