Just an idea

[ERICJIANG]

Since there are not enough Mods to handle the issues, I think PM should put more useful links into our self-serve accounts. Like those every detail that the Mods can view from our account. Such as re-submitting port requests, the porting status and information, and those referral rewards from which phone numbers, ect. Make our accounts as self-serve-able as we can. I think this may very helpful for the Mods. And ppl won't complain about not getting reply from the Mods for 10+ days if they can solve the problem there selves.

[imcphers]

Agree - too much power could be dangerous.

I see 2 things -

If a user has made an error in entering the information provide intelligent feedback on why the port request failed and allow them to try again.  Its not clear to me if you can try again once the port attempt has failed.

The other common issue is that the port request information was provided correctly and accepted, but the updates that are pushed out to the routing network to change how the number is directed get messed up.  There should be a way for the user to request a "refresh" on this without needing a moderator.  It should have time restrictions as to when it would be available like 24hrs after a successful port.

[daredogg]

I hear what you're saying, about making self-serve more "self-serve-able" but there needs to be a line. Too much access could be dangerous because most people wouldn't have the technical knowledge of what they're doing.

About showing the status of the port, maybe, but for most people it's pretty instantaneous. No offence to those who've had issues, but the majority of errors with porting are because of user error, whether unintentional or not.

I think it would be a waste of time and resources to add a "status bar" when really, fixing the glitches with porting is what's important. I've thought that choosing the provider you're coming from and having the form adjust to what information is needed would be ideal. For example, some providers such as SpeakOut don't have an account number per se... your phone number is your account. Other providers such as WIND want your IMEI, whereas with Telus it may not matter. Have the form request the necessary info to prevent port failure.

Thanks @ERICJIANG for sharing your idea. BTW, posting this idea in the Public Lab would get better exposure, as items in the Discussions forum tend to get buried pretty quickly.