I ported my number from 2degrees to Telecom a few days ago, but there was a question I want someone to clarify because I am confused.

I decided to move to Telecom from 2degrees last week, so I go to telecom.co.nz (http://www.telecom.co.nz/mobile/mobile/simcards/) and ordered a SIM card (not a microSIM).

The SIM card arrived two days later, and I took it to a Telecom shop and said I wanted to port my 021 number from 2d (on account / pay monthly) to Telecom.  I also told the guy I have a Telecom SIM ready, which has a 027 number on it, but I don't need the 027 number, so I want to port my 021 number to that SIM card.

However, he said I bought the wrong SIM.  He said I should buy a blank SIM so I can port my number.  It cost $5.  I was a bit surprised that I need to buy another SIM, but I was in a hurry so I bought it anyway.

Can anyone tell me why Telecom cannot port my 021 number to a SIM with a 027 number on it?  I think they can just "recycle" the 027 number?


Anyway, I want to share my otherwise positive with Telecom with this porting exercise:

1. I went to the shop at around 5pm to do the paperwork to port my number,  That guy said it should be done by 9pm that night.  Unfortunately, when I check my phone the next morning, it was not still ported.  I was not too suprised because I have heard bad porting experience when ppl move away from 2degrees.  Anyway, I called *333 or 0800 323232 (I can't remember which) at 7:45am, and the oversea call centre guy was very helpful and he diverted me to a lady in NZ.  She was very helpful and explained to me that she will email the porting team but they will only start at 8am.  I said it is OK.  At the end, my number was ported at around 9am and the local Telecom lady (same lady) called my office to confirm everything is OK.
2. I called *333 because I want to be on Pay as you go, so I can add My Favourites later.  I could not do it because the silly system said I can only do one change per day (but I did not change anything!).  Anyway, call get routed to the overseas call centre again, and the guy was very helpful and changed it for me.
3. I called 0800 323232 again today because I wanted to transfer my credit for the original 027 SIM card I got.  I explained the story to her (which I thought was rather complicated), but she understood it right away!  And she transferred the credit to my 021 prepaid account.

In a nutshell, I am quite impressed with the overseas call centre staff (and also the local lady as well).

Anyway, if someone can clarify the problem regarding the blank SIM card, it will be great.