Vegolink
Sometime within the last couple of months, Vegolink went out of business with no warning or explanation… apparently pocketing all the stored credit of their customers and then disappearing. All purchased SIMs/eSIMs have stopped working, it seems. Company info (news, owners, officers, contacts, etc.) – available from independent business listing sites – doesn’t provide any clues.

Surfroam
Meanwhile, reviews on Trustpilot of Surfroam have curiously turned extremely positive after Surfroam claimed the profile. Hmmm. That’s despite the fiasco from a couple of years ago with the SIM replacements.

So I guess this is a reminder to avoid loading a large balance with such vendors.

Hi! Former long-time Truphone customer and unfortunately they are eliminating their calls and SMS and focusing on data-only, which it seems like many, doesn’t work with my lifestyle. My parents live in the US and I live in Europe because of my job. Truphone was a God-send when my mother was in an accident. Emergency services are hesitant to call internationally. I rarely used their data as it was expensive, but it’s good to have a “local number” that you can be reached my family or services (incl. banks) when you are abroad. Pre-COVID, I liked to travel on long weekends, and at least I didn’t have to worry about signal with Truphone within the EU, Ukraine, and northern Africa. I hope with the rise of digital nomads that a service like Truphone will emerge, as you don’t want to spend money on data going constantly.

Truphone has now disabled topups as well, so any remaining balance on your account is all you’ve got. This is according to the Support area on their website, linked from the “Personal” solutions page. They’re also not refunding any unused balance.

It’s still possible to port your number to a different carrier.

U.S.-based users can get similar pay-as-you-use-it international roaming rates from one of the T-mobile MVNOs that has international roaming (Ting, Mint, Ultra, etc.)

Dave, thanks very much for running down this information. You’re right, €8.50 for shipping is less bad, though I agree with you that they should be providing that at no cost to customers who made recent purchases. And eSIM would be a good option if there were just more than a handful of phones that actually support it.

In the meantime, I deliberately depleted my Surfroam balance, and will probably move on. I’m currently looking at Vegolink instead, which has similar prices, but free shipping.

I really appreciate your site, the interaction, and the data you provide, so thanks again!

Ok, I got a reply this time. Looks like there’s a bit of disagreement about costs here – Surfroam said in their email (and at the service update link they provided) that the replacement SIM is free for anyone who made a purchase in 2021. That covers your situation, so in theory if you use the discount code at that link, the SIM itself shouldn’t cost anything. They also added a regular shipping option, which is apparently €8.50.

While ideally you wouldn’t have to pay anything to be forced to replace a SIM card that you only bought a few months ago, I suppose transferring the balance and covering everything except the shipping cost isn’t the worst deal I’ve ever seen. If your phone supports it, I guess you could also move to eSIM, which wouldn’t require shipping — so that, at least, would be totally free.

They haven’t replied to the email I sent after your last comment, either. I’ll follow up with them again, but if nothing comes of it, I suspect it might be time to look at alternative recommendations.

And now Surfroam have apparently changed their mind about the free replacement SIM: instead, it’s now €5 (discounted from €10), with no credit loaded. Plus shipping, of course. Note that right now, a brand new customer gets a €35 SIM for only €25, loaded with €25 in credit. (Plus shipping)

So in essence they’re not giving anything to those of us to whom they recently sold the obsoleted SIM. They actually want to charge us more.

Thanks for the new info, John. I’ve followed up with Surfroam again, as that shipping cost contradicts what I was told in my earlier emails to them. Will update with anything new that comes through!

UPDATE: Surfroam’s “solution” is to offer a free SIM replacement to those who recently purchased the older soon-to-be-obsoleted SIM. But you still have to pay for their very costly express shipping. The replacement SIM comes with a zero balance, and your remaining credit from the old SIM will be transferred over.

To end up paying double for shipping (first, for the original, which two months later they informed me would soon be useless, then second, for the replacement SIM) seems unreasonable, and represents a combined cost to me of about $52US just for having shipped two small pieces of plastic. That’s on top of the original cost of the SIM itself (€25, with €15 credit included).

I think I’ll avoid Surfroam and look elsewhere.