Help - Thanks to O2 they won't transfer old Pay Monthly Number to new iphone-UPDATED

B

batfink

macrumors member
Ok, thanks to the incompetent Muppets over at O2 I am not happy.

My situation is: O2 pay monthly customer (Sony Eriksson) whose contract ended on 4th July 2008. Tried to get a 16gb upgrade in an O2 store but no luck what so ever.

Phoned o2 and they said if I purchased a new iphone and take out a new contract in an apple store I could then call them back and they would migrate the old number over to my iphone, thus cancelling my old contract that I had just left to roll over

That sounds simple I though so I went to the apple store on Friday and took out an iphone contract with a new number etc.
Phone up again today (as o2 iphone line only open mon-fri) and have just been told they cannot transfer a number over from O2-O2 and apologised and said that I had been miss-informed. To say I was fuming was an understatement as I really need to keep my old number (had it for 8 years now)

My options now seem to be
1. Keep current iphone number.
2. Request PAC code from O2 for my old contract (which im still paying for!!!!) and transfer it onto an Orange, Vodaphone, T-mobile etc PAYG Sim. Then request a PAC code from my PAYG provider and transfer it onto my iphone on O2. – Would this be a viable option?, Do you need to have the PAYG for a period of time before they give you a PAC code etc….

Any input would be greatly received, as I really don’t know what to do now?
 
it can be done.... but why cant o2 to o2 numbers be transferred?

oh hang on, because your SE contract had not finished yet and your iPhone contract would start so there would be an overlap (a period of time where an MSISDN was on 2 contracts)
 
yes option two

i think it's 2days to transfer from o2 to T-mob (for example)

then 2days again to transfer from t-mob to o2
 
Can you not return the iPhone as you're still within the 14 days? Then hold fire till o2 have the stock to do a direct upgrade.
 
Youve been told a load of rubbish. The problem with O2 is that their staff seem to have a varying level of training, and rather than them say "I'll just check for you" and finding out if it CAN be done, they act like know-it-alls and if they dont know how to do it, they just say its impossible.

I did exactly as you seem to be trying to do. I had a Nokia E65 on a standard O2 tariff. I bought a 1st gen iPhone on a new contract. 2 handsets, 2 contracts, totally separate.

I phoned O2 regular customer services the day my iPhone was activated and said I would like to close my standard tariff contract and transfer the number to my iPhone. I was told that it wasnt a problem, but I may be without service for up to 24 hours whilst the number was transferred. I wasnt impressed, but what can you do? Less than an hour later, my number was trasnfered. I was without service for maybe 5 minutes.

Moral of the story - If you phone O2 and they say it cant be done, keep calling back until you speak someone who knows what theyre doing. Chances are, it can be done, they just dont know how.
 
If you have an o2 sim with your old number won't that work in the iPhone anyway?

*edit* ah that does leave you with two contracts though. I'd talk again, in person if possible. It's much harder to get the brush off in the shop and it's got to be possible.
 
Had the same problem. If you're on Simplicity, definitely try it. Call them up. You can get a free PAYG (or get reimbursed for the £5 for a new PAYG SI from an O2 shop) and then port it over to that, then once that's active, they'll get the iPhone account sorted so you can port your number over to the iPhone.

Still sorting out a O2 to O2 shift from 2 weeks ago, but at least you get the iPhone in the meantime, and you've got the SIM cards working till you've got it sorted.

Should be able to convert any parallel account for an iPhone into an upgrade - they just have to make the paperwork/redo the contract you get from the Apple Store.

it's subject to change, but there's more stock in Apple stores than O2 and that'll stay that way for a long while.

I got told you couldn't do O2 to O2, but got a PAC code anyhow, which got me the iPhone, then they called later to say i needed to resort the paperwork, and I could either go through a PAYG card to keep the number, or change number, or come and get a new iPhone from O2 when they were in stock. Lot of mistruths said in error through the reps - watch out. They're probably advising against it currently as anyone who got through the net and did it has created a lot of paperwork for them.
 
Same situation as you and O2 transferred my number just fine. Get the PAC code and then phone the actual iPhone activation team on 0870 607 2302. They should know what to do.
 
They should let you do it, just speak to someone higher up.

I am an existing o2 customer on a Simplicity tariff. I bought a new 3G iPhone at the Applestore on Saturday, took out a new contract etc. Called up O2 (upgrades, option 2) this morning, they said no problem, I do not need a PAC code. They would simply migrate my existing account. She said it might take about up to 2 days.

A couple of hours later I noticed my new 3G iPhone had no service. So I popped in my existing SIM card that I had on my Simplicity account into my new iPhone and it all seems to work.

I think the key is you need to tell them you want to migrate your account.
 
option 2.

it's not unheard of, my sister and a friend of mine had to do the same thing, seems daft though i know.
 
raymanster said:
They should let you do it, just speak to someone higher up.

I am an existing o2 customer on a Simplicity tariff. I bought a new 3G iPhone at the Applestore on Saturday, took out a new contract etc. Called up O2 (upgrades, option 2) this morning, they said no problem, I do not need a PAC code. They would simply migrate my existing account. She said it might take about up to 2 days.

A couple of hours later I noticed my new 3G iPhone had no service. So I popped in my existing SIM card that I had on my Simplicity account into my new iPhone and it all seems to work.

I think the key is you need to tell them you want to migrate your account.
Click to expand...

The thing is I did ask for somebody higher up and got the same answer. It seems it because it’s a proper pay monthly account and not (simplicity or PAYG) They said its just not possible on their system to migrate a pay monthly account onto another pay monthly account.
 
k Guys

Thank you for everybody's input on this thread. I've been hanging on every reply all day.

I have an update.

I phoned up to get a PAC code in order to transfer it over to a PAYG O2 sim as i was told this would work. I would then have to request another PAC code from my PAYG once it was active so i could then transfer it across to my iphone. Complicated yes, but at least i could then retain my old number.

The helpful lady (first one ive had today) told me i could do the above and talked me through the order i need to do it and put me through to cancellations department.

The chap from cancellations answered and asked me instead of going onto PAYG why not upgrade my handset etc..... He hadn't been told the story and why i wanted to go onto PAYG. I told him the story and he was a bit taken back. He asked me to the hold the line whilst he made a quick call.

He came back a couple of minutes later and told me to make it easier i wanted a 'INTERNAL MIGRATION'. He explained that O2 envisaged things like this happening and had set up a special person to deal with such things.

He asked for my iphone number and confirmed the current number i want to migrate and told me this will be done on Wednesday. Basically what happens is on Wednesday my iphone sim will become inactive and at that point i put in my old sim card in and that will work. What actually happens is my Apple Contract is cancelled and i retain my existing old contract/account but it turns from a £30 per month one to a £35 per month iphone contract.

So theres a conclusion to a frustrating day. That was the 4th apple CS person i have spoken to day and it was sorted by a helpful chap at cancellations.
 
batfink said:
k Guys

Thank you for everybody's input on this thread. I've been hanging on every reply all day.

I have an update.

I phoned up to get a PAC code in order to transfer it over to a PAYG O2 sim as i was told this would work. I would then have to request another PAC code from my PAYG once it was active so i could then transfer it across to my iphone. Complicated yes, but at least i could then retain my old number.

The helpful lady (first one ive had today) told me i could do the above and talked me through the order i need to do it and put me through to cancellations department.

The chap from cancellations answered and asked me instead of going onto PAYG why not upgrade my handset etc..... He hadn't been told the story and why i wanted to go onto PAYG. I told him the story and he was a bit taken back. He asked me to the hold the line whilst he made a quick call.

He came back a couple of minutes later and told me to make it easier i wanted a 'INTERNAL MIGRATION'. He explained that O2 envisaged things like this happening and had set up a special person to deal with such things.

He asked for my iphone number and confirmed the current number i want to migrate and told me this will be done on Wednesday. Basically what happens is on Wednesday my iphone sim will become inactive and at that point i put in my old sim card in and that will work. What actually happens is my Apple Contract is cancelled and i retain my existing old contract/account but it turns from a £30 per month one to a £35 per month iphone contract.

So theres a conclusion to a frustrating day. That was the 4th apple CS person i have spoken to day and it was sorted by a helpful chap at cancellations.
Click to expand...

@ OP - any word on any sort of O2 sorry renumeration for the delays etc?

Know the feeling. Finally got the final leg from PAYG to iPhone contract done today, so it might actually be working as an iPhone contract (BT Openzone etc). Only taken 3 weeks!

For those in a similar situation, hang on in there. O2 seems to be slowly learning how to deal with these situations. They can do an activation effectively over the phone if that was the problem (due to "system issues"). Might be worth logging a complaint via ComplaintReviewService@O2.COM to bolster any case if you're wanting to get a freebie/discount out of any hassle involved, and to gloss over any problems O2 has had customer services side (e.g. people accessing you account but not making notes, being told a phone call would occur but not getting one/ getting a missed call but no follow up, being told a 4 hour wait over 24 hour wait, etc).
 
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