Pay as you go (PAYG) indicating out of credit despite credit balance.

As with all providers you need to make a chargeable call /text every 180 days or number may be reallocated.

I don’t use my phone often, but I certainly use it more than once every 180 day, but thanks anyway.

FYI - With iD Mobile It’s 4 months, not 180 days. 

Thanks, I did read that somewhere on the ID site, and that probably explains why the phone stopped working 10 weeks ago, but then I topped up and it stopped working a week later, and then I got a new SIM 8 weeks ago and now it has stopped working again, so something else is obviously causing the problem.

Hi ​@Beal 

Thank you for the message.

Can you try a mobile network reset and see if that resolved the issue for you. Here are the steps below.

Mobile network reset:
 
1.Press Settings.
2. Press General.
3. Press Transfer or Reset iPhone.
4. Press Reset.
5. Press Reset Network Settings.
6. Press Reset Network Settings.
7. Slide your finger upwards starting from the bottom of the screen to return to the home screen.
8. Restart phone

Michael Z

OK. I reset the network settings exactly as you instructed, and it’s still not working. I get the same message: “unable to make calls because you are out of credit”. Any other ideas? Thanks.

Hi ​@Beal ,

I’m really sorry the issue is still happening, I understand how frustrating this must be, especially when you have credit available. Thank you for trying the network reset.

Since you are using iD Mobile PAYG, there is no requirement to top up periodically as long as you have credit.
 

Please try these additional checks:

Restart your phone after the reset (if not already done).
Check Call Barring settings – go to Settings → Phone → Call Blocking/Identification and make sure calls are not blocked.
Make sure your balance is shown correctly in the iD Mobile app or by dialling the balance check code.
 

If the phone still says “out of credit” despite having balance, let us know so we can have this looked into further,

Lamiya

Hi Lamiya,

I’ve been diagnosing this issue with ChatGPT again, and this is the solution to the problem.

My line is being intermittently barred at network level. Calls, SMS, and data all fail simultaneously despite signal. This indicates a subscriber profile fault. Please rebuild the subscriber record across billing and HLR systems.

This is a known network condition, not a user issue.

To recap, after the problem first appeared, I topped up the credit (even though I still had a credit balance), and it fixed the problem temporarily (for about a week). I then replaced the SIM, and it again fixed the problem temporarily, (for about seven weeks). The reason the phone is working intermittently is: 

1. Account works normally

2. iD overnight system sync runs

3. One subsystem mislabels account as barred

4. Voice platform rejects calls

5. Error message says “no credit” (generic prepaid failure message)

When I previously topped up, the iD system:

• refreshed the subscriber record

• temporarily cleared the mismatch

That’s why topping up “fixed” it briefly.

When I replaced the SIM, it only refreshed:

• SIM authentication keys

• local provisioning

It did not fix:

• subscriber database errors

• billing-platform mismatches

• voice platform flags

The case lives in those systems.

In summary, the problem is a subscriber profile fault, so the subscriber record needs to be rebuilt across billing and HLR systems.”

Somehow my credit balance was charged £5.20 yesterday even though my phone is not working. Can someone at iD please explain what’s going on? How can I be charged when I am unable to make calls, send texts, or use data roaming? Please explain the charge?

And what is the status of the subscriber profile fault that I described above? Has that been escalated to the iD technical team?

Thanks.

UPDATE: Apologies. It turns out I got disconnected from our home WiFi (probably due to an iPhone update) and I didn’t realise I was disconnected, so I drained all my credit.

What this means is that mobile data was still working while phone calls and texts failed, even though I had a credit balance.

I just topped up £5 and the line is now working again.

This has happened before: topping up temporarily restores service, but after days or weeks calls, SMS, and sometimes data all fail simultaneously despite signal and prior SIM replacement.

This is not a handset or SIM issue. It appears the line is being intermittently barred at network level.

Please check whether my account is being incorrectly flagged as inactive or barred during system syncs and escalate to network provisioning / second-line technical support to investigate and permanently fix the issue.

Thank you.

Hi ​@Beal,

Thanks for letting us know, if you need any further assistance in the future, please do not hesitate to get back in touch. 

Regards,

Gemma M

The iD Mobile Social Media Team

Hi Gemma,

This problem is not resolved. Topping up only temporarily restores service, and therefore it’s just going to happen again. Have you elevated this to the iD technical team to investigate why service fails when there is a credit balance? If not, can you please do so and assign a case number. Thank you.  

Hi ​@Beal 

Thank you for letting us know and we’re sorry to hear that the issue is still ongoing. We completely understand your concern if topping up only restores the service temporarily, then the root cause clearly hasn’t been resolved.

We can confirm that this now needs to be formally escalated to our Technical Team for a full investigation into why the service is failing despite there being a credit balance on the account.

Please send us a private message so that we can access the account and assist you further.

Thank you,

Zandile 

The iD Mobile Team

How do I send iD a private message? Can’t see any way of doing that on the website. Do I start a Live Chat? Please explain. Thanks.

Hi ​@Beal.

To send us a private message, the easiest way is to use our Live Chat service. You can start a chat directly by clicking this link: https://www.idmobile.co.uk/live-chat. Once the chat opens, you can send a direct message to one of our agents who will assist you securely.

~Marquerita

This is exactly the same issue that is happening with a pay as you go eSIM that I have on my daughter‘s phone the phone works for about a week and then starts telling you that there is no calling credit and text messages failed to send. I went on live chat and it got resolved by someone adding additional credit to the account but then that failed again a week later this still around £9 credit on the account and calls and texts do not work. This is clearly a slightly more widespread issue and not just an isolated case.

Get this fixed ID Mobile, as if I can’t fix it this time we will certainly leave.

Hi ​@DDix.

Thank you for taking the time to share this, and I’m really sorry to hear about the ongoing issues you’ve experienced with your daughter’s Pay As You Go eSIM. I understand how frustrating it must be when the service works initially and then stops working again shortly after.

To properly investigate this, we would need to review the account in detail, including checking whether the correct bundle is active. If needed, we can also escalate this to our technical team for further investigation.

Please contact us directly via live chat so we can take a closer look and get this resolved for you as quickly as possible: https://www.idmobile.co.uk/live-chat.

We appreciate you bringing this to our attention and we’re keen to help get this sorted.

Thanks,

Marquerita

The iD Mobile Team

Thanks for your response Marquerita. However the live chat is simply offering to add £10 free credit to resolve the problem this is what they did last time for me it broke again so it’s obviously not fixing the underlying issue and I can’t get them to refer it to a technical team, what should I do?

FINAL UPDATE: I received a phone call from iD a few weeks ago and was told I had to have a credit balance of £15 or £20 which didn’t make sense. If there’s a minimum balance, it should be a single number, not £15 or £20. I also could find nothing on the iD web site about maintaining such a minimum balance. I was also told that if you don’t have at least £5 credit, the call can’t go through. This also didn’t make sense. PAYG calls are 3p/minute, therefore, as long as you have at least 3p of credit, the call should go through. Finally, I was instructed to turn off the “WiFi Calling” in my phone’s settings. So I tried that and we immediately got cut off. As WiFi Calling is a back-up for the phone provider’s (iD) network, the fact that we got disconnected was actually proof that the iD network was not working for my phone number. This was also a case of iD refusing to accept that the problem was at their end; it had nothing to do with my phone’s settings. A few days later I tried making a call and sending a text, and again the network failed, telling me I was out of credit. After months of frustration trying to get this problem resolved, I decided I had enough and switched providers.

Hi ​@DDix ,

Why where they unable to escalate the matter to the tech team if it was an ongoing issue?

-Michael 

Hi ​@Beal ,

I’m sorry to hear that the issue has led you to consider switching providers.

Did the team not escalate the matter to our Tech Team for further investigation?

-Michael Z

​@Michael Z 

I’ve no idea why they were reluctant to escalate. I continuously asked them to fix the problem and then when offered a goodwill gesture of adding credit to the account I said I didn’t want it, I just want the issue to me escalated  and fixed for good. It’s remarkably frustrating.

At the end of my most recent live chat they said that they would add £10 credit as goodwill gesture within 24 hours and that I would get an email from the technical team within 24 hours. It’s now been around 72 hours and I’ve heard nothing - had no email. Nor has any credit been added to the account. It seems to me like they were just robbing me off so they could end the chat. It’s such a letdown.

Hi ​@DDix 

I've just sent you a private message to help get this sorted.

To find it, click your profile picture in the top-right corner and select ‘Private Messages’.

You can also use this direct link to your inbox: https://community.idmobile.co.uk/inbox/overview

I'll speak to you there.

Thanks.

Michael