How long to transfer my old number? what to expect

  • 29 November 2021
  • 11 replies
  • 21795 views
A
Rank
Userlevel 1

Good Afternoon, 

 

I have just switched to ID mobile. I want you to know exactly what to expect when you use your PAC to transfer your number to ID mobile. 

  1. Use the switch utility here https://www.idmobile.co.uk/help-and-advice/switching-to-idmobile and select keep your number.
  2. It is clear that it might take up to 24 to 48 hours to transfer your number as per: 

     

But what ID mobile doesn’t tell you is that your number, the one you would like to keep because you had it for a long time,  can go offline from 8am to 10pm on the day the number transfer happens. My number has been offline for 4 hours already and as per my conversation with support it will be offline at least 10 hours. 

 

I contacted ID mobile support over the chat, there is no way to contact them over the phone. If I wish to talk to someone it will take 3 days for them to contact me. 

 

Also I was asked to provide the following: 

 

  1. Contact time (3 days wait minimum)
  2. A number to contact me on ….. 
  3. My e-mail address… (Number and e-mail already provided on a form and in my account anyway).
  4. Possible resolution to the complaint (I would need to travel back in time to be able to tell them to fix something that already happened).

 

This topic has been closed for comments

11 replies

andewhite
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Userlevel 8
Badge +9

Thanks @AdminUser, 

I’ve switched mobile networks several times since OFCOM mandated those switching timings. It can take just as long to be activated when you switch away from iD to another provider, or indeed between any of the operators.

The 10pm cut-off is an industry agreed cut-off time, which should only come into play if there’s been a problem switching the number in question. In my experience switching providers is now much, much better than before the introduction of the auto-switching rules by OFCOM.

The customer support model offered by iD is not unique - see giffgaff, SMARTY, Voxi and others. I don’t think iD claim to offer telephone support, but if that’s what you want you’ll need to take your mobile number elsewhere.

The providers that do offer telephone support normally nudge you to use their self-service support options in the first instance - anyway, good luck.

 

A
Rank
Userlevel 1

Thanks @AdminUser, 

I’ve switched mobile networks several times since OFCOM mandated those switching timings. It can take just as long to be activated when you switch away from iD to another provider, or indeed between any of the operators.

The 10pm cut-off is an industry agreed cut-off time, which should only come into play if there’s been a problem switching the number in question. In my experience switching providers is now much, much better than before the introduction of the auto-switching rules by OFCOM.

The customer support model offered by iD is not unique - see giffgaff, SMARTY, Voxi and others. I don’t think iD claim to offer telephone support, but if that’s what you want you’ll need to take your mobile number elsewhere.

The providers that do offer telephone support normally nudge you to use their self-service support options in the first instance - anyway, good luck.

 

 

I have never had this experience with any other mobile providers, ever. I remember 30 minutes to 1 hour downtime. Never 4 hours + and ETA of + 8 Hours. I might be naive but I never had this experience before. My real complain is that the information about how long your number could be offline should be available somewhere and visible. If I had known I could have planned for it. 

 

andewhite
Rank
Userlevel 8
Badge +9

Thanks @AdminUser, sounds like you’ve been very luck to-date. What do other operators say about switching to their network? 

You’ll probably find they’re the same as iD timings, with the switch happening sometime between 8am and 10pm on the day of the switch. This is what’s been mandated by OFCOM.

To switch your number:

  1. Your old provider must deactivate your old SIM to release the number;
  2. Then they can inform your new provider this has been done;
  3. Your new provider must reconfigure your new SIM to use the ported number.

These things don’t all happen at the same time and there can be a delay at each stage.  

A
Rank
Userlevel 1

@andewhite Yes, I might have been very lucky to-date or also could be that I was very unlucky to choose ID mobile. I have been at least 5 hours with my phone offline and I expect at least until 8pm which would be around 10 hours or more offline as I have been told by support. I don’t know what to think about it. 

Really all I want is to tell my experience when transferring my number to ID mobile. In that way anyone thinking about switching to ID mobile can use this information to make an informed decision. 

 

Let users decide, they are the ones that can say if this is acceptable or not. Are you part of the ID mobile team or just part of the community? 

 

Regards. 

A
Rank
Userlevel 1

Thanks @AdminUser, sounds like you’ve been very luck to-date. What do other operators say about switching to their network? 

You’ll probably find they’re the same as iD timings, with the switch happening sometime between 8am and 10pm on the day of the switch. This is what’s been mandated by OFCOM.

To switch your number:

  1. Your old provider must deactivate your old SIM to release the number;
  2. Then they can inform your new provider this has been done;
  3. Your new provider must reconfigure your new SIM to use the ported number.

These things don’t all happen at the same time and there can be a delay at each stage.  

@andewhite

Yes, perhaps I have been very lucky to-date or perhaps very unlucky to change to ID mobile. My original number, the one everyone has and that I wanted to transfer has been offline for about 5 hours now and I as I have been told by support I can expect it to be offline around 10+ hours today in total. I am sorry but to me this is unacceptable, but let users decide if this is normal. My aim with this post is, to help users thinking about switching to ID mobile and transferring their old numbers make and educated decision. 

I have one question, are you part of the Community or do you work for ID mobile? I would love to get replies from other users to to understand better their experience. 

 

 

andewhite
Rank
Userlevel 8
Badge +9

Thanks @AdminUser, seems our experience of iD has been quite different.

I’m just an iD customer (like yourself?) and not employed by iD or doing any other work for iD.

I’d be interested to know where the 10+ hours comes from - a port would normally be completed between 8am - 5pm, with the 10pm cut-off there to deal with incidents where the port hasn’t worked.

I believe the majority of number ports over to iD are completed by mid-afternoon, within the 9 hour window mandated by OFCOM. What did your SMS from iD say about your switch?

 

A
Rank
Userlevel 1

I’d be interested to know where the 10+ hours comes from - a port would normally be completed between 8am - 5pm, with the 10pm cut-off there to deal with incidents where the port hasn’t worked.

I believe the majority of number ports over to iD are completed by mid-afternoon, within the 9 hour window mandated by OFCOM. What did your SMS from iD say about your switch?

 

@andewhite 

I had that information from support, my number went offline at around 8:00am and at 10 am I contacted support. Here was their reply “Please be advised that the transfer is still in process and will be finished by 8pm today”. It’s 2pm today so 6 hours and counting. 
I appreciate you mentioning about the maximum of 9 hour window set by OFCOM, I will keep my eyes peeled. I have transcripts of all the chats just in case. 

 

Regards, 

 

 

A
Rank
Userlevel 1

Thanks @AdminUser, seems our experience of iD has been quite different.

I’m just an iD customer (like yourself?) and not employed by iD or doing any other work for iD.

I’d be interested to know where the 10+ hours comes from - a port would normally be completed between 8am - 5pm, with the 10pm cut-off there to deal with incidents where the port hasn’t worked.

I believe the majority of number ports over to iD are completed by mid-afternoon, within the 9 hour window mandated by OFCOM. What did your SMS from iD say about your switch?

 

 @andewhite 

I had that information from support, my number went offline at around 8:00am and at 10 am I contacted support. Here was their reply “Please be advised that the transfer is still in process and will be finished by 8pm today”. It’s 2pm today so 6 hours and counting. 
I appreciate you mentioning about the maximum of 9 hour window set by OFCOM, I will keep my eyes peeled. I have transcripts of all the chats just in case. 

 

Regards, 

 

 

andewhite
Rank
Userlevel 8
Badge +9

Okay @AdminUser, I recommend you periodically turn-off your device for 5-10 minutes, because the handset doesn’t always pick-up the new SIM configuration if it’s left on during the porting window.

Anyway, good luck 

A
Rank
Userlevel 1

Okay @AdminUser, I recommend you periodically turn-off your device for 5-10 minutes, because the handset doesn’t always pick-up the new SIM configuration if it’s left on during the porting window.

Anyway, good luck 

@andewhite 

To be fair, the number has just been ported. The total time spent with my number out of services has been approx 6 hours and 30 minutes offline. I have to port another line and I will not be doing it. In fact I will be changing providers, I find the way this has been handled unacceptable, that’s my two pennies worth. 

 

Thank you for your help. 

andewhite
Rank
Userlevel 8
Badge +9

Hello @AdminUser,

Well that’s life I guess - we live and learn. 

When I switched over to iD and ported my number, my old provider deactivated my old SIM around 10am, and my number was active on my iD SIM around 14:30pm.

I hope your port away from iD goes well - good luck.

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