Taking over son's HTC contract with 3, can I keep my number

twiglet98

My son is moving abroad next week. He has an HTC Desire and is 7 months into an 18 month contract with Three, paying £35/month, he doesn't want to take it with him and suggested I take it over.

My Sony K810i was due for upgrade well over a year ago. I'm with O2, have never used another provider (previously Cellnet). I don't remember the exact contract but I pay a variable amount between £30 and £50 a month.

I've had the same number for 12 years and want to keep it. I don't really understand the sequence of events for me to take on DS's handset and contract, hopefully to be effective as soon as possible after Wednesday next week as he goes Tuesday night.

My SIM holds 250 numbers and I have 420 on the phone memory, so they need to transfer to the HTC. Three need to start billing me, with my number on the HTC, for the remainder of the contract. O2 need to provide the PAC number to release me from their network. It's a bank holiday weekend... can anyone help me work out which steps we should take, in which order? Who do I ring first?

Thank you.

easyhost

twiglet98 wrote: »

My son is moving abroad next week. He has an HTC Desire and is 7 months into an 18 month contract with Three, paying £35/month, he doesn't want to take it with him and suggested I take it over.

My Sony K810i was due for upgrade well over a year ago. I'm with O2, have never used another provider (previously Cellnet). I don't remember the exact contract but I pay a variable amount between £30 and £50 a month.

I've had the same number for 12 years and want to keep it. I don't really understand the sequence of events for me to take on DS's handset and contract, hopefully to be effective as soon as possible after Wednesday next week as he goes Tuesday night.

My SIM holds 250 numbers and I have 420 on the phone memory, so they need to transfer to the HTC. Three need to start billing me, with my number on the HTC, for the remainder of the contract. O2 need to provide the PAC number to release me from their network. It's a bank holiday weekend... can anyone help me work out which steps we should take, in which order? Who do I ring first?

Thank you.

first you need to ring 3 to see if you can take over his contract, then you need to ring o2s porting team for your PAC number and then contact 3 with this so they can get your number

twiglet98

Thanks EH, do O2 and Three actually have any direct contact? I guess Three can take my bank details etc by phone - or would visiting their respective stores over the weekend be a quicker way of sorting it out? I've always gone to CPW for new phones as I like the idea that they are impartial, but this doesn't seem to be something they would be involved in as there isn't a new contract involved.

grumbler

twiglet98 wrote: »

do O2 and Three actually have any direct contact?

No.

I guess Three can take my bank details etc by phone - or would visiting their respective stores over the weekend be a quicker way of sorting it out?

I guess you can call the CS for free from you son's phone. This is the easiest thing to do first and both of you have to be present. '3' are likely to perform a credit check on you.

I don't remember the exact contract but I pay a variable amount between £30 and £50 a month.

Make sure that it is a rolling contract and that you can terminate it without penalties by giving 30 days notice.

As a side note, it is not normal to pay variable amounts on contract because the charges outside the monthly allowance are usually excessive.

Martin wrote:

Give yourself some leeway as a slightly higher monthly fee will be cheaper than paying extra call costs.

http://www.moneysavingexpert.com/phones/mobile-phone-cost-cutting

My SIM holds 250 numbers and I have 420 on the phone memory, so they need to transfer to the HTC.

You can either transfer the numbers through a PC or save them to your sim card and import to HTC from the sim. I think you have to do this while your sim is still active.

Three need to start billing me, with my number on the HTC, for the remainder of the contract. O2 need to provide the PAC number to release me from their network. It's a bank holiday weekend... can anyone help me work out which steps we should take, in which order? Who do I ring first?

Call '3' and solve the problem with transferring the contract.
Call o2 and ask for PAC. They have to give it within 48 hours max. It is active for 30 days and you will have to pay them for at least 30 days after requesting the PAC.
Call '3' and give them the PAC. When they have the PAC it will take about a week until they port the number (they will tell you the date of porting). You decide whether to give them the PAC immediately or wait to about 1 week before 30 days expire - because you are paying for 30 days anyway.

Techhead_2

Some timescales and figures not quite right.

Number ports normally take place the next working day, nowadays, from giving the PAC to the recipient network. With O2, using your PAC closes your account straightway. You will receive a final bill for any unbilled usage since your last bill less a refund for the line rental you paid in advance but didn't use. There is no 30 day notice . Grumbler is correct that you need to make sure you are outside your minimum term.

To be honest, your main problem will be the transfer of the contract. You may need to do this on an informal basis, with payment coming from your account but still in your son's name.

ilikewatch

Techhead wrote: »

Number ports normally take place the next working day, nowadays, from giving the PAC to the recipient network.

Really? - In the past month I have ported:
a number from Vodafone to Giffgaff
a number from Giffgaff to Vodafone
a number from Orange to O2
a number from O2 to Vodafone
In each case there has been a lead time of 5-10 days before the port could take place.

grumbler

Techhead wrote: »

...There is no 30 day notice .

Are you sure?

http://service.o2.co.uk/IQ/SRVS/CGI-BIN/WEBCGI.EXE/,/?St=264,E=0000000003053625179,K=5809,Sxi=4,Case=obj%2819255%29

To cancel, we'll need 30 days notice.
If you cancel before your contract ends, you'll have to pay a charge.

Techhead_2

grumbler wrote: »

Are you sure?

http://service.o2.co.uk/IQ/SRVS/CGI-BIN/WEBCGI.EXE/,/?St=264,E=0000000003053625179,K=5809,Sxi=4,Case=obj%2819255%29

That is if you just wish to cancel, not if you are porting your number. Porting your number closes your account with no need of notice as long as you are outside of your notice period.

Note that this is not the case for some providers eg. Three.

grumbler

Techhead wrote: »

That is if you just wish to cancel, not if you are porting your number. Porting your number closes your account with no need of notice as long as you are outside of your notice period.

I agree that requesting a PAC is the same as giving a notice (if you use the PAC during 30 days). However, will you not be charged for 30 days even if you use the PAC earlier?

Number ports normally take place the next working day

I think it is far to risky to give '3' the PAC very close to the end of 30 days because it can expire before they use it.

Techhead_2

ilikewatch wrote: »

Really? - In the past month I have ported:
a number from Vodafone to Giffgaff
a number from Giffgaff to Vodafone
a number from Orange to O2
a number from O2 to Vodafone
In each case there has been a lead time of 5-10 days before the port could take place.

Quite sure, it hasn't been that long for several years. Until recently it was two working days, the plan is that it will soon be same day. (See the OFCOM website for details).

Perhaps you are counting weekends or Bank Holidays ? The only other exception would be some business contracts. (Where the customers is a business rather than an individual).

Techhead_2

grumbler wrote: »

I agree that requesting a PAC is the same as giving a notice (if you use the PAC during 30 days). However, will you not be charged for 30 days even if you use the PAC earlier?

That's slightly muddled thinking, because it's USING the PAC that closes the account not requesting it. Requesting a PAC does nothing in itself.

You won't be charged the notice period with O2. You just get a bill compiled as above.

There are a lot of urban myths surrounding porting, due to confusion with closing the account. The situation is as lot simpler than many people believe.

Requesting your PAC does nothing with regard to the status of your account. It is then valid for 30 days.

If within that 30 days you give your PAC to a new provider then your old provider closes your account. There is no need to give seperate notice. (Indeed, doing so will cause much confusion)

Whether you are charged for a notice period is dependent on the terms of your contract or the providers policy.