iPhone Strangeness

Some of you that work with me know I have been plagued by a “No SIM card installed” error on my iPhone. The error first happened about six months ago. When I first saw it, I had just dropped my phone. I didn’t slam it down on the ground, mind you, but it did slip and bounce. Oops. Since then, the “No SIM” error would come back every few weeks. It sometimes went away by itself. It was not until recently that the error started happening more frequently, and without provocation! And for longer and longer periods.

So, I brought it to the Apple Store and they replaced my phone, lickity split. The guy said that once you get that error, it’s basically time for a replacement. Fortunately, I was still under warranty. So cool. Now I had a brand new iPhone. It looked prettier, but more importantly I had a new battery. My old phone’s battery was starting to die out by the end of the day.

Anyway, not even a day goes by an the “No SIM card installed” error comes back. Moley. I went to the AT&T store near my office and asked to have the SIM card replaced. Sure enough, that did the job.

On my way home, I texted my wife and told her which train I was on. This was how it went:

Me: On the 7:19 Her: On the 7:19 Me: Yes, very funny. Her: Yes, very funny.

What the? Then I realized that when I asked for my SIM card, I gave them my wife’s phone number! This meant that her phone was disabled. Miraculously, I still had 10 minutes before my train left and the AT&T store was across from Penn Station. I got the SIM card fixed and was given the replacement for my wife’s iPhone (actually, t he one they gave me earlier in the day).

In the end, I got a new phone out of the deal. Score.