eSIM Not Connecting/Error

[Schoudhary1594]

I just bought a new iPhone 16 in the US and I was able to easily transfer the eSIM to the new phone. Unfortunately I got a defective product and sent the phone back to apple and bought a new one. Now, no matter how much I try, I cannot seem to get them to activate a new eSIM on this phone. They sent me a new one to my home address, which my friend sent me and I was able to scan but it was hung up “activating” for over 30 minutes. I had to restart my phone and now it won’t activate it. For whatever reason, absolutely no eSIM QR code they send me, will work. An agent said it shouldn’t have worked while I’m in the US. It can only work while in in Canada. Why is that? I’m so confused as to why there is no resolution. I even had my boyfriend go into the rogers store (they mentioned i had to go in to get a new eSIM) and even the store is getting an error and aren’t able to provide me with an active eSIM. What do I do? There’s no physical slot for a SIM in the phones in US. I have no other option.

Also note - since my number isn’t activated, I can’t even get a confirmation note to change SIM - I have no way to get the confirmation code.
 
 
 
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[TwitchyPuppy]

They could activate a physical SIM and put it in your boyfriend's phone (given his is unlocked) in order to get a confirmation code.

Also, did they try with both of your phone's IMEIs, for the eSIM?

[LordDrakkon]

It is possible to activate an eSIM in the US. I have done it recently with my Pixel 9 Pro XL purchased from T-Mobile.

There are a couple of things to figure out first. If you bought the device from a carrier or store like BestBuy. If you bought it from a US carrier, the debice is more than likely SIM locked to that carrier. If you purchased it from a big box retailer. Apple uses what is called, a Reseller Policy where the device SIM locks to the first SIM/eSIM put in the device. If that SIM/eSIM is an international SIM. That can sometimes cause issues. If you know the device is SIM unlocked, try connecting to WiFi for the SIM activation process while having doing enabled on your device.

[TwitchyPuppy]

That "Reseller Flex Policy" can be such a pain to have your phone unlocked since it's not technically "from" any specific carrier..

[LordDrakkon]

Yep. With T-Mobike an an example. You would have to submit the receipt to them with the IMEI and serial number, it would have to meet their SIM unlock policy requirements, and then that request for the SIM unlock has to be made to T-Mobile, and they pass that on to Apple. The whole process can take up to 3 weeks for anyone not familiar with the process. AT&T doesn't like to SIM unlock devices at all, regardless of them being 100% paid for in full and Verizon's SIM unlock requirements are just a pain to get processed because their customer service can take hours to get you to the right people.