I signed up for Trump Mobile 2 weeks ago and I still don’t have my SIM card

Where is Trump’s phone? We will continue to talk about it every week. While we waited, we tried ordering a Trump Mobile SIM card so we could test the service on a different device. Here’s how it went.

Signing up for Trump Mobile wireless service was a bit like engaging in espionage.

Let’s say I don’t fully trust the Trump Organization to be a great steward of my credit card information, so I used a virtual number provided by my bank. Once the virtual money was delivered, I received this message: “Thank you for your physical SIM order, we will ship next business day via USPS first class mail, no separate tracking number will be sent.” Exactly what I was looking for with my wireless service: a sense of mystery! Fast forward two weeks, and that SIM is still on its way. My relationship with Trump Mobile wireless service? Off to a rocky start. I would be upset about it – if the customer service wasn’t so nice.

This case probably wouldn’t have lasted so long if I hadn’t traveled. I signed up for the service on a Thursday, left for a short business trip the following Tuesday, and returned home on a Thursday. It was a bit surprising that the SIM had not shown up by then, but I gave it a weekend before I started trying to track it down. By Monday afternoon, I thought it was time to call customer service. I called at about 5pm Pacific Time – within the 8am-8pm Central hours listed on the website, but they were actually closed for the day.

I called someone the next day and she told me my SIM card should arrive by then. She escalated my case, and although she couldn’t tell me when I should expect to hear from someone about the issue, she added, “Good day, dear,” as she hung up the phone. Well, that was nice, at least. But at this point, I had shelled out $51.99 for a service I couldn’t use and was bored about it.

The email from care@trumpmobile.com arrived later that afternoon, saying my SIM card would be shipped via FedEx for two days. “Once you receive it and activate your phone, please let me know so I can adjust the start date,” the message, which was initialed by “Care Team,kh,” continued. The next day, an email arrived from FedEx with details about my package arriving from Liberty Mobile — the MVNO behind Trump Mobile. It is definitely on track for delivery by the end of this week.

Without any prompting, I followed up with “kh” yesterday to let me know that the package would arrive soon and that they would refund my amount. When I receive the SIM card, I will be able to log in and activate it, and then we will start “from scratch”, in terms of billing. This is very considerate – I didn’t even have to yell “talk to a representative” into my phone. Refunded the same day, at which point I felt less salty.

I must admit here that I signed up for the service via my work email. I don’t know if this had any effect on my treatment, and in hindsight, I should have used something anonymous. Again, I don’t strongly trust a company that sells steaks and condos to keep my personal email address under lock and key. I also emailed Trump Mobile’s media relations to inquire about the SIM card delay, but that was after “kh” had already arranged for FedEx delivery.

Call me naive, but I kind of believe that my email address revealing me as a member of the crooked coastal media elite had nothing to do with the treatment I received. That’s what MVNOs are supposed to be good at, right? They don’t handle the volume of Verizon or AT&T customers, so it tracks that my interactions with customer service were less like yelling at a computer and more like I was just emailing a guy. Or gal. Sorry about your gender, kh. Anyway, the real fun starts when my SIM card shows up, which should be any minute now.