Don't try to port number too soon

[#1]

Hi all

Just a bit of useful info if you are going to port your old number over to a new Plusnet sim.  New sim arrived this morning , installed in phone got calls and data working pretty quickly so all good..  Then I texted PORT to Plusnet and followed the automated system which asked for old phone number and PAC code.  Finally I received a message to say the Port failed and to call 500 from my phone or 0800 from another phone.  The 0800 number was permanently engaged and still is now 2 hours later..   I then went on to use the webchat and joined the Q at position 35 and waited .. 

After all that when I got hold of someone he said that even though the sim was working on my phone it wasn't activated on the Plusnet system which can take up to 2 days.    So the lesson is dont try and port your old number as soon as the sim arrives ... wait for a couple of days.. You should receive an email to say it is activated... Then go and try porting again

[#2]

Very useful information. Far as I remember I requested to port in on the same day of receiving the sim, luckily I remember I done it after receiving sim activated email.

[#3]

Why does everything have to be so confusing..... My welcome email arrived ..

So I texted PORT to 07507307996

Got a reply "we've checked your account and can see a port request is already in process"

I can only imagine the system remembered my previously declined request...

[#4]

Hi @popeyeuk!

I'm sorry to hear your number port isn't going as smoothly as we'd expect it to.

It sounds to me like your account is pending so no actions can be done. A new account is always opened as pending and will then become live after a day or 2.

If you'd like me to double check and confirm the reason why this isn't working, please send me a private message & I'll get right on it for you

Thanks

-Oli

[#5]

Hi Oli

Sent you a DM .. Thanks for the help

[#6]

Update..

Well my number did port over today.. There was approximately a 4 hour gap between my old sim going dead and

the number arriving on my new Plusnet sim.

Thanks all

[#7]

I've just read this post and I'm furious.

Are you guys (plusnet) joking? A new account is always opened as pending and won't be able to port a new number immediately? Then why do you advertise otherwise? Why are you misleading your customers? 

I've joined Plusnet 2 days ago and ported my number yesterday, the old SIM stopped working this morning and for the whole day I've been without my number. I've called several times and the response is that it should be done any minute now, and definitely by the end of the day. Then I come to this forum and read that new accounts are opened as pending.

This is unacceptable. I wish I could cancel the move but it seems I am a hostage now until the number ports.

[#8]

Just in case it has ported (and I'm not saying it has), have you tried restarting your phone?

[#9]

Hi @markosp! Thanks for getting in touch.

From what you've said, it doesn't sounds as if you're having any issues with your account pending.

All accounts start off as pending, but they are expected to go live on the day the SIM card arrives, so in standard cases this does not cause any disruption!

You would not have been able to port your number if your account was pending so I'm confident this hasn't affected you

A number port completes within 1-2 working days and will complete any time before midnight on that day.

We do send a text out to let you know that there may be some disruption to your services while this process takes place.

If you need me to check the progress on your account, please send me a Private Message!

I hope that clears things up for you

Also, it definitely would be a good idea to restart your phone during the porting process as @dgw1 mentioned!

Thank you

-Oli

[#10]

Hi Oli,

Thanks for coming back to me.

The number got transferred late last night. This is within the guidelines, although my expectations were different, namely that the number would be in limbo for a few minutes, not for a whole day. My impression was that at some point during the day the old SIM would stop working at which point I would have to swap SIM and after a few minutes at most the new SIM would have my old number. Frustration occurs when reality doesn't meet expectations, and this was the case here. 

It should therefore be made more clear to new customers that there is a service disruption during a number transfer.

Regarding the more specific issue of having the account starting as pending: evidently my account was activated when I ported it (otherwise the port would have been delayed further). But when I joined Plusnet I called your customer service to discuss how the porting process would take place as there was no field online for the PAC code. The agent told me that he could take these details and process it there and then, and so when I received the SIM it would have my old number straight away, or I could order online and then port the number after. I did the latter and in hindsight it was quite lucky, because if I had given the PAC code to your agent, I would have been without my number for more days, as the account would start as pending. Another lesson here then: DON'T offer something like this, as it's clearly even more disruptive.

The porting process needs to be improved a lot. It seems it's manual, not automatic (the text to port the number wasn't answered until the day after I sent it, and in the meantime I had called to start the process), so at some point, if/when it's automated at a more central level it will be better, but in the meantime as you are (or should be) aware of the system's limitations you should help by trying to mitigate the stress involved with the (unavoidable?) downtime by a) setting the correct expectations and b) minimising the damage instead of risking increasing it.