Three say they can't port a number within their own network?!

digitaltoast

In 4 days, my Three contract ends. When I phoned to cancel last month, they offered me everything except what I wanted, which was a 6 month contract.

So, I went online, to the official Three store, and ordered a 6 month contract and phone on a 300 mix plan £15/month. Suits me fine.

At the end of the process, it asked if I was already a Three customer, and could I please enter my phone and account numbers. Which I did. The phone and contract will start in 2 days - so that's 2 days crossover.

I then phoned the call centre just to check that there would be no interruption. (It only took 28 minutes and three people for them to comprehend what I had done).

They are now telling me that the only way for me to keep the number I have had for 7 years (across various networks) is to either:
Keep with the current tariff (which will now be £30/month - yeah right!).
OR
Port my number to another operator, then port it back to 3.

This seems nut, nonsensical, bad business and surely not legal? But then, this IS the place that told me to repair a broken key by taking the SIM out...

The other thing I found weird, was that yet again they were trying to bully me into taking more mins/texts than I needed. I do not NEED 700 minutes and texts.
"But you always use very high amount". They just could not understand why anyone would call a mate for an hour and send a few sms jokes at the end of the month just to eat up the units. In fact, they even said that most people don't even use half their allowance - doesn't that mean that 50% of people are on the wrong tariff?!
If I have more than 10 mins or texts left, I've done badly. I've thrown money down the drain.

Anyway, back to the original question - were they really not understanding, or can I really not transfer an old three contract phone number to a new free contract number?

(Before anyone says "but if you hate them that much"....well, 300 units is exactly what I need, and it's the only place doing a 6 month contract at that price, with a new phone. But I DO need that number).

hotkee

Think its a common problem across most networks - you will probably just have to get a cheap £14 pay and go phone, port your number to that - and then swap it back to the 6 month deal with three. cheapest option i can think of.

FixaPhone

hotkee wrote: »

Think its a common problem across most networks - you will probably just have to get a cheap £14 pay and go phone, port your number to that - and then swap it back to the 6 month deal with three. cheapest option i can think of.

can i recomend Virgin, you dont need to buy a phone just a sim card £1-£3 if you shop around, phone and register with your PAC code wait till its active on the ported number then call back and ask for a new PAC, I have used this method a few times and it works.

inamabilis

Anyway, back to the original question - were they really not understanding, or can I really not transfer an old three contract phone number to a new free contract number?

O2 told me the same thing a few years ago - sorry, I know it doesn't help your situation much but at least you know that they didn't just make it up on the spot!

NigelWest_2

FixaPhone wrote: »

can i recomend Virgin, you dont need to buy a phone just a sim

Which is all very well if you have a phone which is locked to Virgin, or unlocked, or you can do wiothout your phone for a few days whilst the number is transfered.

What's the cheapest deal on a payg phone? and is the "temporary" company likely to stop you from transfering back to three within a set period of time?

elljay20

port your number out, then port it back in again, it's the only way. same with all networks.

trish06

Hi i heard you could port it to a pay as you go sim
i read it here on this site
then you can port number to new contract

nath192

I ported to a vodafone pay as you go and it activated today.

when I rung vodafone to get a pac code to go back to my old network with a new contract, she said I would have to wait 2/3 weeks before a new pac code would be allowed for my number. I received the pac code by text from o2 on 31/7/08

is that the case anyone know please?

copped21

nath192 wrote: »

I ported to a vodafone pay as you go and it activated today.

when I rung vodafone to get a pac code to go back to my old network with a new contract, she said I would have to wait 2/3 weeks before a new pac code would be allowed for my number. I received the pac code by text from o2 on 31/7/08

is that the case anyone know please?

I joined this forum because of you.

I had this problem with vodafone last week, telling me I had to wait a month. I wanted to port from T-Mobile to Vodafone back to T-Mobile. Luckly enough I also have a contract with them. I threatened to cancel it and then they started listening.

I was told that 3 weeks ago a memo was sent out to all staff informing them that this is no longer the case. So now in theory Pay as you talk customers can port out within hours of being activated. Ask to go straight to the porting team and they should give you the PAC

copped21

digitaltoast wrote: »

In 4 days, my Three contract ends. When I phoned to cancel last month, they offered me everything except what I wanted, which was a 6 month contract.

So, I went online, to the official Three store, and ordered a 6 month contract and phone on a 300 mix plan £15/month. Suits me fine.

At the end of the process, it asked if I was already a Three customer, and could I please enter my phone and account numbers. Which I did. The phone and contract will start in 2 days - so that's 2 days crossover.

I then phoned the call centre just to check that there would be no interruption. (It only took 28 minutes and three people for them to comprehend what I had done).

They are now telling me that the only way for me to keep the number I have had for 7 years (across various networks) is to either:
Keep with the current tariff (which will now be £30/month - yeah right!).
OR
Port my number to another operator, then port it back to 3.

This seems nut, nonsensical, bad business and surely not legal? But then, this IS the place that told me to repair a broken key by taking the SIM out...

The other thing I found weird, was that yet again they were trying to bully me into taking more mins/texts than I needed. I do not NEED 700 minutes and texts.
"But you always use very high amount". They just could not understand why anyone would call a mate for an hour and send a few sms jokes at the end of the month just to eat up the units. In fact, they even said that most people don't even use half their allowance - doesn't that mean that 50% of people are on the wrong tariff?!
If I have more than 10 mins or texts left, I've done badly. I've thrown money down the drain.

Anyway, back to the original question - were they really not understanding, or can I really not transfer an old three contract phone number to a new free contract number?

(Before anyone says "but if you hate them that much"....well, 300 units is exactly what I need, and it's the only place doing a 6 month contract at that price, with a new phone. But I DO need that number).

Three will offer you the best deals to retain a customer. Not sure when you ordered your contract but under the distant selling act you have 14 days to return it. If I were you port your old number to another network (even Three PAYG) then get the new contract which Three won't give you and port back.

Otherwise your going to be stuck with a new number, which you don't want. It may be a lot of hassle but it is worth it and the only way to beat thier system