"Transferring a cell number from one company to another is easy...right? Wrong!"
I have done very little other that be on the phone with Sprint Customer Service since last night around 10:00 p.m. and have been on the phone with them a good 3 solid hours today.
Yesterday afternoon I went into a Sprint store and told them I wanted to stop my Verizon account and open up a new Sprint account, purchase a new Palm 755P and sign up for thier $99.99 "All In One" program". I asked a lot of quetions and one of them was how long would it take to transfer my number. I was told the transfer of my number to Sprint would take an hour or two at the most.
Within 2 hours my new phone was up and working and I could make and receive calls. That lasted about an hour and I have not been able to receive calls since then and it is now nearly 3:30 p.m the following day!
After 7 phone calls to Sprint I have now been told that there is a "Portability" issue and it could take 2-3 days for my phone to be fully working! I said ?!>@)(* !!!!! and that was after I had cooled down!
I tried to to suck up to Verizon and reactive my old phone so I don't loose anymore business but it is too late and I can't do anything but wait!
So if you are switching from one cell company to another and keeping your old number "BE CAREFULL"!!
This has been nothing short of a nightmare for someone like me that lives with his cell phone and averages over 3,000 minutes per month of usage!
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Posted By: George Tallabas - Boise Idaho Real Estate Agent - Associate Broker
with RE/MAX Advantage, Canyon Counties #1 Brokerage in sales and listings
specializing in Boise Idaho Real Estate and Southwest Idaho Real Estate.
Joan - I have still been told it will take 2-3 days and Verizon cannot help me now!
Mike - Wish I would have taken a pole on Sprint customer service before I switched!
Jimmy - This is the first issue I have had and hopefully the last!
Monika - Be careful!
Missy - There is a black cloud over my head!
Roberta - Smart Lady! Sometimes doing nothing is best!
I don't want AllTel to hear, but I think I am staying put for life.
Too many stories about porting numbers. I would wig out, and I only use about 70% of the minutes you use, George.
Gee,George...
You have scared me into staying with my current provider, despite oaths to do otherwise!
I'll drop you a line, OK?
Steve
You know, I've been thinking about looking into other providers, but now? Ummm, I'm all good where I am! Hope this gets resolved quickly for you.
Marlene - Just be careful my friend!
Tammy Lane & Terry - Thanks for your well wishes
Kris - I am glad you did stop by...have a great day!
Karen - Thanks but the reason I left Verizon is two fold 1) They offered me a wonderful deal on my total cost for a plan and then took it away from me saying thier representative did not tell me what she did and 2) The less expensive plan they have still costs me $140/month. Right now I feel like I am dammed if I do and dammed if I don't!
I FEEL YOUR PAIN GEROGE, I DO WANT EVERYONE TO KNOW THAT I HAVE BEEN IN THE CELLULAR BUSINESS FOR OVER 25 YEARS AND I KNOW HOW FRUSTRATING IT CAN BE. WHEN YOU CHANGE CARRIERS YOU SHOULD BE AWARE THAT THEY DO NOT CLAIM THAT A PORT WILL TAKE 2 HOURS. THEY CLAIM THAT IT CAN TAKE BETWEEN 2 HOURS AND THREE DAYS. YOUR OLD PHONE WORKS UNTIL THE NEW PHONE IS ACTIVATED. THEY USE A TEMP NUMBER ON THE NEW PHONE SO YOU CAN USE IT UNTIL THE NEW NUMBER IS PORTED. GEORGE WAS ONE IN 50,OOO THAT GOT STUCK IN PORT LIMBO. I CAN'T TELL YOU HOW MANY PEOPLE I HAVE TOLD NOT TO PUBLISH CELL NUMBERS IF YOUR LIFE DEPENDS ON IT. YOU DON'T OWN THAT NUMBER AND IT CAN BE TAKEN FROM YOU. THE ONE THING THAT IS VERY NICE IS THAT YOU CAN NOW PORT THE NUMBER. IN THE OLD DAYS YOU HAD TO GET A NEW NUMBER TO CHANGE SERVICES. I ALSO CAN SAY THAT THE SAVINGS BY THE 99.99 UNLIMITED PLAN FROM SPRINT THAT GEORGE SWITCHED TO, WILL SAVE HIM ALOT OF MONEY IN THE LONG RUN.
I really wish I had read this before I tried to switch. My old cell phone co. was getting so expensive that I decided to switch to Sprint (the $99 "everything" plan). They told me it would take a few days to switch everything, so I waited. A week went by and my "old" phone stopped working last Friday at noon. But the "new" phone was not in service, so I had no phone for most of the afternoon out showing property. When I got back into town I immediately went over to Sprint and they worked on the problem and after about an hour on the phone with tech support, they told me it was being fixed and I would have phone service within the hour. By this time it was 5:00 on Friday. Needless to say, I went without phone service for the whole weekend! It is now Monday night and the "porting" problem still is not fixed (after two hours with tech support today). I have no service of any kind, either incoming our outgoing. They tried to make it sound like it was my "old" company's fault (Snake River PCS) and I believed them until I read your post, George! I really think I would rather go to the dentist than have to choose a new cell phone plan and go through this! I read the comment above by the anonymous person who said it is only one in 50,000 who get stuck like this - somehow that is not ringing true at the moment, LOL! I am so frustrated!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!