Expert: DebiN - 3/4/2010

Question
QUESTION: I purchased 2 new i776 phones from Nextel/Sprint (not boost).  After approx 5 months of use, one of the phones said "insert sim".  We have never touched the sim or removed the battery cover, but checked it after the msg. Called Sprint who said it was a bad sim and they replaced it and it is working, however, our other i776 phone now has done the same thing and they are replacing that sim.  Is it a device problem or sim problem? Could the device be damaging the sim? Sprint has no idea. We don't want to keep having to replace - worried about warrant running out plus we lose service until they replace cards. Thanks for your help.

ANSWER: It's unfortunate that customer service seems to love to say "it's a bad SIM". I can just about 100% assure you that it is never a SIM card issue and always a phone issue. SIMs don't go bad, but phones do. The device can't damage your SIM. It's likely that the contacts are bad. Do not remove your SIM card from your phone. Leave it alone and don't take it in and out ever. Take the phone back to Sprint and have it replaced. It's under warranty and very very likely a bad phone. I hope this helps. Thanks. DebiN

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QUESTION: Thank you for the info.  I am still not understanding when the SIM is replaced in the phones, it works and the old Sim will not work in an identical phone. So, is it the contacts making the sim go bad?  I am baffled because I have had it happen to 2 identical phones and each time the "new" Sim works.  We never ever touch the Sim cards. Of course, Sprint does not want to replace the phones since its the Sim cards.  I had to fight with them just to get that replaced under the "warranty". Thanks again.

Answer
It's not the contacts that go bad or make the SIM go bad either. If a SIM card works in one phone and not in another, it is not the SIM card, it is the phone. It's likely that the SIM card number is getting overwritten in the Nextel system and when they issue you a new SIM, it fixes the problem or that the SIM is associated with a different phone in their system for some reason. I can't tell you for sure, but I can guarantee you that if the SIM works in any phone, there is nothing wrong with the SIM. I hope this helps. Thanks. DebiN