How do I unlock my Galaxy S4 with a SIM in Europe?

[cantara256]

I was told before flying to Europe for a month that I could just pop in a local SIM and everything would just work. This was from the Global Services number.

I'm in Europe, I popped in a SIM, and it's asking for an unlock code. I tried the default unlock code of 1111 (My Verizon -> My PIN and Personal Unblocking Key), I tried the PUK code after 3 attempts failed, and nothing is working.

How is this supposed to work?

Thanks,

Raul

[vzw_customer_support]

Let's figure this out! All of our 4G phones come preunlocked. Since your pin isn't working, I would recommend contacting our Global Support team for assistance. They can be reached toll-free at 908-559-4899.

Thank you,
MichelleH_VZW
Follow us on Twitter @VZWSupport

[cantara256]

If I had a working phone to call them, I would. But I don't, so I can't.

Can this be resolved over email? What do I need to do?

[vzw_customer_support]

We're here to save the day cantara256! If you can get access to a landline, you can reach them at no cost from a hotel or any other line. This link http://vz.to/1exR13K will provide you with the steps to call in.

AdaS_VZW
Follow us on Twitter at @VZWSupport 

[cantara256]

Requiring a phone call when I don't have a phone doesn't save the day. Having email or online support does.

I'm basically giving up and purchasing a prepaid phone here. Thinking that I could use my phone abroad easily was the only reason I thought I'd stay with Verizon after I get my next phone. But that doesn't work, and the support for it sucks (you must make a phone call precisely when you don't have a phone), so this makes it pretty easy to leave Verizon.

[#6]

Did you change your Network Mode to Global?

SETTINGS - TETHERING &NETWORKS - MOBILE NETWORKS - SYSTEM SELECT- NETWORK MODE

[cantara256]

It's already set to Global.

[cantara256 · Accepted solution]

So we finally figured this out. For anyone else who runs into this with locked SIM cards, and for Verizon customer service reps reading this forum:

The SIM card was from a company called Tele2 in Croatia. The cards come with their own PIN and PUK numbers; they are printed on the cardboard the SIM itself comes in. Unfortunately they are not printed on the instructions or the rest of the packaging that shows you card-specific details, so it's easy to miss the PIN/PUK when you take out the SIM. The instructions say "enter your PIN code" without telling you it's THEIR PIN code to use, not one associated with your phone or provider, so we repeatedly assumed it was the PIN/PUK on my account. (Global Services, once we eventually reached them, had the same problem; they never figured out the SIM card had its own codes, I deduced it after about 30 minutes talking to them.)

We walked into a Tele2 store in Split, Croatia and they had us up and running in 5 minutes. (They were able to lookup the PIN from the serial number on the SIM itself.)

For Verizon reps reading this: it really, really sucks to make people use a phone when you don't have a phone, especially in a foreign country. This should be fairly obvious but apparently isn't.

Airbnb means not all places people stay are hotels with phones (our apartment didn't); working public pay phones are hard to find if they exist at all; dialing instructions change depending on whether you are calling from a hotel lobby (I had to do this in a 4 star Thailand hotel because room service couldn't figure out how to connect me), your hotel room, a public phone, somebody's cell phone, or a cafe; and language barriers make all of this incredibly difficult. The Verizon dialing instructions didn't work at all, so I ended up paying by the minute by dialing the 800 number for Global Services. SIM card instructions are often in bad English (if any) and can be really hard to follow (this was the case in Thailand, I gave up after several hours and had it done in person at a kiosk in a mall).

All in all, we wasted about an entire day on this, mostly because Verizon didn't have simple online support of any kind. We are traveling throughout Croatia and need working smartphones for Maps navigation on our car rental and to contact Airbnb hosts easily. This lack of support makes the whole experience extremely frustrating.

I'm surprised Global Support didn't know about SIM cards that have their own PIN/PUK codes. This information should ideally be in the Verizon Global Roaming FAQ (Global Roaming FAQs | Verizon Wireless).

Hope this helps somebody else out...

Raul