Ok so i placed an order for a Nokia 5800 from MTN just over a month ago and was told that i could expect it in plus minus 2 weeks... 3 weeks had passed and i was told to come into the store to fill in the paper work. I decided to take out 2 contracts. One for the 5800 and the other for a nokia 5000. On both contracts i wanted to port my numbers. 1 Vodacom and the other Cell C. Note that both numbers are prepaid. A week passed and i was told that everything got approved and i could pick up my phones, however i'd have to wait 24hours for the porting process to take place. Later that day i noticed that both MTN sim cards were active, receiving reception and working, but they had allocated totally new numbers to me instead of porting my old numbers. To this day (A week after receiving the phones) my numbers have still not been ported.... Anyone else encountered the same problem? If so what is the procedure and how long can i expect for this to be rectified?
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Porting to MTN. Please Help
- Thread starter bmboy
- Start date
pope24
Expert Member
OK take this from a veteran of the porting process. I am on my second port, first to MTN and now back to Vodacom.
Don't expect it to go smoothly (as you have discovered) Call at least every second day or every day if necessary until you get a straight answer. Find the number for a senior person in the porting department at your SP and get them onto the case.
Move quickly before they alloocate your numbers to someone else..
Don't expect it to go smoothly (as you have discovered) Call at least every second day or every day if necessary until you get a straight answer. Find the number for a senior person in the porting department at your SP and get them onto the case.
Move quickly before they alloocate your numbers to someone else..
The thing is i don't see why something like this should take so long. I mean it's not rocket science... And when i signed up for the contract they made it sound so simple. All they said was that i needed to bring in my sim cards as proof that the numbers are mine and they'll take care of the rest. If MTN or any other network for that matter are serious about keeping their customers they gonna need to do something about this whole process.
How is it possible for them to allocate my number to someone else? If i'm not correct the numbers should belong to me...
I'm aving almost exactly the same problem - porting from iTalk to MTNSP, filled in and handed in the forms on 7 March.
The phone I wanted (5800) arrived on Wednesday, and the porting process started then... last night I was taken off the network and when I phoned in this morning they tell me that they won't release my new sim and phone until the process is complete - I thought it was supposed to be a seamless process...
Now I'm left incommunicado until I go in this afternoon...
The phone I wanted (5800) arrived on Wednesday, and the porting process started then... last night I was taken off the network and when I phoned in this morning they tell me that they won't release my new sim and phone until the process is complete - I thought it was supposed to be a seamless process...
Now I'm left incommunicado until I go in this afternoon...
I'm aving almost exactly the same problem - porting from iTalk to MTNSP, filled in and handed in the forms on 7 March.
The phone I wanted (5800) arrived on Wednesday, and the porting process started then... last night I was taken off the network and when I phoned in this morning they tell me that they won't release my new sim and phone until the process is complete - I thought it was supposed to be a seamless process...
Now I'm left incommunicado until I go in this afternoon...
They gave me my phones as soon as the credit checking process was completed and the porting process was authorized. I'm still waiting for my numbers to be ported over to MTN...
At the moment I'm having to top up my prepaid cards so that i can still use those numbers in the meantime under the Vodacom and Cell C networks. If and when the porting process does go through my remaining airtime will go to waste. It's a huge inconvenience on my part which i shouldn't have to go through considering MTN is gaining a new customer.
Yeah - the phone only arrived at the store on Wednesday, not entirely sure why they wouldn't give it to me (she mumbled something about waiting for the sim)
Hopefully it'll be done this afternoon - my father has to pick up the phone and sim for me, I hope they don't sell him some silly story when he goes in (I'm out of town for the day)
marine1
Honorary Master
Mine went smoothly only issue was mms but now fixed.
Anyone have contact number for someone in the porting department? I got my phone from an MTN shop although most of the documentation has the mobile solutions logo on the headers. I'm assuming that it's a company which has/had a substantial stake in MTN.
diabolus
Executive Member
Mobile Solutions WAS just another reseller of MTN stuff, MTN bought them out though as seen here: http://www.mobilesolutions.co.za/ . So technically you are dealing with MTNSP via them anyhow.
That said, i never really felt they are better or worse than any other MTN shop out there. It's still all about the person behind the counter knowing who to call and when to follow up [and when to call you]. So your mileage vary purely based on the person you deal with not the shop. I don't think any of the reseller shops get any preferential treatment either.
I also ported from Voda to MTN 2 years ago via Mobile Solutions, it took a week longer than originally promised..primarily because no one at the shop bothered to follow up. MTN basically puts everything in a queue to be processed, sometimes the queue is long, sometimes it's short, sometimes it doesn't even get on the queue...but the shop person is suppose to follow all this up, if they don't then a week goes buy only to realise they never put your papers through....
That said, i never really felt they are better or worse than any other MTN shop out there. It's still all about the person behind the counter knowing who to call and when to follow up [and when to call you]. So your mileage vary purely based on the person you deal with not the shop. I don't think any of the reseller shops get any preferential treatment either.
I also ported from Voda to MTN 2 years ago via Mobile Solutions, it took a week longer than originally promised..primarily because no one at the shop bothered to follow up. MTN basically puts everything in a queue to be processed, sometimes the queue is long, sometimes it's short, sometimes it doesn't even get on the queue...but the shop person is suppose to follow all this up, if they don't then a week goes buy only to realise they never put your papers through....
The ladies at the shop that i dealt with seem very competent in doing what they do. In my case they seem to be following up on my situation on a regular bases. It seems though that the problems occur in their porting department and higher level management. I went in to do a follow up today and the lady said that they have been following up and that my ports have been declined so they'll have to resubmit my porting applications and it should hopefully be sorted out by Monday or Tuesday next week.
Ok so they gave me new sim cards yesterday and was told that the porting process would take place at midnight last night..... My sim cards are still not activated...... I phoned Vodacom's customer care to find out if they had received any porting requests from mtn and was rudely told to contact mtn customer care....
Just a bit of an update on my situation - I got the phone on Friday afternoon, everything works fine.
Went pretty well - apart from having to wait for around 3 weeks for the phone to arrive.
I do get a call around the same time from an 083209xxxx number everyday though; hanging up when I answer.
Went pretty well - apart from having to wait for around 3 weeks for the phone to arrive.
I do get a call around the same time from an 083209xxxx number everyday though; hanging up when I answer.
I went into the store today for the 2nd time this week to get an update on my situation. The lady said that there seems to be some progress from their porting dept but she cant make any promises. She also said that i should keep my phone which has the new inactive sim card off because if it is on the port may not go through. This is the 1st time they told me to do this since i got my new phone. Does it matter weather the phone is on or off during the porting process? And does phone using the sim relating to the number being ported also have to be switched off?
My numbers have finally been ported. However my Vodacom and Cell C sims are still active as well..... Hopefully they'll sort it out today. Also on both numbers my billing info states that i have 16 free sms's remaining and R66 in my account, but I haven't made any calls or sms's from those sim cards.... Anyone experienced a similar issue? Is there a *...# number to get my billing info or a link on the MTN website to view my info?