Orange Cell phone Recharge

I bought another SIM card (and received a new cellphone number) in late January of this year. Now, I want to make sure I keep this phone number but am back in Italy.

I do not speak French - so the Orange website is useless to me.

Is there an easy way for me to recharge my cell so I can keep my phone number?

i.e. perhaps a phone number I can call and charge to my credit card?

ALSO....I%26#39;m confused as to the expiration times - if I have 30 Euro left on this SIM card but it has been almost 6 months since I used the phone....AND I add another 15 Euro of time...do I get to keep all of the time (45 Euro) or only the newest purchase?

Thanks so much for any helpful info!

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Expiration time is 6 months after the expiration of your previous 30 euros time. So if you add 15 euro worth of time it should be good for someting like 2 or 3 weeks then another 6 months starts. If you don%26#39;t recharge befor ethe end of that 6 months lapse, your card is void.

I doubt you will be able to charge it to your credit card unless it has been issued by a French bank. I had the same problem with SFR and had to find a way to get a credit card issued by a French bank if I wanted to recharge.

If you can find someone ho goes to France, ask him to buy you arefill card and you should be able to recharge easily. Actually I tried to find other info on the Orange site but could not find how to recharge from another country. Sorry.

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No need to be sorry - you have been a great help!

I%26#39;ve asked someone in Paris to get me a card. They went into the Orange office, and after 15 minutes of the clerk clicking on the computer, they said they couldn%26#39;t recharge without my phone!

So, I%26#39;ve sent my friends back to a Tabac to buy a card - which I hope works!!!

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Some clarification.

The number expires after 8 months without use.

30 Euros is only good for, I think, 60 days (I usually buy 50 at a time so it might be less).

So, if your phone goes six months without use you will have lost the 30 Euros, but not the phone number.

I do not know if you can recharge an Orange SIM from outside of France, though, haven%26#39;t tried. My phone number is about to expire and I won%26#39;t get back %26#39;til September. :(

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If your friends buy you a recharge card (mobicarte) from a French Tabac, they should be able to give you the recharge number for you to enter on the phone. Easy really.

I use my credit card, but I could just as easily walk into a Tabac and buy a recharge card.

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Part of the question remains unanswered - will the recharge incorporate the value left on the SIM or only the value you%26#39;ve just purchased to recharge?

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If the unused credit has not expired, the new credit will be added to it. But, I seriously doubt the old credit will remain. If I understood the OP, he/she hasn%26#39;t recharged the phone credit in several months. Unless you buy a large chunk of credit, say 100 euros, smaller amounts expire in two or three months. That%26#39;s how my Orange account works. If I purchase 100 euros worth of credit, I think it is good for six months.

I never buy that much, as I don%26#39;t use that much.

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Just an update on my phone situation....

I tried over and over to use the Orange website as they say you can recharge your number-card on the web. BUT it would never work-always saying there was a technical problem.

So, I emailed (a number of times) the Orange customer service. They responded saying I could recharge my phone from anywhere in the world and gave me a list of options - including recharging using my credit card.

Now, I did say I was an American living in Italy who does not speak French....so I was SO HAPPY to hear there would be no problem-as my phone number would expire on August 7.

But, after many tries, nothing would work.

I finally found a friend who could speak French who called the Orange customer service number...

Who said you CANNOT recharge with anything other than a French credit card.

The only way is to have someone in France buy you a recharge and give you the Pin number -

Hit #224#and immediately punch in the Pin number from your cellphone with your French Orange Sim card.

So, for those of you traveling in France who have an Orange cellphone...be sure to buy a few of those recharge Mobicarte and then you can recharge from your home country.

Though I only added 10 Euro - good for only 15 days - it did allow me to keep my cell phone number up through February of next year.

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