Porting story: Bell prepaid to SO | Technical service details | Consumer forum

Recently ported my number from a Bell Mobility prepaid account to SpeakOut. To do this the SO rep requires 1. your current phone number and password, 2. the number you want ported over and password 3. old account number and 4. your old ESN/MEID number in DEC format. The first two were easy enough but since Bell prepaid doesn't sent bills, I had no record of my account number. Also, since Bell uses HEX numbers for ESN, I had no idea what it should be.

Day One: Gave the SO rep all the info I did have, using the "contract number" Bell had assigned when I bought their phone and using the HEX code on the Bell contract.
Day Two: SO called back to say both of these were insufficient and that I should call Bell for the info before the port could go through. Which I did.
Day Three: Called SO again with the new info from Bell.
Day Four: Number successfully transferred.

Takeaway: even though SO doesn't have "account numbers" themselves (they use your phone #) they can't do a port from another provider unless you supply one. Second, they can't do HEX to DEC conversions.

Have to say though, that in all of this the SO reps were extremely patient and that SO customer service is very easy to reach. For such a barebones/ inexpensive service they really try to accommodate even newbie users. Also, even though they quote a 3-5 day window for porting, their tech dpt seems to get on it right away (1-2 days). Surprisingly good customer care. Overall I'm impressed.