I’d welcome any advice on the following…
I received an email from Three on 24 October informing me that I had not used a PAYG SIM for 180 days and that unless I made a call/text before midnight THAT DAY the number would be deactivated the following day.
I did not see the email until late that night and did not have immediate access to the handset.
At 01:57 on 25 October I received a further email from Three saying my plan was now closed. Sure enough, in the morning when I tried the handset the SIM was in it showed no network.
I called Customer Services at 09:00 on 25 October to ask for my number be reactivated so I could make the required chargeable call to keep the number active, but the agent I spoke to said they were experiencing system issues so he was unable to help, and suggested I call again later or contact Three by webchat as their systems was working ok.
I explained what had happened on a webchat. The agent’s first comment was “This number can't be reactivated again” (direct quotes from chat transcript).
When I asked why my number could not be reactivated after being disconnected with one day’s notice, he replied “If you want I can give you PAC code to move your number”. I explained I didn’t want to move this number to another network as we also have 3 contract SIMs and wanted to keep all the numbers on the same network.
The agent reiterated his offer of a PAC to move the number to another network to keep it active, and also commented “This is for all the customers if the number is not used for 180 days then it has to be cancelled as per the rules.”
Is this the best option “the rules” allow in this situation? I’m sure it must be possible to reactive a number that had been disconnected earlier the same day, and with only one day’s notice to the customer.
Can my PAYG number be reactivated, if so, how do I go about it? Or do I really need to move to another network?
