talkmobile pac debacle

olias

Bought my wife a new phone with a new contract for christmas on talkmobile through the carphone warehouse. She is currently on vodafone and the intention was to cancel her vodafone contract a couple of days before christmas, get a pac code and port it over so her new phone was set up for her to open on christmas morning with her existing number.

The phone arrived today and I had a good look around both the carphone warehouse and vodafone websites to check the procedure and timescale for porting the number accross. It was only after being redirected through numerous pages on the CPW website when I came accross the information that when purchasing online, the pac code has to be supplied immediately at the time of purchase otherwise you can't port the number over......ever!

I rang talk mobile to query this, as as far as I am aware, no other network provider has this restriction. The customer service lady was very nice and apologetic and admitted it wasn't good enough and that although it does say this on the site, it is not very clear - you actually have to click a small link on the order form to generate a pop up that tells you you need the pac code immediately at the time of ordering to keep your number. She said that only option I have is to take the new phone and the pac code to a CPW store in order for them to do a 'buy back'. This entails the staff buying the new phone back off me and immediately reselling it to you wherby you give them the pac code and it gets ported over. this seems to me a massively complicated way of doing what every other provider appears to be able to do either over the phone or online at any time the customer chooses.

The other problem is that it means that as soon as the number is ported over, her old sim is cancelled meaning in order to keep the use of a mobile until christmas, I will have to give her the new sim to put in her old phone and keep the new phone for her to open at christmas, rather than her getting it all at once as a packaged present on christmas morning.

This is just a warning and vent for anyone else looking to buy a talk mobile contract phone.

olias

Neil49

I'm suprised you ever found any information about the pac issue.

It's a known issue with Talk Mobile but unless you know in advance (or are told by CPW staff) you only find out after the event.

Out of interest I went onto the Talk Mobile website and despite searches on pac, porting number over etc, I never found any information about porting your number to them.

Personally I think it's pathetic and Talk Mobile should highlight this issue up front rather than conning customers by hiding such information.

Buzby

As it is an OFCOM requirement (to offer inbound and outbound number porting) why not complain to them - advising TM of your intentions?

olias

The problem is it is actually offered and it is on the website order form its just very small and not at all obvious as its in the form of a pop up. The only writing on the order form is that it says in very small letters, 'keep your number' and then a single word link that merely says, 'show'

It is only after you click on the word, 'show', that the following pop up appears......


'If you want to keep your phone number, you must have your PAC code ready now- your number cannot be ported afterwards. your current mobile phone provider to arrange number transfer.

As you cannot transfer your number after you have bought the phone, please request a code from your current mobile phone provider and enter it now before proceeding with your purchase.'

As all other providers allow you to port a number over at any time with a pac code, the assumption by a buyer is that talkmobile would be the same and it would be something that you could do after purchase and receipt of your new phone.

Olias