Experiencing Porting (PAC) Problems?
mrelectric
Posts: 12 Forumite
I know that many people are experiencing problems with mobile number porting. Ofcom have simplified the way in which customers can request codes and have set time limits for in which numbers must be transferred. This is great news and avoids the heavy sell that often accompanied and long waits required when previously phoning in for a code.
However, did you know that if something goes wrong with the porting, you have little or no recourse other than using your providers complaints system. There are no regulations governing porting problem resolution, it entirely relies upon inter provider agreements and good will. I have been without my mobile number for almost 3 weeks with no prospect of its return anytime soon. My new provider, Plusnet is totally useless, I have spent hours battling with their arcane and often archaic procedures and the position is pretty much, it will be sorted when its sorted, now go away and shut up!
However, I strongly recommend that if this happens to you irrespective of provider, register a complaint with Ofcom. They don’t get involved in resolving individual provider complaints but monitor the type of complaints being made with a view to introducing regulation to protect consumers and promote choice. A simple phone call to 0300 123 3000 is all that it takes and if enough people register a concern they will take action to deal with rogue providers.
However, did you know that if something goes wrong with the porting, you have little or no recourse other than using your providers complaints system. There are no regulations governing porting problem resolution, it entirely relies upon inter provider agreements and good will. I have been without my mobile number for almost 3 weeks with no prospect of its return anytime soon. My new provider, Plusnet is totally useless, I have spent hours battling with their arcane and often archaic procedures and the position is pretty much, it will be sorted when its sorted, now go away and shut up!
However, I strongly recommend that if this happens to you irrespective of provider, register a complaint with Ofcom. They don’t get involved in resolving individual provider complaints but monitor the type of complaints being made with a view to introducing regulation to protect consumers and promote choice. A simple phone call to 0300 123 3000 is all that it takes and if enough people register a concern they will take action to deal with rogue providers.
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Comments
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I'm not sure you're correct that there are no regulations regarding failed ports. The last time I read the Ofcom Mobile Number Portability regulations there certainly were. (That isn't to say that providers adhere to them).
Of course, porting is complicated and involves up to three service providers (original network operator, donor network operator and recipient network operator) and the regulations make allowance for technical problems.
In my experience the best way to resolve porting issues is to ask the donor network (the provider you ported from) to message their MNP team with the symptoms of what has gone wrong. Also ask you new provider to do the same. Be aware that these teams are not customer facing (or they would spend their time talking to customers rather than porting numbers) so don't waste time demanding to speak with them.
You can check out the MNP documentation (not the consumer summary) on the Ofcom website, if Plusnet haven't done what they should have then this would help with any future ombudsman complaint.0 -
Many thanks PHK. I did a trawl through the Ofcom site and when I spoke to them they didn’t seem to think there were regulations. However, you have used the term MNP so I’ll check this because as a non techy, it may be I wasn’t using the right terminology!0
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Hi PHK,
I have looked into this and “loss of service” is down to providers to manage on a voluntary basis!! In fact it opens up a whole lot of issues about how consumers can get independent advocacy on unresolved tech issues as Ofcom is just a regulator while the Ombudsman has limited reach as an arbitrator and would not get involved in resolvable technical issues such as mine.
The Ofcom 2017 review (Consumer switching - Decision on reforming the switching of mobile communication services) identified the service loss issue and looked at it alongside of PAC options. As a result of industry pressure they decided not to regulate service loss but appear to have left this option open. This could potentially create the same trap that held customers captive to their mobile providers as happened under the old PAC procedure. Section 2.21, says: “In relation to loss of service, we acknowledged that industry had made commitments to develop and implement measures to address loss of service on a voluntary basis which we were satisfied were sufficient to adequately address our concerns, subject to sufficient progress being made. Thus, we no longer felt it to be proportionate to impose regulation regarding loss of service (for instance, through end-to-end management). However, we said that our final view on industry commitments, and whether they sufficiently delivered against our policy objectives, would depend on the progress industry made in delivering an improved porting process.”0 -
This is the manual you need to refer to
http://www.mnposg.org.uk/Main_Documents/MNP2%20Manual%20issue%201-34.pdf
Page 40 onward should help.
Rather than the explanation of how Ofcom reached its decision.0 -
Thanks PHK, the link is very useful. You are obviously a techy with a really good understanding of how these things work so I appreciate your responses. I have read through the guidance and in fact the relevant bit is on P41. This basically says that problems should be resolved within 24 hours after 11am the day after a failed porting. There is then a series of reporting measures to ORG and then OSG, neither of whom seem to be readily accessible to consumers. The only other requirement is that reports of delays need to be logged and submitted...but this wholly depends upon providers in the chain doing so, many may no doubt feel that registering events about their competitors could lead to tit for tat reprisals which does not serve the industry’s interests... so perhaps better not to do and let the customer suffer instead. I think the manual actually highlights the very reason why self-regulation doesn’t work. I have contacted the OSG (Mobile Number Portability Operator Steering Group) about my concerns so will be interested to see if they respond!
Once again, thanks so much for the pointers it really is invaluable.0 -
After 20 days I finally got my number back...but see what I had to go through to avoid the same misery:
https://community.plus.net/t5/Mobile/Problems-Porting-Mobile-Number/td-p/1676219
You’ve been warned!0
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