1000 more B315 modems coming soon

Since January 2021, partners have become familiar with the larger B618 Skinny Jump modem. Skinny has now uncovered another 1000 B315 modems lurking in their store and these will be distributed shortly. Don’t be surprised when these start to arrive. This is not a mistake; the B315s work just as well. Over 1000 Skinny Jump modems are being distributed every month, so before you know it we will be back to the now familiar B618s.

Being kind to our environment with Jump modems

Most B618 modems being returned by Spark and Skinny customers are still in excellent working condition but some are slightly discoloured or have minor scratches. The ones being returned by Jump customers are still usually in pristine condition, since we have only been using them for six months. The Skinny team is reluctant to send these for recycling and we totally agree. So if you see any Jump modems arrive that don’t look brand new, just give yourself a pat on the back every time you issue one, knowing that you are helping reduce e-waste pollution in our environment.

Good news! 15GB free data has been extended

We have just been advised by the Spark Foundation that they have extended their offer of free 15GB data each month to all Jump customers*. This was introduced to help Jump families maintain their internet connections. We know there are a number of families who make the tough choice between $5 for 30GB broadband and purchasing other essential items.  The 15GB free each month means they are able to stay connected and make life a little easier by accessing services online during the times they can’t afford to purchase a Jump plan.

*The 15GB topup is not available for sponsored customers who receive 150GB each month such as students supported by the Ministry of Education or families on special programmes supported by CIENA or the Red Cross.

Stop Press! Skinny Jump address checker is down

We have been advised that Spark is currently experiencing intermittent outages and this has caused the Skinny Jump website to not load for Address Checking. The Jump App is experiencing the same problems. We have been promised updates as soon as the Jump team know something but for now, they have suggested that partners ask customers to try again at a later time.

Good to go again with Jump modems!

As at 3:45pm today the ‘stop issue’ notice from yesterday has been cancelled. We have been advised by the Jump team that all the modems issued during the last week or so have now been correctly provisioned for Jump. If partners do find any that have not been provisioned, please use the Modem Returns form to get them reset. I will keep an eye on the Modem Return forms and will raise the issue again with the Jump team if I find more than the odd one or two have not been correctly provisioned.

Do not issue notice!

We have discovered the same problem first encountered a few months ago – B618 modems are being issued to partners by Ingram Micro without being provisioned for Jump. Three partners have brought this to our attention over the last few days.

At this stage we don’t know the cause of this, but the Skinny team is planning to do a bulk provisioning of all modems issued during the last week to Jump partners. This could affect up to 50 partners who have received modems since Monday 10 May.

Any partners who have used the Modem Reset process to provision modems for Jump and have then issued these modems could find their customers’ accounts being reset. We are currently aware of one partner who has done this and we will make efforts to prevent these modems being reset.

The Skinny team expects to get this sorted tomorrow (Tuesday 18 May), so our advice in the meantime is to set aside any modems received during the last week and only issue older or reset ones. We do not recommend that you use the Modem reset process for any new modems until we get the all clear from the Skinny team.

And yet another update on Jump modem provisioning

Hopefully, this time it’s good news! This morning, the Spark Foundation team advised that all pipeline modems (i.e. ones you have received from Ingram Micro during the last few weeks) have now been checked and provisioned for Jump. There are only 12 modems that have been issued to customers that have not been correctly provisioned; the Skinny team is contacting these customers individually to sort this out.

If any partners do receive a returned modem (they will only be B618s) that has been issued during the last few weeks and is causing problems for customers, please use the Returned Modems form to get it reset and provisioned correctly.

Please contact us immediately on jump@diaa.nz if you discover any further modems that have not been provisioned for Jump. Please provide the IMEI number of the modem concerned. Thank you.

Another update on Jump modem provisioning

We thought this issue had been resolved, but partners are still finding modems shipped over the last week or so that have not been provisioned for Jump. I appreciate that this is incredibly frustrating and I have escalated again to the team in the Spark Foundation.

However, until we can be absolutely sure that things have returned to normal please use the process outlined in my previous blog on this matter, i.e. if you discover a modem that has not been provisioned for Jump, please use the Modems Return form to alert the Skinny Support team. The Support Team will arrange for the modem to be reset and provisioned for Jump. As this is a slightly more complex process than simply delinking and resetting, Skinny has asked that the modem not be reallocated for 2 days.

To summarise:

1) Set-up the online account with the customer. Once it’s set up, go into the Dashboard to check if the plans available are Jump or regular 4G Wireless Broadband.

2)If it’s regular 4G Wireless Broadband (not Jump), use the JUMP Modems Return form:
https://www.tfaforms.com/rest/forms/view/4864829 and in the section “Other”, write “Please provision as Jump modem”. In the ‘Broadband number box’ you may enter the SIM ID number instead. The SIM ID is the 17 digit number, starting with 64052…, printed on the outside of the box. Like the IMEI number, this comes with a barcode, so if you have a scanner, this is areal breeze to enter in the form.

3) This generates a case in Skinny’s queue which they can then escalate to their Operations Team.

4) Wait 2 days before re-issuing the modem.

Reuse, repair and recycle

It is clear from an analysis of the ‘faulty modem’ and ‘returned modem’ forms that there are different interpretations of these terms, so here’s my attempt to explain this more clearly.

REUSE: When a modem is returned by a customer, our first objective is to get the modem reset remotely so that it can be reused. So provided the modem:

(1) has not been reported as faulty; or

(2) is not physically defaced or damaged; and

(3) has all its bits (modem, power supply and ethernet cable)

this should be treated as a Modem Return. By completing the Modem Return form, the modem will be reset remotely and become available for re-issue (reuse). You will receive an email confirmation when the modem is reasdy for re-issue, or with other instructions from the Skinny Support Team. This normally happens the same day.

REPAIR: This is what we want to happen when a modem is faulty, and the Skinny Care Team has advised the customer to return the modem to a Jump partner and get a replacement. In this case, Partners should complete a Faulty Jump Modem Returns Form. Our objective is to send the faulty modem for repair; completing the form will result in a courier bag or label being sent to Jump partners for the return of the modem (as an aside, we know some of you have been waiting for some time for the courier bag/label to arrive; we aim to clear the backlog within the next week).

RECYCLE: This is perhaps where most of the misunderstandings are occurring. We are using the term ‘recycle’ to mean that the modems will be disassembled and the various materials separated and then sent for the manufacture of new products. ‘Recycle’ should not be confused with ‘Reuse’. Very old modems or ones that have been physically damaged or defaced, or ones that have parts missing are most likely to be assigned to your recycle box. When you have 5 or 6 modems ready for recycling, get in touch with Shelley (shelley@diaa.nz or phone 0800 463 422) and she will send you a courier label for the Jump recycler.

Now that is hopefully a bit clearer, a huge thank you to the partners who are following the new modem return processes. Since 5 January 2021, 250 modem return forms have been completed – that’s over $30,000 worth of modems that are able to stay in use. We have also received just under 100 Faulty Modem forms; we have assessed 68% of these as ‘faulty’. The other 32% are either suitable for reuse (and the Return Modem form should have been used) or should be assigned to the recycling box.