FRUSTRATING PORTING SERVICE

I called Vodacom yesterday morning to inform them of my intension to port to them from a competitor network. I was given instruction on what to do. I followed the instructions and at about 18:00 last night my previous sim lost network (as i was advised would happen). I then inserted the new Vodacom sim, it had no service. Till now, 12:43 my phone does not have service. I have been calling the call cetre and everytime i am given a new story and new instruction to follow. One agent even instructed me to use my cell which has NO NETWORK to dial 100 to activate my line. My question was, how do I activate a line that has no network??? I called again this morning, was advised that my matter was escalated and a technician would call me back. I ask again, how in all thats red and white possible when my phone has no network????? This porting process has been made really tiring. This is not how i would like my first encounter with Vodacom to be!