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

[Oxonian]

@BerkshireBob 

Glad to hear that you are almost sorted. 😀

The Samsung Galaxy S9 and S9+ are listed as compatible with https://esim.me/ :-

Search - Samsung Galaxy S9 (esim.me)

https://esim.me/index.php?route=product/search&search=Samsung%20Galaxy%20S9&description=true

However, I do not know of anyone who has used one of these, so I am unable to endorse them. 

Please let us know if you decide to use one and, if so, whether or not they work ! 

[Hena]

OMG, it sounds like the o2 nightmare I deal with since Aug 23!! Still unresolved and I lost hours of time with o2 on the phone and they are clueless. Could anyone please help? I will send details of my issue with o2, very similar to the above.

[madasaf1sh]

@BerkshireBob 

Apologies just seen this... 

I use them a lot as test esims, but you can not port an o2 number to them and you can not roam in India with them either as its EU roaming only...

So not a good use case in your case. 

[BerkshireBob]

@Hena: The good Samaritan @Dave-O2 helped me out and it got resolved in just a couple of days. Honestly it would not have been possible without Dave's help.

It is sad and shocking that customer service has come to this level. First we have to deal with a shockingly poor frustrating A.I and once you cross that moat you have to deal with totally clueless humans on the phone who promise the world but do nothing. They dont give a case number for the case you opened, you have to go thru the saga with every single rep, and if there is no case number how do you even measure how long a case has been open ? These are all Customer Service 101. I used to work for sa software company and if critical cases are open for a long time it would come to the attention of the MD or even the CEO. Ultimately the buck stops with the head of customer services and if he or she is running a team like this, what can I say ? We should write to the CEO.

Thankfully we have this forum.

[BerkshireBob]

Thanks @madasaf1sh 

[Oxonian]

@Hena 

Could I suggest that you post a summary of your problem ? 

It appears that @Dave-O2 took ownership of and resolved @BerkshireBob's problem. He might similarly take ownership of your issue. However, Monday is a Bank Holiday (New Year's Day)  so it is unlikely to come to his attention before Tuesday at the earliest.   

[Hena]

Thank you, I will try to keep it short.

I have been using an o2 number (A) for a number of years - it was on a o2 business contract with a company owned by a family member. Due to changes in the business and personal circumstances I have to come off the company mobile contract and it was agreed with the business owner that I can keep the number. 

So I signed online my first ever mobile contract with o2 via an external agent in Aug 23 (PAC code was generated for o2 number A and provided during the ordering process) and once the phone and o2 sim with a new number (B) arrived, o2 emailed me to call customer services regarding the order. 

Since then I have spent a lot of time on the phone with customer services trying to get this seemingly simple thing sorted, but I felt like I have been passed from one department to another, one consultant to another, being disconnected, then asked the same questions from the start and being given different answers by each person I've spoken to. The business owner was asked to be on the same phone call with me to confirm his wish to terminate the contract for no A and pass the number to me. After about 15 calls we were promised that the transfer would take place within 24hrs but nothing happened. I was in a process of flying out of the country in emergencies, and having this o2 mess unresolved only added to the stress, but both numbers were in the country when we were told that the transfer would take place. As much as this was frustrating, I had more urgent issues to deal with so this is still not sorted.

At the moment o2 still charges monthly for both numbers A and B, whereas I need the number A to replace number B on the new contract in o2 in my name, as a result the company is not being charged for number A anymore (it was sim only and the contract expired a while ago and was only rolled over).

I am desperate to have it sorted as I do not want to have to pay twice and I do not want to lose the old number (A). 

Anyone able to help please?

[Sez1]

I’m having this exact issue currently. Nightmare! 2 hours of calls, been on the app chat since 6.30pm today…

[Oxonian]

@Hena 

@Sez1 

When @BerkshireBob had this issue, it was taken over and resolved promptly by @Dave-O2. 

Let's see if he can work the oracle for you ; although it might be Monday before he picks up this message.  

[Dave-O2]

Thanks @Oxonian 

@Hena, @Sez1 Can you please drop me a PM with some more details on what's happened so far?