Heartbroken / emergency. Anyone work for EE?

[timesnewroman1]

Sorry bit of a frantic one but I’m absolutely heartbroken here

basically i have an old google account with sentimental things on it including photographs and emails from people no longer with me. I don’t actively use the account for emails but I look through it sometimes and it means absolutely everything to me

it’s set up with all the security so I can’t get locked out of it- including 2 factor authentication and back up emails and recovery codes, it’s let me in the account because I’ve been logged in the account on that device but it won’t let me do ANYTHING on it (open anything) without getting a 2 factor authentication text to my old phone number. Even though I’ve got a recovery email it’s it’s still not working without receiving a code to the phone number. The number on the account is a pay as you go rolling thing I’ve got with EE (basically a contract that became pay as you go) I used to use it but I haven’t recently and now the account seems to be deactivated. I googled it and it said if you don’t do any activity for 6 months EE will deactivate the account and then you only have 3 months to save it or it’s lost forever. I honestly haven’t used it since September 2022 as I didn’t realise so it’s been deactivated permanently now. But I can’t recieve the 2 factor authentication code to that number so I can’t properly get into my google account.

I googled it and it said to try topping up the EE account to show some activity to reactive it- it let me do that, I topped up and the phone number is still appearing in the settings on the iPhone, and it still says EE (Wi-Fi call) at the top of the iPhone screen, but it won’t let me make any calls (even to 150) or use data as it keeps saying there isn’t any data on the account even though I just topped it up. I can’t recieve texts to that number nor can I call it (it says something about calls to this number not going through)

im absolutely devastated if I can’t get into my google account and even though I’ve got everything else set up, it’s demanding my 2 factor authentication code to that phone number but I can’t receive any texts

please please please does anyone have any knowledge or experience? Is the number lost forever? Thanks so much in advance, I honestly can’t explain how upset I am

I'd contact Google support, there'll be a way around it. I'm sure I've accessed old accounts that were linked to now out of use email addresses and phone numbers. They'll find another way to authenticate the account.

thanks, honestly not to sound depressing but I’m not holding out much hope if I have to do that- I had to do it previously for my normal account and it was an absolute nightmare, basically went round in circles for weeks and was unable to speak to anyone to actually get help, in the end I lost the account, apparently google are notoriously difficult to deal with x

Yeah, this is a Google problem, not an EE problem.

That’s why I set up a recovery email address and codes but it’s not giving me the option to use either for some reason- it just keeps saying to receive the code to my mobile number and then when I press the try another way option it still gives me the mobile and nothing else ahh x

To be honest, the number is potentially gone as it’s been that long and it may have been given to someone else.

I do work in a different department for EE, so I would recommend giving them a call tomorrow and request to speak to the PAYG team as they’re a separate department who have been trained specifically on the pay as you go side of things and they should be able to confirm as although your account is deactivated, they will still be able to see it and see the top up/if there’s any chance of reactivation.

I’m unsure if they will be able to re-activate it though as on the pay monthly side of things, they can only normally re-activate a number in the first couple of weeks of it being deactivated and that’s if you’re lucky :(

Unfortunately this is why it's so important to keep your two factor authentication up to date with your most recent phone number and an accessible recovery email. I feel your pain, I've done the same and lost important things in the past.

It's worth contacting support for Google anyway just in case they can help, and maybe also EE support just to see if they can reactivate your old phone number or even re-allocate it to a new SIM. In theory you'll then be able to receive the text.

Actually, have you tried calling or messaging the number yourself? Then you might be able to tell if someone else has it now. Not that they'd give you the code, if they had any sense.

Thank you so so much.

See regarding the number being recycled and given to someone else, would it be saying ‘calls are not currently being connected to this number’ when I try to call it? I’m honestly worried sick

or do you think I’d be able to take out a new contract or pay only sim and reuse the number if it’s not currently being used again? I’m absolutely gutted about this, I just need that phone number again x

Yeah I tried calling the number but it won’t ring and it just keeps saying ‘calls are not currently being connected to this number’ ☹️x

Update- when I topped up the account, I had to input the mobile number I wanted to top up, EE then sent a text to that number which I received saying it was topped up, so does that mean the phone number is still linked to my phone? It just won’t let me make any calls or texts or actually use the data, and I can’t even text EE back either

I’ll call EE first thing tomorrow obviously but just totally desperate in the meantime

Although things are normally instant, it’s usually advised changes can take up to 24-48 hours so it might be the case due to the inactivity, I’d say double check in morning (as with the message of can’t be connected, doesn’t seem like number has been reallocated) and if it’s still not working, give them a call and see if they can speed it up for you at all! :)

Have you tried turning the phone on and off? Sounds basic but if it has allowed you to top up something must be working