PAC code - why is it seemingly impossible to get one?

[Anonymous]

Why is getting a PAC code not just a single click instead of some bullying gatekeeper doing everything they can to stop you getting one and wanting your life story and wasting your valuable time prying into your personal life which is non of O2's business? Twice now I have tried to get a PAC code without success from O2 online chat and I still don't have one. These bullying and delaying tactics should be made illegal. The industry regulators need to sort this out. Virgin got it right when I left them, about 2 minutes and done. I will steer clear of O2 if I ever get my number released. Very bad service O2. Very disappointing. I will make a final request by letter to O2 complaints and see if I can be given a PAC code that way. The short sightedness of making it difficult for customers to leave is that if they ever do eacape they will never come back. This practice should be just as illegal as a shop keeper refusing to let you leave their premises until you agree to buy something else and asking you to tell them how much equivalent products are at other shops. The scenario is different but the bad feelings and inconvenience are just the same. This feels like a form of false imprisonment. Future O2 customers ... remember to set aside some time for when you decide to leave O2. Please can I just get my PAC code?

[MaryNorn]

I'm having the same problem - I have four numbers on my account, and my daughter just got a job with another provider, so since her device plan is paid off, I thought it would be simple to get the PAC for her.  So far I have been left on hold for over 2 hours, given faulty instructions after 25 minutes on the live help, and have been left going round and round in circles on the website.  "How do I get the PAC?'  Phone or visit My O2. 

 I even visited an O2 shop (braving a bus full of people with coughs during the Covid-19 pandemic), and all they said was 'use the live help, no one is on the phones right now, they're in South Africa, and there's been a second wave there so everyone is working from home and no one picks up the calls'.  I have wasted an entire weekend trying to sort this out.