Expert: DebiN - 8/19/2009

Question
Hi,  I have a very similar problem as a previous post, but slightly different.  The person before me posted that he/she recently purchased an unlocking device and place their sim card in and it worked until they charged it... well my issue is that I've had my at&t shinner for over a year now.  It's been the only phone that I've been able to keep working of that long and have been extremely pleased with the service and overall quality of the phone until now.

The past two weeks I've been getting a message to pop up on my phone that says... insert smartcard.... and then only an emergency option appears.  I take out the battery to turn it off and reinsert both the battery and smart card to have the phone at times turn on and other times return to the insert message.  When it does turn on it will only remain on until I go to use the phone and try to make a call using a number from my address book.  I'm not sure if it is the phone, sim card or what else might be wrong with it.  It would be great if it were an easy fix, but I'm sure that's not the case.

Answer
The problem is the phone, not the SIM card or the battery. It is likely that the contacts on the phone are damaged, broken or just dirty. SIM cards rarely go bad and the battery has nothing to do with this. Try taking a cotton swab with rubbing alcohol on it and lightly cleaning the contacts under the SIM card and dry it off and put the SIM card back into the phone. Make sure that the SIM is properly seated and if there is lock to lock it into place properly. If the back of your phone is broken or doesn't fit on properly, this will cause the problem also. If the phone continues to have the issue, then it would need to be repaired and AT&T can repair the contacts so that it works properly again for you. There is a charge, but if you love the phone and are not due for an upgrade, it would be worth it. I hope this helps. Thanks. DebiN