Unable to transfer you current phone number to Public Mobile...but used it for 3 weeks

[Jacob11]

Hello everyone

Whoa, I have a tricky problem, and my opinion of Public Mobile support has plummeted. First, there is no obvious way to talk to a human or to submit a support ticket for tricky, unusual problems...I'm just directed to the Community support so here I am.

In a nutshell, I successfully ported my number from Virgin to PM on Nov16 following the steps in this user forum (as instructed, I first used the temporary PM number and then successfully ported over my Virgin number).

Fast forward to Friday (Dec 16). I get the following text message from PM:

Public Mobile message: We've attempted to reach you to let you know that we've been unable to transfer your current phone number to Public Mobile. In the meantime, we've assigned you this new phone number: 403-493-xxxx

I successfully ported the number about a month ago, used it successfully until now, and now this? 

Does anybody know what to do in this situation? Thank you so much for your help. Jacob

[Jacob11]

Okay, my phone is finally now working properly.

What was the problem? It was a partial port or incomplete port.

Although I spent hours communicating with Virgin asking them to release the number (again) the ultimate solution was to private message Public Mobile customer support team, and have them dialog with Telus (Telus owns PM and controls the system). At one point, PM asked me to call the Telus porting team but upon entering my phone number I got this message from the Telus system:  "a transfer request for that number does not exist" so I had to private message PM again for further assistant and they dialoged directly with Telus to solve the problem.

In summary, the problem does not appear to have been with Virgin / Bell but rather with Public Mobile / Telus (or, at least PM / Telus were able to resolve it). I did eventually find other examples of this problem (partial or incomplete port) in the PM user forums. Often, you can call out, text out, and receive texts, but you cannot receive incoming calls properly. This can go on for weeks.

Trying to resolve this problem took about 6 hours of my life. I hope this information might save somebody with the same problem 6 hours of their life 😉 

[dust2dust]

The IMEI is attached to the device, not the sim.

[Jacob11]

Just a further update regarding Public Mobile support tickets: it is impossible to submit a support ticket regarding a phone number porting problem unless you have your old SIM card and can get its IMEI number. Again, Catch 22 for me because I do not have the old Virgin SIM card because I disposed of it after the porting from Virgin to Public Mobile apparently worked. In short, if you don't have your old SIM card's IMEI the Public Mobile does not want to issue you a support ticket.

[Jacob11]

Thanks so much hTideGnow. 

I agree with your assessment. 

I hope nobody has to experience the mess I am in. Porting is easy...if it works 😉

It would be nice if Public Mobile had alerted me within hours (not weeks) regarding the port problem.

[hTideGnow · Accepted solution]

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@Jacob11 wrote:

Just check my text history from Virgin: I never received the said text from Virgin upon porting my phone number to Public Mobile.

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HI @Jacob11   that would be why the porting was  not completed.  You probably have bee paying for your Virgin service still.   But don't try to close it now,  you need your Virgin account  active to port the number

So, call Virgin and ask them a favour to allow you to port within the text authentication (if not, you need to buy a new Virgin sim card and then attach it to the account)

and again, once you and Virgin sorted out the situation, you will go into your My Account and re-request the porting 

[Jacob11]

Just check my text history from Virgin: I never received the said text from Virgin upon porting my phone number to Public Mobile.

[Jacob11]

Sorry, I just can't remember if I received a text from Virgin and how I responded, it was a month ago.

I do recall these steps (as per this community forum):

1 Order SIM cards from the Public Mobile website (PM); normally arrives in a few days
2 On the PM website, set up your PM account and select a plan, and initially use a new PM phone number (don't worry, it is only temporary)
3 Remove your Virgin SIM card and insert new PM SIM card into your phone
4 Change PM-issued phone number to your real phone number (Profile > Change Phone Number > Transfer Phone Number)
5 The rest happens automatically behind the scenes...PM moves your number over from your former provider (Telus, Virgin, Bell, etc). Takes up to 2 hours.
6 Done. Phone should work now.

So, it appears that there is an additional Step (2a): DON'T REMOVE YOUR SIM CARD YET...WAIT FOR THE TEXT FROM VIRGIN FIRST!!

[hTideGnow]

HI@Jacob11   did you ever receive a text from Virgin and did you ever reply YES?  that is important

Call Virgin back and confirm if the account is still active.  You need an active account to port

If it is  active, ask if they can approve the porting without the text, tell them you lost the sim card

but if it is NOT active, beg them if you can reactivate briefly for porting purpose

Make sure all this on Virgin side is taken card, then go back to PM My Account and re-request porting using Change phone number option on My Account-> Profile page

[Jacob11]

Ah, now we are getting closer....oh, boy, I got rid of my Virgin SIM card because the port from Virgin to Public Mobile was successful, and I used my ported number on PM for weeks. Any ideas what to do now? Using the new number that PM assigned me is not a solution. I need my historic phone number. Right now friends cannot text or call me. Thanks, I know this is complicated but perhaps this discussion will assist others in the future.

[hTideGnow]

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@Jacob11 wrote:

Hummm....we're going around in circles here...it is Catch 22...can't get a support ticket so can't contact a Customer Support Agent....

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@Jacob11   if you like, you can reach out to CS agent here by message

         https://productioncommunity.publicmobile.ca/t5/notes/composepage/note-to-user-id/22437

but I don't think there is a need at this point.  Your porting request was not completed and hence cancelled, you just need to restart another request

[walker1]

@Jacob11 

Since your having so much trouble using the Chat Bot, send a private message to CS_Agent

A Customer Support Agent will still get back to you, to help.

Sending a private message is just an other way to connect with a Customer Support Agent.

[hTideGnow]

H @Jacob11   you requested porting a month a got

but did you reply a text from Virgin on your Virgin sim card and did you reply YES?  Look like you didn't complete that process and hence the porting was not completed

There is no need to contact PM agent at this point

First, put your Virgin sim card in a phone, test if Virgin sim still working.  It should

Then, login to My Account and go go Change phone number and request porting again. This time, after you request porting, you need to put your Virgin sim card in a phone and wait for Virgin to send you a text and reply YES within 90 mins

[Jacob11]

Hummm....we're going around in circles here...it is Catch 22...can't get a support ticket so can't contact a Customer Support Agent....

[walker1]

@Jacob11 

Ok then, send a private message to CS_Agent instead.

Then watch for a reply to your community mailbox.

[Jacob11]

Hi Marie

Thanks for your reply. Unfortunately when I use Chatbot Simon and click for a support ticket I am linked to this community forum.

[walker1]

@Jacob11 

You should try contacting a Customer Support Agent again to get an explanation and get your problem corrected.

Use the Chatbot Simon to get a service ticket started first.

If you still have trouble getting a service ticket started, then you can also send a private message to CS_Agent 

Then look for their reply in your community mailbox.