topic Re: Number unobtainable in Apple

Number unobtainable

nleaney — Sat, 02 Aug 2025 07:25:41 GMT

I’m getting reports from a number of my contacts that when they try to call me they get an unrecognised / unobtainable number message.

Other people can call without difficulty.

I can’t seem to identify find any common pattern between those that are having a problem and those that aren’t.

The number was ported from EE to Virgin about 5 years ago and of course it was transferred to O2 after the merger. I don’t know when the issue arose but I’ve only started getting reports during the last few months.

Any suggestions?

How do you actually get support from Virgin/O2? Other than the community page, all the links in MyO2 are ‘self help guides’ 🤷🏼‍♂️

Re: Number unobtainable

Enlli — Sat, 02 Aug 2025 08:00:01 GMT

All the ways to contact O2 in the guide.

It might be useful to know if those people who can't reach you are on the same network.

It could be a routing problem.

Also, have you brought your number into O2 recently

Re: Number unobtainable

nleaney — Sat, 02 Aug 2025 15:49:06 GMT

Thank you for your reply.

Unfortunately there doesn't seem to be a common pattern. People telling me they have a problem seem to be using Vodafone and BT/EE but equally I have friends on those services that don't appear to have a problem.

Originally the number was with EE and I ported it to Virgin Mobile in 2022. It was then swapped over to O2 as part of the merger in 2023. I don't know when the problem first materialised. You don't often find out when people haven't called you 😉

I did get a new phone at the beginning of this year which is equipped with an e-Sim if that could be part of the issue.

Thanks for the guide. Most of the official O2 links seem to be self help or chatbot. It would be great to have access to official tech support (I realise this is a community channel) because this is a difficult issue to resolve and I'm not expecting it to be resolved by community members. FWIW I got a message back from Twitter/X saying that they are no longer providing support using that channel

Re: Number unobtainable

pgn — Sat, 02 Aug 2025 16:13:08 GMT

Out of interest, were you able to fully activate the e-sim ( ) and remove the then inactive physical SIM from the handset, @nleaney?

You could go into an O2 shop, with valid photo id, and ask them to revert your phone back to a plastic, physical, SIM, @nleaney.

In some cases, the config for your number on O2's systems needs to be completely rebuilt, which can be done remotely and will leave you with no service for a while until O2 re-enables your account after the rebuild. Worth a shot? This used to be something the Social Media team could do, as your call in progress drops like a stone as this process is undertaken, meaning X or similar is the only medium, in the absence of a second phone, available for communication during the rebuild. Good luck!

Re: Number unobtainable

Enlli — Sat, 02 Aug 2025 16:16:27 GMT

@Dave-O2 Another saying support is not available via Twitter.

Can you let us know the position please

Re: Number unobtainable

madasaf1sh — Sat, 02 Aug 2025 18:19:01 GMT

Seems to be true looking at twitter / X wonder if something has changed on that platform

Re: Number unobtainable

Enlli — Sat, 02 Aug 2025 19:08:51 GMT

So looks like we will have to remove X from our replies

Re: Number unobtainable

Dave-O2 — Mon, 04 Aug 2025 09:31:37 GMT

Morning @Enlli

Re: Number unobtainable

nleaney — Mon, 04 Aug 2025 14:09:02 GMT

So what do O2 recommend we do if we don’t use Facebook?

O2 shops are a bit thin on the ground too. You’d think that a communications company would provide ways for

their customers to communicate wouldn’t you 🤦🏼‍♂️

Re: Number unobtainable

MI5 — Mon, 04 Aug 2025 14:25:31 GMT

All contact methods posted above already @nleaney

The reality is that any mobile service can suffer failures so should not be relied upon as the only means of communication.

Re: Number unobtainable

nleaney — Mon, 04 Aug 2025 14:29:19 GMT

I stumbled upon a live chat service. Hopefully this will help. As per the links. Please note my previous comments about the lack of interaction / they are all

self help.

Re: Number unobtainable

nleaney — Wed, 20 Aug 2025 11:12:06 GMT

Posting an update for the community.

So far I've had three follow-up calls with O2 support. On each occasion they have taken me through the same process of resetting network configuration on my phone and making sure I'm not blocking incoming calls. It's not clear to me that they are recording the results of these activities to allow the next person that calls to skip these steps.

After the first call they said they would put a request for the 'tech team' to rebuild my account. When they called yesterday they said that request had been declined "as they hadn't gathered all of the information required". They asked whether I had experienced the problem when roaming (I hadn't) or whether results were different in other locations within the UK (they aren't). They asked for postcodes where I had been when (not) receiving the calls.

Today I received the third call. After going through the preliminaries, they said that the 'tech team' had declined the request to rebuild as "they didn't think it would resolve the issue". They then suggested going into an O2 store to collect a physical SIM and see if that makes any difference.

I'm not going to be able to visit a store until the weekend so we'll have to see how that goes

Re: Number unobtainable

Oxonian — Wed, 20 Aug 2025 18:48:30 GMT

Good luck @nleaney and please keep us updated on further developments. 👍

Re: Number unobtainable

Anonymous — Mon, 01 Sep 2025 11:50:16 GMT

@nleaney Indeed, it's a bit much that a communications company has the communication skills of a flippin' Ferret with their own customers!

Re: Number unobtainable

nleaney — Mon, 01 Sep 2025 13:18:10 GMT

Physical SIM didn't make any difference. Now passed back to the 'tech team'.

Re: Number unobtainable

Oxonian — Wed, 03 Sep 2025 18:48:04 GMT

Sorry to hear that @nleaney ! 👍

Re: Number unobtainable

CariadCymru — Fri, 05 Sep 2025 19:52:23 GMT

This appears to be a split port. However, you mentioned that you ported your number to Virgin five years ago! I’m not sure if your number was ported from Virgin to O2, but if it was, it seems like it didn’t complete properly.

Re: Number unobtainable

Oxonian — Sat, 06 Sep 2025 19:26:02 GMT

@CariadCymru

If that is aimed at @nleaney, it needs a tag thus ! 😀

Re: Number unobtainable

nleaney — Mon, 08 Sep 2025 11:15:27 GMT

Thanks. Noted. It seems nearly impossible to suggest a potential solution to O2 Customer Service. Plus the feedback mechanism is awful - "We'll ask the tech team to do something and then we'll ring you back next week to see if it's fixed it". There's nothing from them to say they've made a change and can I test and no way (other than waiting for the call) to tell them it hasn't worked. 🤦‍♂️

Re: Number unobtainable

Oxonian — Tue, 09 Sep 2025 18:39:19 GMT

I wonder if @Dave-O2 can help @nleaney ?