Lyca Mobile UK Users Report Connectivity and Support Woes UPDATE2
Some customers of Lyca Mobile, which is a Mobile Virtual Network Operator (MVNO) on EE’s (BT) national platform (previously O2), have – since Friday – been reporting that they’ve been unable to make any mobile calls or send text (SMS) messages. Most customers also report that they’ve been unable to get through to Lyca’s support.
At the time of writing, we’re still receiving complaints about this issue, which started around midday on Friday (29th Sept 2023) and is so serious that Lyca Mobile has even posted a full screen notice about it on the front page of their website. But the notice only seems to reference their support/account issues and not the connectivity problems.
The connectivity problems don’t appear to affect everybody and some have since reported that the problem has been resolved, while others say that it is continuing to hamper their ability to make calls and send texts. But the support and account woes do appear to be universal, hence the wider statement being issued.
LycaMobile’s Website Statement
We are currently experiencing technical difficulties, which are preventing some of our customers and retailers from accessing Lyca Mobile channels.
We apologise for the inconvenience that this is causing to anyone unable to top up via our website, App or through the Points of Sale in our retail shops. We are working hard to resolve these issues as quickly as possible and we thank you for your patience.
In the meantime, if you need to top up your balance or purchase a new bundle, you can do so by buying a physical or e-voucher in-store – just follow the instructions printed on the voucher.
According to some of the complaints we’ve seen, customers affected by the issue who try to dial a number are being greeted by a message saying “You have dialled an incorrect number“, which perhaps indicates another call routing bug (EE itself recently suffered something like this earlier in the month). ISPreview has contacted Lyca Mobile for a comment and will report back as soon as we get their reply.
UPDATE 3rd Oct 2023
The same message continues to show on Lyca’s website and we have not yet received a comment from the operator.
UPDATE 3rd Oct 2023 @ 6pm
Lyca has blamed the situation on a cyberattack (here).
Mark is a professional technology writer, IT consultant and computer engineer from Dorset (England), he also founded ISPreview in 1999 and enjoys analysing the latest telecoms and broadband developments. Find me on X (Twitter), Mastodon, Facebook and Linkedin.
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Tried to get PAC code but that too does not work. Need to leave Lyca ASAP. Please help
Have you done the PAC DOB to 87075? or something like that?
I was with them for 1 month with an e-sim. Well I say 1 month the first activation failed and they tried to blame my phone saying I needed to update it. Being on an 14 Pro Max was clearly out of date 3 months ago.. Anyway I am to this day still trying to get a refund. Their support e-mail is dire and when you call them I got a man in a rather echoey room who sounded like he was working from home in a box and didn’t seem interested at all. It was via Uswitch so I have had to get them involved too.
Besides – they restrict the 5G love – 1P mobile and some other MVNO’s give you full speed. It’s night and day difference.
I always wait 1-2 months before I port my number across – in case of problems and in the case of Lyca I am glad I never got port it at all!
@I love Starlink
They did this to me too. I signed up, got an eSIM on the £8.99 unlimited deal. I used a regular credit card, with plenty of available credit on it, and after the first month it immediately stopped working. Email from lyca that they were unable to auto-renew it so they wanted the full £25 as per the T&Cs. It’s a scam. They’re scammers. Lure you in with cheap deal, fail the payment and then say ah we need full amount. Nope, not ever again. Customer service is a joke.
Hi have you had any luck getting a PAC code from Lyca? Thanks.
I still get problems for dialling 03 numbers
Same ere can’t even receive call/texts saying “not registered on network: tried putting a new sim in and can’t receive text to confirm activation code, can’t get in touch with them on there customer services it’s a joke literally 5 days without data/calls/texts, aving to use my WiFi at home
I AM HAVING THE SAME ISSUES HERE IN THE UK..I TRY PHONING NUMBERS AND ALWAYS GET A YOU HAVE DIALED A WRONG NUMBER.EVEN THOUGH.IVE JUST PHONED LYCA TO CANCEL MY CONTRACT BUT THEY WONT GIVE ME MY PAC CODE AS THEY SAY THEY CARNT ACCESS MY ACCOUNT.BEEN LIKE THIS SINCE LAST FRIDAY 29TH SEPTEMBER 2023
It’s a total joke. I have used eSIM as a backup to dual sim as there some places Vodafone doesn’t get enough capacity. Got new iPhone 15 and eSIM didn’t transfer and now I am stuck as network not working. Plus their support say get a new eSIM without plan which cannot be found anywhere on a website.
How do you support eSIM without making it easy to generate a new QR code.
But I guess for 2 pounds a month for 5Gb you get what you paid for.
It’s not easy to transfer over, Lyca did have an issue with the 15PM eSIMS as has been fixed as of Monday afternoon
Moving the eSIM to the new phone requires a blank eSIM profile on your new phone, then you can transfer it over to the new profile via your account on Lyca’s account management portal – sim swap
@Andrew Any tips on where to go to get a new eSIM I can only find a feee physical sim but not eSIM without a plan as their support said of Friday.
Been with them 1 month on esim Pixel 7a and nothing but trouble,their customer support is all but useless,glad it is a backup SIM
New esim on the 29th September after they overhauled their entire website ( which is not mobile friendly and broken on mobiles)
Order went through however took time for their systems to generate
I can’t receive texts and mobile numbers just saying you dialled an incorrect number. Landlines seem to work ok
The website and app tell me that my number isn’t a valid Lyca number can’t even register it properly
I only got it because its now ee powered network for mobile data amd 5£ a month for six months at 20GB aint bad as my sky sim is poor in most areas for data connectivity and speeds
Yes I keep getting the “NOTLYCAMOBBAPP” message or something similar? I’ve just downloaded the new app, but I can’t register at the moment. Apparently they’re carrying out maintenance?
i bought an esim with new plan online, my husband activated the esim in his phone to check if all goes well, seem all it’s perfect, when i want to generate new esim profile, was not possible to do it via website, however i contacted the customer service and they said, is IMPOSSIBLE TO generate esim with the same number, a joke from CS agent, however i managed alone to generate one on the profile website via, swap sim to esim, but i was nothing like generate new e-sim. their service form customer service it’s a joke.
I guess it’s just a cheap virtual network that specialises in international calling thats it. Throw away numbers etc people probably use it burn it get another one
No frills
No proper customer service
So they don’t really care and why they’re so cheap
Their sim only pay and go or a month
They have millions of plans but not worth signing up for a year
Stop paying just get a new sim
Most are people calling abroad they won’t often get called back by them
@Ramzez – you can “buy” a plan and then just click the X next to it at checkout to get the eSIM profile
looks like it’s not working on their new website, it removed everything
If you want to keep your sanity, steer well clear of Lyca
Cancelled new Sim with 10 days of receipt, still taking money out of my bank 3 months later
Just keep getting automated email replies
Anyone heard any updates about them launching wifi calling yet?
When I try to make a call I get the message “You have insufficient credit”, despite being on a plan which renewed 2 days ago. Also, when I login to the website they have no record of my payment card or plan. Nothing. Zilch. They took my money just 2 days ago! And the app won’t progress beyond the splash screen. What kind of cowboy operation is Lyca Mobile running?
Hi Chris I’m having the same issue. I’ve ordered a new bank card to prevent lyca from taking anymore money. They need the long card number so I’ve ordered a new card to prevent them taking any more money, the bank said this was the only way. No service since 30th and can’t get a PAC code. Nightmare!!!
esim is a joke with lyca….i even asked before i ordered, yes it works with iphone 15 pro…..errr not it doesnt…
once you are able to speak with support they tell you its a tech issue that they are sorting out, and then a day later they say “we dont support the 15 ” perfect.. best £1.99 ive wasted ever… lol…vodafone esim proces is so smooth, but you pay a lot more for it…
My husband is on Lyca and had no bother with them. I recommended them to my sister in law who took out the USwitch deal at £1.50/month for 3 months then £3.90 month thereafter same as my husband has
After the first month her plan disappeared and she had no credit – so couldn’t use the phone. Ported her to Lebara
Husbands account on Lyca is fine though
They have also pulled their complaints@lycamobile.co.uk email address – so you can’t even send them a complaints email!
Experienced this myself too, not a major problem for me as the (45p per month) Lyca SIM is used in an old phone mainly to listen to music and podcasts. Wouldn’t have noticed if my main phone wasn’t on charge and this one was handy to try to make a call.
I have had continuous problems for days. Can’t call anyone and no one can here me.
Want to leave with my number but can’t communicate with them.
The problem with eSIM comes from Lyca limiting activations to only 1 per eSIM. Where I work, we have 3 activations per eSIM.
This forced users to use the “SIM swap” process. The problem is that their process couldn’t handle going between physicaleSIM. Check the ISPReview forums and it’s clearly full of complaints saying it won’t accept their details.
They could’ve just raised the activation limit and avoided the problem entirely… This way the customer could just remove eSIM on the old device and re-add it on the new device, using the same activation code as before.
And if they can’t do that then at least refine their SIM swap service. Have multiple ways, like a SMS shortcode service for when the online form isn’t working.
That’s just my 2 cents though. Take it how you will.
I’m hoping this is just a temp glitch that came due to network switch from O2 to EE. Once they are onboard completely, we might finally enjoy no frills cheap service. I dream.
The switch happened at the end of Jun, if anything, it should be long completed by now.
can t make calls/text or access my account all weekend, still the same today 3/10/23, switched to 1p mobile, support offered nothing but it would be sorted by yesterday (it didn’t)
Like the cut-price tariff utility supplier, one mildly significant change in their input prices i.e. wholesale market and they are banjaxed.
I would imagine, being clients of the BT Network, they only “Live” at the discretion of the main operator.
After many years of happy low-cost service, I wonder what prompted them to do the one-month smash and grab ? “Writing-on-the-wall” from BT ?
Looks like a pesky bug which is taking longer than usual to resolve. Let’s take courage from the fact that they have the right political connections to weather any storm. This too shall pass.
I live in Netherlands and have used Lyca for years without much problems. But I have been unable to call landlines since 12noon yesterday (27 hours). Customer service just read from a script to me and nothing changes! Latest call the operator thought that Holland and Netherlands are different countries! Oh and my monthly call/data bundle costs €10. Looks like Lyca is imploding.
My plan didn’t auto renew on Friday so no calls or data since.
I’ve been trying to get my PAC code since yesterday morning but they say they can’t generate one. I was told this morning to give them another 24 hours. Each time I’ve tried to speak to a supervisor, they forward me but then it just rings forever.
I just noticed all their deals from MSE, HDUK and USwitch are gone. They must have had a glitch associated with deals. But right now no one other than Lycamobile is offering a new connection. And as we know Lycamobile website won’t let you get new sim from website because all their OTP services are down. Basically whatever the glitch is, they don’t want new SIM card activations or renewals.
What are the chances they are going bust? Maybe they don’t want new money because they aren’t going to fulfil anymore contractual agreements?
*drops tin foil*
Same here, in the UK. My plan didn’t renew on Friday, I lost my credit, credit card information, introductory offer, no phone for 3 days and could only top up at a corner shop via voucher. I cannot get a PAC from Lyca either, messaging 65075 does not work, customer support cannot help.
I’ll complain to Ofcom and keep pressing Lyca for the PAC …
I think they moved to new website and lost everything, nothing really works and super slow or they had data breach and their DB stolen
Have been unable to phone or text since late Friday, managed to speak to customer support and she informed me that all systems down and she couldnt get any info up on her system. Definately a data breach as just taken a call from a fraud officer where goods have been ordered in my name but info and new delivery address change. I have just checked my emails and have around 200 accounts set up and password re sets. Very worrying.
Still not working, I am in Spain and me and my wife can’t make or receive any calls.
Very frustrating that it takes this long and nobody tells anything other then a statement.
i think this Operator should be banned. the worst CS, worst service, pfff. it’s true i’ts cheapest but now i realize that is not worthing, i prefer to pay triple than have this nightmare with Lyca.
#leaveLycamobile
i think this Operator should be banned. the worst CS, worst service, pfff. it’s true i’ts cheapest but now i realize that is not worthing, i prefer to pay triple than have this nightmare with Lyca.
#leaveLycamobile
No response via live chat, email, phone calls, can’t even get a PAC code, will contact Ofcom, but what will they do!
Same here. How can I resolve this if I can’t even get a PAC code?
14.00 hrs on 4 October.Is this definitely cyber attack?I still cannot make or receive calls -getting the ‘you have dialled the wrong number’message . I called support -on hold for 1 hr then cut off. website won’t accept my password or send link to reset.I have a telephone which is currently useless.
Definately a cyber attack.
If we can’t get PAC code from telecom operator in time, is there any kind of UK/EU law that protect users? Maybe a class action, if it works.
When I try to make a call I get the message “You have insufficient credit”, despite being on a plan. want to renew and when I login to the website they have no record of my payment card or plan. I don’t know what’s going on?
Lyca’s poor communication is, (I think), apparent in their statement quoted near the top of this web pageabout buying a top-up. I may be wrong, but I should think that is only possible for PAYG customers. It would be nice if Lyca were to clarify that.
I got kicked out of my app and now can’t log in anywhere. I got error message about “Your number has been ported out” How do they expect me to now stop auto top up when I can’t even access my account? Surely this is illegal?
lyca took my friends sanity away and almost him.
I can’t get my PAC code for 4 days now .Calls to help line last forever .
how are things today 05/10/2023
Just as bad, when you try to get a new line, the check fail and the site redirects you to Experian site
I haven’t been able to get through on helpline, live chat and no replies to email. I can’t make any phone calls at all, nor send texts, no get mobile data…this is a safety issue! No comms from lyca at all.
I have reported to BBC news as a story, see if they pick it up. Perhaps watchdog need to hear about it too?
there is another thread on it should report to https://ofcomlive.my.salesforce-sites.com/formentry/SitesFormCCTMonitoring
I still cannot make or receive calls -getting the “You have insufficient credit”. Called to customer support no one is answering apart from the recorded voices. I tried to get PAC by messaging 65075 it also not working. Very annoying as bank OTP is linked to my number and that number is not working. Any suggestion as how to get the PAC code?
I too am getting “You have insufficient credit” message, with no calls, sms or data available!
I get the impression that the hack was related to their billing system.
They normally charge my account on the 30th of the month, but this time they haven’t taken any money. My daughter is also with Lyca (on a different billing cycle) and she has everything working fine.
I don’t want to top up anything extra until I can speak to customer services, which is proving pretty much impossible at the moment!!!
funking useless – i’m going back to vodafone
band of thieves! i bought new esim+Plan online, never received any email confirmation or QR of the new esim. after several attempts (3 days) via calling their useless customer service + writing them directly via email, no single feedback. i’m tired, i will just give up on what I’ve paid.
Still no service
I managed to get my PAC code this morning by messaging PAC to 65075.
Good luck!
Did try this morning to get the PAC still not working.
I have got my PAC code by messaging PAC to 65075.
Topped up the account in September with the new bank card only to find the service did not work poor response from the customer services so complained eventually had a reply but have no record of the account, so yes I have submitted a complaint to the regulator at this stage I think it’s time to sever links with Lycamobile.I did notice the app on the phone when opened up comes out with the word LYCAMOBAPP incorrect password so i’m thinking whoever did the cyber attack deleted or corrupted the account possible stole information.
11/10/2023 they still cannot accept new users.
I’m happy to see the truth coming out about the cunny activities of Lycamobile. I signed up for e-sim mobile number, and the activation failed. The charged and card and would not return my money. I called several times to inform them that activation has never worked because I do not have a number. How can I use data on a number that was never activated. Apparently their e-sim is a big scam.
From 17.October to 24.October 2023 I have not been able to connect to my friends mobile phone from my landline phone, I can only use my mobile to speak with him, 35 p.per minute. I have special deals from my landline and broadband provider for calls abroad and UK. Why can’t I get in contact with my friend now after Lyca changed to EE? My provider is also with EE.
No signal strength, sat in my office tried sons EE sim in same phone 5 bars, lyca 1 bar and dissapears when you try to use it, tried lyca sim in sons phone same result, everyone seems to think this is not possible it damn well is, drove around a 50 mile radius yesterday checking signal the only place I found 3 bars was down on the Devon expressway managed to call home then looked up and saw a mast about a mile away, makes tyhe phone next to totally useless, have tried to phone them and email them but no response.
signed up to a Esim. Had not confirmation of order. Chased it up and they say their having problems with esim , but are very vague on when it will be fixed. Not impressed.
Anybody had simlair problems?
I have had no service from lyca for over 4 weeks, when I make a call it says I have insufficient credit even though I pay monthly. No answer from customer service & no reply from my 2 emails to their complaints dpt. I know they’ve been cyberhacked but it seems their technical dpt doesn’t exist. I’m hearing on review sites that PAC requests aren’t working & customers have lost their mobile numbers that they’ve had for 20 years. I’ve complained to ofcom but not sure what I can do now as they don’t reply to individuals. I did notice that Martin Lewis has removed them from his website, so good on him for that. They shouldn’t be allowed to advertise or take on new customers until they’ve sorted this out. Please don’t use them
Keep sending PAC to 65075.
I was doing it 3 to 4 times a day.
In the end I got a pac code, and signed up with another provider that very same day.
There were issues in transferring my number across (took about a week in total), but I mnaged to retain my number that I’ve had for a very long time as well.
Good luck
I have been with lucamobile SIM card for two wks now.
Good internet signal but nnot receiving most calls.
A few calls getting thru
But not at all pleased.
Need help plse………
I’m not receiving incoming calls on Lyca from 2 months I did call 322 they said buy new SIM. I bought new Lyca SIM and still can’t receive any calls. I called 322 twenty times they are not solving issue.
3 out of 5 numbers stopped working. Now is fay 5. Fully paid. Can’t make calls or send text messages. Customer Services refused to give me PAC. Feels like ransom or extortion.
What to do?
Same here cannot make any calls to mobile numbers, weirdly calls to landline numbers work fine. Can send messages and recieve calls just “This call cannot be completed” when calling mobile numbers.
Tried calling customer services multiple times keep saying they’ll report problem to their tech department. Absolutely useless. Stay well clear from this rubbish company.
I port in from Lebara to Lyca on 12 March and can not receive SMS. Called helpdesk twice and just told me to wait as the technical team is looking into it. How come this problem pending so long with such mature technology?