Where to start...
A few months ago my Wife was told her contract was set to expire on the 8th of March and then she could upgrade her handset and start a new contract. She looked at deals and we realised she could get a better deal (the "EE One" account) if she had broadband too. Problem: I already have EE broadband and a "One" account" with my mobile and two other devices for our kids. So we rang EE to ask what we could do and the chap we spoke to suggested we merge her account with mine to take advantage of the "One" account discounts. He said we could ring up on the 8th and make that happen, so we did. We rang up, spent about 90 mins on the phone ticking boxes, watching videos etc. She was told the new handset would arrive next day (we paid for express delivery as she's going abroad on Thursday this week) and that all she needed to do was ring 150 to port her existing EE number (of 20 plus years) to the new SIM card. Sounds simple right?
The new handset associated with my account arrived yesterday and she set about calling 150 to do the number port. Only, the next EE person she spoke to was now telling a different story. The person from the day before had made an error and things had been done "the wrong way round". To port her number they would have to send out a pay as you go SIM and she'd have to wait 30 days to get her old number back and meanwhile would be unable to use all the features she'd asked for in her package (like roaming). Not happy at this she asked to speak to a manager.
The manager explained the same and then told her the best way to fix this was to return the new handset and start again!! No really!! Only this time it would be done the "correct way". Another two hours on the phone with the inexperienced EE support person constantly putting my Wife on hold to "check this is right" with the manager. We got through all the upgrade and package part. Phew. Next was the number port. "I'm just going to put you on hold while I transfer you through to billing, I'll explain everything and they will be able to do the number port for you". Only that didn't happen. The person from billing told her they'd need to send out a pay as you go SIM to use for 30 days to be able to transfer her number...
Correct me if I'm wrong, but this isn't rocket science. SIM cards are associated with the number they are linked to in a database. All that needs to happen is a small single row database update and the SIM can be transferred to a different number. I used to think that transfering numbers between different providers was a little bit complicated, PUK code etc. But surely doing this all within the same company should be as easy as a single line SQL update. WHY??? JUST WHY!?! Why are you shooting yourselves in the foot with this ridiculousness?
Anyway, to cut a long story short, my Wife lost the will to spend anymore time on the phone at that point. She cancelled the account merge and decided to keep her own account and number and just to upgrade and pay more. As soon as my existing contracts expire I will move my business to another provider. I will not suffer this level of incompetence.
