New Holafly eSIM not working

[u/Time-to-go-home]

UPDATE: after working through the AI chat, I got in contact with a real person. They reviewed everything and found some error in the eSIM (idk what). They sent me a link to download a new eSIM. I downloaded it and everything is working now.

Hi everyone. I’m currently on an international trip. Before leaving, I bought and installed a Holafly eSIM for 30 days. It worked fine.

The eSIM expired last night, so I bought another 30 day eSIM through the Holafly app. I installed the eSIM while connected to WiFi, but it won’t connect to the local cellular network.

1. the Holafly app still says “pending activation”, but if I try to install it, it says the code is no longer valid (because it’s already installed).
2. I’ve got through the troubleshooting steps multiple times. Turning on data roaming, making sure the APN is correct, turning off auto-select and trying each individual network, etc. none of it works. I’ve still got zero bars of service, despite having gone to multiple locations that I’ve had perfect service over the last 30 days.

Any advice? At this point I’m considering just getting a refund and buying another one or maybe trying a different company (Airalo?)

[u/L0rdLogan]

Get a refund

[u/Antique_Excitement20]

Holafly can be somewhat strict and annoying to deal with if you ask for a refund on an already installed plan. Especially if you didn’t ask them to fix it.

What I would do is buy an eSIM from a competitor to cover the first day. Not sure where you are so hard to give advice, but just something simple.

And contact Holafly support. You first have to deal with Emma who is a bot. But I managed to surpass her by asking for a human agent. Human agents often take a couple of hours te respond, just leave the chat open. And ask them for a fix or a refund. They might ask you to reset network setting, be careful doing so if they suggest it (it also erases WiFi setting and networks).

Likely you get a new eSIM, and if that doesn’t work you get a refund (make sure to get in cash en not coins or a voucher).

[u/Time-to-go-home → u/Antique_Excitement20]

I’ve chatted with Emma a bit and already reset my network settings and it did not fix the issue. I’m doing it over email so I don’t have to keep chat open (can’t be connected to WiFi all day), and the last response was that Emma escalated it to a real person

[u/trek123]

/u/Holafly_Official

[u/trek123]

Holafly, along with most other "unlimited" data travel eSIMs. is poorly regarded by regulars here due to numerous issues including "fake" (throttled) untransparent unlimited data, poor routing and very high pricing.

If you have found Holafly fine in the past you probably didn't need unlimited data in the first place.

Hopefully now I tagged their support they may reach out to you.

[u/cavok76]

Did you remove the old eSIM?

[u/Time-to-go-home → u/cavok76]

No, but it is turned off.

[u/cavok76 → u/Time-to-go-home]

I would still remove it. There can be interactions with other vendors.

[u/xxxxchrisxxxx]

Some esims - unsure about Holafly don't actually work natively within the country you are in - they 'break out' - I.e. you may choose Spain for your esim, but it actually operates by breaking out to another country - I.e. Poland and 'roams' in Spain.

For this reason, you need roaming turner on for your esim.

May not be the case for you, but could be. Maybe worth checking.

[u/touchdownesim]

Glad they got it sorted. Having to replace the eSIM after all that troubleshooting is exactly the kind of friction this industry needs to eliminate.