SIM swap failed 6 times in 10 days

[Chloette_Q]

I had my phone stolen last month and requested a bar on my number to avoid misuse. A week later I got a new device and and the bar was lifted from my account, so I just needed to transfer the number to a new SIM once it's ordered and arrived. 

The new SIM did arrive promptly the next day, and I followed the instructions to use the online Activate SIM form as I was unable to receive any text messages on the number to be transferred. Detail was filled in and sent, and later that day I received an email informing me that the swap failed due to the reason that the SIM was not ordered on my account. I was quite confused, as to my knowledge I've only one Vodafone account. That said, I went ahead and ordered another blank SIM though online live chat as per the email instruction, and was assured that the new blank SIM was definitely ordered on my account this time.

After the second SIM arrived, I tried again by filling the online Activate SIM form but to no avail - still the same error saying 'the SIM was not ordered on my account therefore a new blank one needs to be ordered'. The next 5 days I called up the customer hotline twice and they helped with the swap but still no luck. I also tried online support chat, and was repeatedly assured the request has been processed successfully, however a few hours later I would receive an email saying the swap failed as the blank SIM was not ordered on my account....

The whole thing seems to be in a loop now and I cannot pop in a store for assistance due to lockdown, other than calling the hotline and using the live chat. I was assured many times by them that request has gone through but in then end there was always a fail which led me to believe there must be something with the backend system processing the requests...Please kindly suggest what to do next, as I'm really at my wits end on this, and any suggested that could help restore my number would be highly appreciated. 

Thanks and regards

Chloe

[AnnS]

Hi @Chloette_Q 

The next time you speak to Vodafone ask them to remove the block on your account, this needs to be done to enable you to use the replacement SIM.

The quickest way would probably be live chat or speak to the Social Team here:  Contact Us 

[Chloette_Q]

Thanks for the prompt response. I’ve asked the support team to do so before I requested the first SIM swap, and I was confirmed a couple of times that the block was lifted when the support team were assisting with manual swap via the live chat and hotline.

[BandOfBrothers]

I see in your opening post that you requested Vodafone to lift the bar and requested a sim swap.

It can sometimes take a short while for the block to lift.

Personally I wouldn't recommend too many sim swaps as this can cause further issues with your account and Vodafone systems and flag up as potential fraud.

Hopefully between your communication and customer services  / Vodafone Social Media Team's they'll get you sorted.

Contact-us-for-account-specific-queries. 

I wish you all the best with this. 

[Chloette_Q]

Thanks for the update!

I have reached out to the team on twitter and hopefully they can give me a right nudge on this. I will update here once I hear from them. 

[Chloette_Q]

No luck with the team on Twitter or Facebook, really poor communication...messages waited for days and no response other than asking for security details at the beginning.

I have now received a third SIM, please kindly advise a *reliable* way I can get it activated other than hotline, live chat, or social media...I’m out of service for more than 2 weeks now and this is becoming more and more frustrating everyday. 

[Mark]

 Apologies for our delay in replying @Chloette_ As our customers are unable to visit our stores recently, this has increased traffic through our social channels and it's taking us longer than usual to reply to everyone. If you've still not received a reply to your last message, pop us another message including a link to this post and your Community ID and I'll pick this up for you this evening 😊