Retrieving old numbers

[GemmaP]

@swiftypa  Sorry you feel disappointed with the service received. Did you not manage to get your number reconnected?

[swiftypa]

No not at all 

[Mark]

Hey @swiftypa If you've still not had a response to your post on Twitter, pop me your ID and I'll chase this for you 😊

[swiftypa]

My ID from where? Sorry I've never used these platforms before so no idea

[Tash]

Hi @swiftypa, this would be your Twitter username 🙂 If you'd prefer not to share this on the thread here, please make sure you have included your Community username in your Twitter DM/message to us. We can then use this to track down your messages to us.

[linedar11]

If you don't sync number to Cloud sever or SIM card before, maybe you can try a Android recovery tool to scan your phone directly, maybe it can get number back.

[mullinsm1962]

Hi,

I'm another one! I had a Vodaphone personal number which I lost years ago and would like to get it back to use in my retirement as I don't want to keep my business number for obvious reasons and, at my age, I don't want to try and remember a new one!!

Can someone contact me and let me know how to go about retrieving it? It isn't in use and is an old 07979 number.

Thanks in advance.

[MarkD]

Hi @mullinsm1962, our Social Media Team will love to see if we can retrieve your old number. If you send us a message on Twitter or Facebook with your full name, the number you're wanting and your Community username, our team will be happy to help. You can find the contact details here. 

[bushfireblonde]

Hi, I am also trying to retrieve my husband's number that expired in December 2020.  He has Alzeheimers and doesn't use the phone much, but this number can be remembered by him so we would really like to get it back if possible.  Can anyone point me in the right direction?

Many thanks.

[MarkD]

Hi @bushfireblonde, was the number last used or disconnected in Dec? Can you also tell us is this a Pay as you Go or Pay Monthly number and if the number was registered in your husbands name? 🙂

[bushfireblonde]

Thanks for the reply.  Phone was registered in my name.  It was Pay As You Go.  Last call was on 20/09/19 and there was a text on 20/09/20 saying account will expire in 90 days which would have been in December 2020.  When I call the number it currently says disconnected.   

[Mark]

Hi @bushfireblonde The number will have been disconnected in December as you thought and depending on the date it was disconnected may no longer be available. Pop us a message through one of our social channels and we'll be more than happy to take a look for you 🤞

[madbilly]

Hi all,

I have/had a Vodafone PAYG SIM for several years whilst I've been living mainly in Europe. I came back to the UK regularly until the COVID pandemic and although I tried to make sure I used the phone enough this year to keep it active it appears to have been disconnected. I already asked customer services on the phone and chat and they say the account can't be resurrected I have to get a new SIM. It's pretty annoying that it's been disconnected as they say it must be used every 180 days, and I used it in September last year so it shouldn't have been disconnected, but as football managers say "we are where we are, it is what it is"!

However, even if I get a new SIM that I use that UK phone number for important things where the service won't accept my foreign phone number, so I really want to get that number back as it will save me a huge amount of hassle. I'd really like to get it back somehow so I hope that you can help me.

I've sent a PM to your twitter account with a link to this post.

Cheers

[Andy]

Hey @madbilly 👋 We can certainly look at the possibility of retrieving the number but it`s not something we can guarantee, I can see you have mentioned that you have contacted us on Twitter so one of the team there will be able to look at your options with you 😊

[madbilly]

Hi @andy,

I asked lots of questions and ultimately the answer is that since it is beyond 90 days since the number was disconnected there is no way to get it back. This is in contradiction to some of the comments earlier in this thread which suggest that numbers can be retrieved many years after they were last used. I found it on Google search and read the first page and thought I would succeed to get my number back, but this was not the case. On that basis maybe it's worth locking this thread? Or at least editing the first post to state what is possible?

Cheer 🙂

[Evie]

Hey there @madbilly - Retrieving an old number is situation dependent in terms of when the number was disconnected, if it's been recycled to a new owner, if it's been transferred to another network by a new owner. All of these, and more, factor into whether we can retrieve the number.

Have you heard back from us on Twitter yet? If not, could you confirm the Twitter handle you used to contact us so we can make sure it gets picked up? 😊

[madbilly]

Hi @Evie,

Yes I heard back on Twitter - that is what I meant when I wrote that I asked lots of questions, please excuse me for being vague.

Cheers

[Nathen15]

I come across this post and have a similar issue. Did you manage to find your old number and retrieve it? 

Thanks, any advice would be appreciated.

Nathan

[madbilly]

Hi @Nathen15,

Yes they found the number but in my case it could not be retrieved, it is back in the number pool for random allocation apparently.

Good luck! 🙂

[Dc2009]

 Hi

Ive got a similar problem with an old Vodafone number. I wonder if I can get some help transferring it. 
thanks