Porting delays

After a bad experience at telkom I decided to get a vodacom contract instead. The service was great and I got my phone within the same week. I want to port my prepaid telkom number to the contract sim I got from vodacom. Went to vodacom in kenilworth centre and one of the consultants said I can just sms to a certain number and my number will be ported. I’ve tried that number numerous times and get a message saying the porting system does not work or something like that. The number you get to dial is also not helpful. I follow the prompts and end up getting told I need to fill in a switching form on vodacom’s site which is not there at all or alternatively I need to go to the nearest vodacom store. Now why couldn’t I be assisted at the store when I was there ?