Talk:Germany/@comment-93.123.105.149-20180906130827/@comment-24682153-20180906154709

You are right. This is a well-known Vodafone scam that is briefly mentioned in the article as well. Some franchise shops especially in the larger cities like Cologne or Berlin take advantage of the confusing registration and charge you €35-50 for it. Often it'S pre-loaded as credit on the card, but short-time visitors don't need so much credit.

Here are my advice to beat these extra charges:

- bring a SIM card from a different EU or EEA country with "roam like at home" to Germany, if you enter it from there

- choose a different German operator instead. o2 is very swift with registration in their store, but have a weaker network

If you want to opt for Vodafone Germany anyway:

- buy the starter at a supermarket, fuel/gas station kiosk, post office, eBay.de or any Saturn or MediaMarkt at the recommended retail price instead. These come still un-registered and need to registered for activation.

For your registration:

- if you have a cam/phone/tablet and a stable WiFi in your accomodation try WebID or OnlineID (through their English website)

- or go to a MediaMarkt or Saturn or a post office (the larger ones) and register it there

- or bring the starter to the Vodafone store and tell them you have problems registering and do it there. This is recommended when you are citizen of a country whose IDs are not supported by onlineID systems. For all registration you need to show your passport or ID card.