Colin62
Executive Member
I have a contract with Autopage, on Vodacom, and I want to convert to pre-paid, while keeping my number. This sounds simple and indeed it should be - the regulations on number portability are fairly clear - my number belongs to me, and not the service provider, so it should be straight forward. And indeed it is. That is, it is straight forward once you get through the hurdles that they put in your way. It may seem that moving from Autopage as a service provider to Vodacom is a port, but according to them it isn't, it's just a cancellation, and you're entitled to keep your number if you do that, without going through the porting process.
So (briefly) this is what I had to do to get it right:-
So I decided to confirm with Autopage that I would indeed be keeping my number. A minor miracle occurred in that I managed to get through to the supervisor, and he confirmed that I would keep my number and told me that I didn't use the right terminology when asking, which is why the operators told me I'd lose my number. He was good enough to bring the date forward to the end of March (due to the fact that I originally asked in February), so oddly enough, the best service I have had from Autopage is the last thing that they will do.
The thing that annoys me is that Autopage's cancellations department are using the loss of your number as a threat. Instead of checking whether r not you want to port or offering to convert you to pre-paid, they categorically state that you'll lose your number. At best, this is misleading, at worst, a blatant lie. Their policy of trying to intimidate and mislead me means that it has taken a month since I first called, and I spent well over an hour on the phone yesterday for something that should have been done in five minutes. And they wonder why I want to leave?
So (briefly) this is what I had to do to get it right:-
- I phoned Autopage in February to let them know I wanted to cancel contract and port my number to prepaid. They told me that if they ended my contract I would lose my number, and that I should wait until the contract had expired and then approach Vodacom to port my number across to Vodacom prepaid.
- I waited till the contract had expired, and went into the Vodashop in the Midlands Mall in Pietermaritzburg this week to ask for this to be done, and was told that they could not help, and that I must phone 082 1958.
- So I phoned 082 1958. They said I had to speak to the porting department on 082 241 5000.
- I then called 082 241 5000, and was told that I wasn’t porting my number because it was staying with Vodacom, and that Autopage should just end my contract and I would then be prepaid, keeping my number. I queried this, as Autopage very clearly said I’d lose my number. The lady I spoke to was adamant, and I asked to speak to her supervisor. He was unavailable.
- I then called Autopage again and was again told that I’d lose my number if they closed my account. When I told them that Vodacom said that Autopage had to convert me to prepaid and not Vodacom, the lady conceded that they could do that, and told me I had created confusing by asking to be ported to prepaid, and then happily told me that they would close my account on 28th of April, and on the 29th I’d be pre-paid, with my existing number. This made me suspicious as she herself told me I’d lose my number if Autopage closed the account.
- While I was on the phone to all these people, I tried to do the port on the Vodacom's website, which failed, because it wanted me to tell them which contract I would be taking with them.
- On Wednesday morning, the supervisor of Vodacom's porting department called me back, and said that Autopage had to do the cancellation, and that I would keep my number.
So I decided to confirm with Autopage that I would indeed be keeping my number. A minor miracle occurred in that I managed to get through to the supervisor, and he confirmed that I would keep my number and told me that I didn't use the right terminology when asking, which is why the operators told me I'd lose my number. He was good enough to bring the date forward to the end of March (due to the fact that I originally asked in February), so oddly enough, the best service I have had from Autopage is the last thing that they will do.
The thing that annoys me is that Autopage's cancellations department are using the loss of your number as a threat. Instead of checking whether r not you want to port or offering to convert you to pre-paid, they categorically state that you'll lose your number. At best, this is misleading, at worst, a blatant lie. Their policy of trying to intimidate and mislead me means that it has taken a month since I first called, and I spent well over an hour on the phone yesterday for something that should have been done in five minutes. And they wonder why I want to leave?
