I'm elderly...please help me if you can

[Caroline]

Hello... I am an elderly woman who has tried to move from Vodafone to Smarty, and my number has not transferred across.

The man on the chat said it was 'stuck' and that I need to wait 5 days for the 'back end' team to sort out the glitch.

I don't have a landline anymore so I can't call anyone now! 

If I have an emergency I can't call my doctor.

I asked the man on chat to get it fixed quicker, as I am elderly and now isolated with no means of communication, but he said I have to wait five days.  I can't believe it.

He told me to call Smarty accessibility help line..!  How can I do that when I have no phone!

Oh dear.  I want this escalated as urgent, but I don't see how.. the man on chat just ended the conversation and left.  I think he wanted to go home.  Benjamin.. that was his name.

I need this sorting right away.. I need to be able to call people 😧

Oh I wished I had stayed where I was now 😢

I saw someone talking to @Natalie in another chat... she seemed super kind and helpful.. I think I need her help?

[MSF]

@Caroline  When you initially activated your sim, you would have been allocated a random mobile number. This number should be visible on your Account Dashboard (until your original number is transferred across).

This means that you certainly can use your phone to make and receive calls. The only downside is that your number will show to people as the random one and not your usual number.

I know it doesn't help, but there seem to be a number of people whose transfer has not happened in timely fashion - no idea why though.

[Caroline]

Thanks for your reply.  Sadly I cannot make calls.  I get a message saying you do not have permission to use this service.  I do receive incoming calls though, made to my old number.

It feels like it has 'half transferred'

[MSF]

@Caroline The numbers you are trying to call, are they standard 01, 02, 03 UK numbers?

If you are calling a company, sometimes they have internet based numbers. There can at times be a problem in connecting and I think that this is due to the call going from your mobile system to a landline system and then onto an internet system. I have experienced this and when I retried later on all was fine.

As a test, can you make a call to a standard mobile number perhaps (friend/family) just to check?

If calls are coming in when dialled to your old number, then it looks like the transfer has happened - you should see this on your account dashboard.

Don't worry about being elderly....some of us are well past our first flush of youth. Mobile phones are not the preserve of the young and remember that youth is wasted on the young (Oscar Wilde I think).