How can I make my dad's old (deactivated) number my number?

[rfm]

Hi,

My dad had a Pay as You Go SIM which I'm very sure was with Vodafone. He died 6 years ago now and his phone wasn't used after that (though I rang it a few times just to hear his voice on his personal greeting.) I'm looking into changing my mobile number and I want to find out if I can use my dad's old number. I've rung it twice this week and the message I hear says "Incorrect number" so I'm sure it hasn't been allocated to someone else. If I provide the number could Vodafone check it and see if I could reactivate it even after several years? I could also provide my dad's name and death certificate if necessary. I don't know if I could reactivate the number myself simply by topping up the phone credit. It would mean something to me, if that makes sense - more than just getting any random new phone number. Thanks!

[AnnS]

There are some previous threads asking a similar question, if you try asking the question in the forum search facility these will come up.  

The problem here is going to be with the number having been disconnected for 6 plus years @rfm , in that time the number would have been issued to someone else, ported out to another network or even allocated to a SIM basically the number could be anywhere in the system and impossible to locate.

It's a nice idea but you are going to have to let this one go, to stop a PAYG number being disconnected, the number needs to be used once every 180 days for a chargeable activity.  If it had been three months since disconnection there might have been a chance of getting the number back online but not after 6 years.

No harm asking here Contact Us but I am sure you will already know the response you are going to receive.

[BandOfBrothers]

Hi @rfm 

There's definitely no harm in asking Vodafone Customer service's.

Ring them on 191 or use Live Chat and they'll advise if this is possible or not.

I appreciate how important this is to you.

All the best. 🫰