Port to Cell C & Sim swop

I did a port to Cell C, Sim card got damaged,(since the simcard was never activated I had to jump through hoops, glued and pasted the thing just to get it working in order to answer the security questions) had to do a sim swop, (unknowingly bought an *******ly Rica sim card, this did not bother Cell C at all!!) after numerous attempts and very bad service the Sim swap was done, except, NOT!! Neither my damaged sim nor my new sim works? Nel, the operator at customer care informed me that my number is lost for ever. After losing my temper, she changed her mind, apparently the swap was unsuccessful, I must go buy another Sim card (this would be the 4'th card!) and attempt to swop again! I regret porting to Cell C, never experienced such bad service before.