Two weeks ago I phoned Vodafone for my PAC. Two weeks! And no, it isn't here yet. I'm not sure what more I could have done to speed up the situation, but the original promise of sending it within three to five working days is looking a little suspect.

In case you don't know what a PAC is, it's the Porting Authorisation Code needed to move between mobile networks and many networks refuse to give them out over the phone, presumably to put a further obstacle in the way of your change of heart.

According to Ofcom's guidelines on the matter, "your current Service Provider must give you a PAC or a reason why it cannot be issued within two working days of your request." Hmm, seems to me they're stalling. So I called them again today.

A nice lady said she would try and get it for me (presumably over the phone) and put me on the hold. Nine minutes later I was still waiting and someone completely different answered the phone. He said that a PAC code had been generated today - presumably by the lady - and that there was not a lot else he could do.

Hmm. Now, I could write something here in a vague and unsavoury attempt to stick two fingers up to Vodafone, but it seems rather churlish when every other mobile network probably does exactly the same thing.

And for every person like me who's determined to move, there's probably three more who request their PAC and never actually move networks or simply forget to chase everything up - resulting in more cash for the reluctant network. I mean, Vodafone have made two weeks' more cash out of me by not sorting everything out beforehand.

So why can't Ofcom force telcos to give PACs over the phone? I'm going to ask them to let me know.

Had a similar experience? Let us know in the comments below.