My SIM Swap nightmare with O2

[BerkshireBob]

My first post. Apologies if I sound harsh but O2 support has been very poor and I am left devastated and tired working with O2 support staff. Just terrible. Sorry to start like this.

Here is my story and ongoing saga with O2.

I worked for an employer for decades. Company gave me an O2 mobile which I used in the last 20 years. After leaving employer (resigned 20 days ago) I wanted to keep this O2 number.

Employer said : "Here is the PAC code of your mobile number. Go get yourself an O2 PAYG SIM in store (which has a temporary number) or sign a contract and give O2 folks the PAC code and they will sort it for you" The same was also confirmed by the O2 store representative in UK. The store rep said if I sign a contract, he will do the PAC code porting rightaway but with PAYG, he cannot do it but if I call O2 support, they will gladly sort it out. I made a poor decision of getting a PAYG card to try to save a few quid. This turned out to be an absolute nightmare as I will explain below.

I had to rush out of the country on emergency. So I left both the SIM cards (the old company SIM) and the new PAYG Temp one with a trusted friend in UK. Left UK 25th. I wont be back till Feb.

On 29 Nov I called O2 support for the first time , gave them PAC code, new PAYG temp mobile number and the old mobile number which I wished to keep. They made tall promises that it will be "done in 24 hrs" on 29 Nov. The old number became inactive same day. New PAYG number was ringing. But the so-called "Port" never happened - for a week !!

Clearly they had initiated the port or swap or whatever term they use, because
(a) when I rang the old number on 30 Nov it said "invalid number"
(b) My former employer checked on Friday 8 Dec and said : "This number has been ported out of us now."
(c) I tried porting the PAC code of the old mobile to Lyca on Fri 8 Dec and I got Invalid PAC code error.

So O2 started the port but could never complete it. Half baked job. When I called them on 5th, 7th, 8th Dec they Went round and round between various departments putting me on hold for 2 hours each time.

In the latest call on Fri 8 Dec, O2 sold me a 1 year contract. They literally forced me to take a 1 year contract and now they are saying they will send me the new SIM in 3 to 5 business days. I succumbed and signed the 1 year contract. They are saying that this new SIM will have a temporary mobile number but They also promised I will be able to keep my old number. They said since I have signed the contract, Once I receive the new SIM, I should TEXT the word SWAP to 20220 and everything will work.

But I forgot to ask them : should I text from the new number or from my old number ending in 368 ? My old number is not working : I get "invalid number" - I suspect that when I send TEXT SWAP from the new (temp) number, it will prompt me for old mobile number and then it must send an OTP to the old mobile number. Since my old O2 number has become inactive thanks to O2's half baked porting effort, that SMS will never arrive.

My former employer said that the old number will be valid only up to 20 Dec. Is this swap or port or whatever its called likely to work by then ? or am I looking at losing my old number ?

Thanks all

[gmarkj]

Not sure why you got told you need to get and use a PAC @BerkshireBob as this is used to transfer numbers from one provider to another. You need to migrate the number.

You might have a couple of issues as the number would be assigned to your previous employer, and they need to provide authorisation to o2 to allow the number to move. This would be one of the nominated people on their account (assuming the contract was set up as a business and correctly updated as responsibility changes hands).

@Dave-O2 is there anything you can do to untangle this complete mess?

[Dave-O2]

I'm already on the case @gmarkj 😉

[BerkshireBob]

Thanks a lot @gmarkj and @Dave-O2 . To answer gmarkj's specific question :

The old mobile (which I intend to keep ending in 368) number was on O2 and provided by my previous employer. My network/phone expert in the previous employer got the PAC code of this 368 number and told me to give that to the O2 store or telephone support line. The O2 experts in Bracknell store also okayed the PAC code approach. I did tell them that I am moving from O2 to O2. But in their defense, they also did tell me that if I signed a contract, they will take care of it rightaway. I tried to save a few quid, (penny wise ...) and went for a PAYG card (number ending in 953). They said fine, if you go PAYG, you need to call O2 support line, and give them the PAC code, old mobile no, new mobile number (PAYG) and it will be taken care of. I wish I had taken up the offer to do everything in store while I was still in UK. All my ex colleagues who left the employer just signed the yearly contract in store and managed to keep the old number.

After about a couple of weeks (29 Nov to 8 Dec) it seemed that O2 had difficulty migrating my old 368 number (which was on monthly contract thru my employer) to PAYG (953). So when O2 support rep gave me an opportunity to get a yearly contract over the phone and promised that migration of my old number would then be a piece of cake, I grabbed it. My employer had told me that the old 368 number and associated PAC code would only be valid until 21 Dec. (A month after I resigned).

I spoke to my former employer and they have confirmed that they have released my old 368 number from their end and that it is now with O2. So O2 should have full powers to migrate to my new yearly contract number (ending in 221) that I got on Fri 8 Dec.

So in short, I have purchased two O2 numbers now : PAYG one ending in 953 and the yearly contract one ending in 221. When I call either number they are ringing fine. But when I call the old 368 number I get 'invalid number'. I would prefer O2 to migrate the old 368 number to the yearly contract one ending in 221. If this is really technically super challenging and they can migrate it only to the PAYG 953 number I can accept that also, albeit a little reluctantly.

What I really want is to retain the old number ending 368 so I don't have to provide change of number to so many contacts/banks/etc.

Thanks a ton to both of you !!

[gmarkj]

Fingers crossed Dave can work some magic @BerkshireBob ...

[BerkshireBob]

Just a quick note to say I am locked out of private messaging. It sends an SMS to my new number ending 221 which is with my friend in Bracknell.

[BerkshireBob]

@Dave-O2has indeed done the magic. Thanks a lot Dave !!! Looks like this porting has been completed. I do not have the SIM cards with me right now, but when I call my old number ending 368 (that I wish to keep), it rings !! and then goes to Voice mail. When I call the PAYG SIM number ending 953, I get "invalid number" message. So this looks like very good news !

This could not have happened without you, Dave. My heartfelt thanks ! I definitely owe you a beer if/when we are both in the Berkshire area.

I will call my friend in Bracknell today and confirm that when we call my old 368 number the call actually gets routed to the mobile containing the PAYG SIM. Let me confirm this and get back to you.

That would complete part 1 of the Saga. And then hopefully the 2nd part will get done ? ie porting to contract SIM number ending 221 ?

Thanks a ton again !!

[jonsie]

Thanks for the update 😊

[BerkshireBob]

Got a PM from @Dave-O2  that he is initiating the final port (of my old number ending in 368) to the Pay Monthly SIM ending 221. This is all done now !!

Hardly took minutes !! - way quicker than the first one, i.e porting to the PAYG SIM ending 953

Hit a bit of a snag tho regarding the O2 online community, private messaging, and app. I could not get into any of these. When I logged in, it sent a message to the number ending 221 so I never got the message. This looks resolved now, at least on desktop.

My special thanks to @Dave-O2  and everyone else on this thread !

[jonsie]

Great and thanks for the update @BerkshireBob 

[BerkshireBob]

My next problem is to get the pay monthy SIM card over to me in India. If someone is travelling I can ask them to bring it. Or go with eSIM.

But my phone is samsung galaxy S9 that does not support eSIM.

Will something like this work ? https://esim.me/