Why is cancelling so much harder than signing up?
Because the two are measured differently. Signing up is designed to take two minutes with no friction at all — online, in an app, at a kiosk in a mall. Cancelling routes you to a team whose job is to not let you, and which is generally reachable only by phone, generally only during working hours, and generally after a wait. Nothing about that is accidental.
The practical effect is that leaving costs you time rather than money. The exit fee is rarely the obstacle; the obstacle is an afternoon you will not get back, conducted in a language you may be managing rather than fluent in, against someone whose performance is judged on whether you hang up still a customer.
It is worth knowing this is a process rather than a person. The representative offering you three months half price is following a script, and none of it is personal. Deciding in advance that you are not negotiating makes the call dramatically shorter.
Can I just port my number out instead?
Usually, yes, and this is the part worth knowing. When you port your mobile number to a new carrier, the transfer itself ends the service on the old one — the new carrier initiates it, the number moves, and the old plan terminates as a consequence. You do not place the cancellation call, because the cancellation happens on the back of the port.
That inverts the whole problem. Instead of persuading someone to let you go, you sign up somewhere else and give them the number. The old carrier finds out when it is already done, and there is no retention conversation because there is nothing left to retain.
Practically, then: arrange the new line first, port the number across, and let the old plan fall away. Do not cancel the old plan before porting — the number has to still be live on it for the port to run, and cancelling first is the one mistake that genuinely can lose you your number.
What should I check before I leave?
Whether you are inside a commitment period and what leaving it costs, since that is the one number worth knowing before you act rather than after. Ask for it in writing, by email or in the app, rather than taking a figure quoted on a call — it is much harder to dispute a number you agreed to verbally.
Whether the phone itself is paid off. Device instalments are a separate agreement from the airtime, and they do not disappear when the plan does; a handset being paid over 36 months will either need settling or will carry on billing. This is the most common unpleasant surprise after switching.
And whether anything else is attached to the number. Two-factor codes from your bank, gov.il, Bituach Leumi and Bit all land on it, so a number that moves cleanly keeps all of that working — which is another argument for porting rather than cancelling and starting fresh.
What does leaving BitLink look like, for comparison?
There is no retention department, because there is no commitment period to defend. Plans are monthly, you can cancel from your account, and your number is open to port out at any time with no release process and no exit fee. If you want to leave, the honest answer is that we would rather know why, but we are not going to make you earn it.
That is not generosity. A business that keeps customers by making leaving unpleasant has to keep doing that forever, and it tells you what the service is like before you ever need it. We would rather compete on the part you actually experience.
If you are weighing us against your current carrier, the fastest way to test that claim is to ask us something difficult before you have paid us anything — see below.
Quick answers
Does porting my number out automatically cancel my old plan?
In practice yes — the port terminates the service on the old carrier as part of moving the number, so you do not need to make a separate cancellation call. What it does not automatically settle is anything attached but separate: a device paid in instalments, or an early-termination charge if you are inside a commitment. Ask for those figures in writing before you port, so there are no surprises afterwards.
Should I cancel my old plan before switching?
No — this is the one sequence that can genuinely cost you your number. A port needs the number to still be active on the old carrier in order to move it, so if you cancel first the number may be released and you lose the ability to take it with you. Always arrange the new line and port the number across first; the old plan ends as a result.
Will I lose my Israeli number if I switch carriers?
Not if you port it. Porting an Israeli mobile number to BitLink is free and typically completes in five to ten minutes, and your existing line stays live until the moment the switch happens, so there is no gap. You keep the number your bank, Bituach Leumi and gov.il already have on file.
Can I leave BitLink easily if I change my mind?
Yes, and deliberately so. Plans are monthly with no commitment period, you can cancel from your account rather than by calling anyone, and the number is open to port out at any time with no blocking, no release process and no exit fee. New customers also have a refund window if the service simply is not what they expected — message us and ask.