Hey everyone. My American carrier just pulled the plug on my international roaming plan and so my phone is basically a brick without wi-fi.
I’m trying to apply to Rakuten Mobile’s unlimited plan. And get a genuine Japanese cell number(honestly don’t know how I survived so long without one for 7 years)
Every time I try to apply, I get all the way to the end of the application process to a page saying “Application accepted” at the top, then as it is processing, I am met with “エラーが発生しました” meaning “An error has occurred” followed with “お申し込みを受け付けることができませんでした” meaning “the application could not be accepted”. Sometimes I get a random message popping up telling me “Couldn’t connect to network, please try again later”.
I’ve applied several times over the week not understanding what the issue is. I’ve opted for eSIM, pSIM, uploaded my residence card, which I literally just got renewed, opted for ID verification upon delivery, tried using my bank and credit card as payment methods, applying from the app, several different web browsers, etc. Always ending up with the same error.
I’ve confirmed my phone is compatible with their network, but they wouldn’t know anything about my phone anyways. A lot of my friends use this plan, both Japanese and foreigners, and they signed up with no issue.
Has anyone else had this exact problem or something similar to it trying to apply from the app or a PC? Any advice is much appreciated!
7 comments
Why not contact them and ask? Could be some security system locked you out for some reason or you’re entering wrong info or overseas card that is not accepted. Though you tried with bank account.
Rakuten. What did you expect?
Go with Ahamo eSIM. Easy process, cheap, and they don’t borrow extra bandwidth from Docomo as they are Docomo. 20G of data and sms for about ¥2,000 a month, calls are about the same as the others.
I always got an error code too, went to one of their stores and they figured it out. In the end it was because my rakuten credit card was not connected to my bank account. So the system wouldn’t process the application with that card.
Could you go into a shop and try there? The staff onsite might be able to help, or at least tell you the cause of the error.
How long is your residence card valid for because they don’t accept customers with under a 2 year duration
Yeah you need a driver’s license or a long 2+ years residence card. Don’t ask me why. That’s just their rule and their system is shit and just push you in circles making you think you’re close finishing. You can’t. You won’t. I signed up with Ymobile but was looking at Sakura but they didn’t do esims yet.
Went to a Rakuten stall at a Japan Post office. The young employee made me a Rakuten Mobile Line in an hour (I have a 15 months student visa), with a very basic cash card and a relatively few Japanese skills (N4 level). Try that way 😁