Porting a number to new provider

[EyesShiningAngrily]

Hi, My BT mobile contract ended today so I inserted a sim from a new provider and followed their instructions to port my existing number (I had already got a pac code from BT). However, I got a message saying this won't be completed until sometime on the 5th July (3 days time). Will I be double charged from both BT and my new provider for those 3 days?

[EyesShiningAngrily]

Been on to BT. He's insisting I will be charged to the 5th. I swore at him and slammed the phone down. Going to launch an official complaint and do whatever I can. My contract was for 24 months, not 24 months and 3 days. Doesn't sound like much, but if this is their policy it'll get BT quite a bit extra money.

He claims the porting can't be processed over the weekends. But how do I avoid being charged for 3 days extra? If I'd have known about this I would have put my new provider's sim card in yesterday and thereby only be paying BT one day extra (have never retained my old number before).

[garybs29]

It's not BT's policy. The process & policy would be the same whatever networks you were switching between. Feel free to raise a complaint but ultimately there's nothing that can be done

[EyesShiningAngrily]

Of course BT will claim it's not their policy.  Companies that stand to obtain extra profits by underhand methods inevitably claim it's not their policy.   It's curious that all these measures that companies pursue --- that are emphatically not companies policies -- always wind up netting them greater profits and never less profit...

So they claim that the contract is 24 months, but in reality it will be 24 months and 3 days.  And there's nothing anyone can do about this.  BT and other companies are allowed to deceive their customers to obtain greater profits.  The world we live in i guess.

 

[garybs29]

The below is from the uswitch website, no matter what you think nobody is deceiving you

Contact your new network and give them the PAC code

When you provide your PAC code to a new network, the cancellation process will begin automatically with your old network.

Once your new network has the code, it will get in touch with the network you're leaving to tell them about the number transfer and will schedule the switch.

This will normally be for the next working day. In the interim, keep your old SIM in your phone so you can continue to use it to make calls and send texts.

If a weekend gets in the way, the process of porting your number may take longer.

But by and large, if you supply a carrier with a PAC Code on Friday, Saturday or Sunday, you can expect the number transfer to be completed on the following Tuesday.

[EyesShiningAngrily]

What are you talking about??  I have been deceived.  I was told the BT mobile contract lasts 24 months, but it transpires it's lasting 24 months and 3 days and there doesn't appear to be anyway of avoiding this.  I followed the instructions that my new provider -- Lebara -- provided.  i.e it says:

• Activate your Lebara SIM. Keep handy your temporary mobile number which will be on the SIM Pack or letter received.
• Complete the form and it will be processed on the date selected by you.

---

---

This is the process from whereby one can retain their old number.  It wouldn't accept today's date.  The 5th was the earliest it would accept.

There's no mention I can fill this form and submit it before I inserted my new sim card and unlocked my phone.  It sends a code to the lebara number anyway that I need to access.  And I assumed it would be an automatic process whereby it would take minutes, or perhaps a few hours at the very most.  Not days!  

Why am I obliged to pay an extra 3 days for BT's service.  Indeed, I will now be paying over the odds for this mobile I have.  It's a complete disgrace.  Why are you conjuring up silly excuses for them?? 

[garybs29]

To answer some of your points.

1. Your contract is not lasting 3 days over the 24 months - it is ending after the 24 months as stated & going onto a rolling contract that can be cancelled anytime
2. There might not be any mention of filling in the form beforehand but the number not being able to be transferred or the 5th is nothing to do with BT it's how the system works. The fact you assume something doesn't make it the case & again is not BT's faults
3. You are obliged to pay for the service until termination - that's standard in all contracts

I'm not conjuring up silly excuses for them, just stating facts on how things work. This will be my last reply as clearly despite me trying my best to advise you & answer queries you're intent on just ignoring the advice & brandishing BT as a disgrace

[EyesShiningAngrily]

1. It cannot be cancelled any time. I stressed over and over again to BT a month ago that I am not prepared to pay for any time past the 2nd of July. I said this on twitter to them and over the phone. And guess what happened? Yep, I have to pay for an extra 3 days.

2. It may be the way the system works, but then this info needs to be provided. Certainly, if there's any way of avoiding paying 2 providers at once, this ought to have been conveyed to mewhen I was stressing that I emphatically do not wish to pay for BT's service any time after today (2nd July).

3. Yes, but this doesn't answer the question of why I am unable to terminate it on the date I choose.

As I said, companies implement these policies as they know that people will be deceived. There will be many many people like myself who cannot terminate their contract on the date of their choice. And I don't even think I would have been able to send the lebara form off since it required the lebara number to be active to receive a text. But people won't be too fussed as it is a comparatively small sum of money. But it's symptomatic of the way our modern capitalist societies work. Such small deceptions enable these companies to garner vast profits, and it doesn't help when those who don't have a vested interest in these companies advance silly excuses for them.

[imjolly]

if you had just terminated your contract today then there would be no more charges but for the first time you chose to port your number to new provider without investigating how porting works.  If you had done you would have been aware of the problems when porting extends over a weekend causing a delay

[ctrlz]

You could have planned it better by getting your PAC code a couple of weeks ago, and then arrange the number to leave BT on the 2nd July, but either way there would have been a short period where you have a BT and Lebara sim up and running. Its just the reality of transferring your number as it needs to leave the network its active on, and it transfers over another active number on a different network so impossible to only have 1 active number throughout the whole process.

At least you have access to your number in the meantime so you don't miss anything important.