Land line was disconnected, now having to reconnect with a new line/package but have lost old number

[sam_g123]

Hello

This is my first post. We discovered that our landline was dead and has been disconnected. My mum is the account holder and found a recent email from Virgin thanking her for upgrading to a new package. We didn't action this at all and have found that we were automatically upgraded to a new bundle. Unfortunately this meant that our landline component was cancelled - something we would never have agreed to. We had no formal letter or a warning that we were being disconnected.

After spending 4-5 hours on an online chat with Virgin yesterday, we have been told that we can be reconnected with a new line and sign up to a new package but it means that we have lost our original number 😟

I believe this is to do with the switchover which is also happening in our area this week. 

We have had this number for over 30 years (and ported it from BT when we signed up with Virgin in 2009). To say that we are distraught at the idea of having to locate and update every contact/service etc with our new number is an understatement. My mum is in her 70s and she is so very upset about it. We have registered this phone number with so many websites and services over the years - so you can imagine what an undertaking this will be for me in the coming weeks to help inform friends, family and businesses of a change of number.

We are currently without a land line and are waiting for a date for reconnection and don't have a new number yet.

We can't believe that this could happen without proper authorisation when it is such a significant change in service. I'm desperate to see if there's any possible way to salvage our old number as it's probably still 'somewhere out there' and likely to be reverted into the original pool of BT numbers.

I noticed on these forums that a few people with the same issue have been successful in regaining their lost number.

If there's anyone out there who could help or has any ideas at all, I'd be ever so grateful.

Thank you.

[Paul_DN]

Hi sam_g123,

Thank you for reaching out to us in our community and welcome, sorry to hear your Mums phoneline has been cut off and you believe this is due to a package change, were you sent any Emails prior to this in regards to the phoneline being switched over?

Regards

Paul.

[sam_g123]

Hi Paul

Thanks so much for your reply. There were certainly no emails or postal correspondence with an implicit warning that the phone line would be shut down or any information whatsoever regarding a switch over happening. It seems very bizarre to just disconnect and permanently close the line without her explicit consent or at the very least providing some options well in advance of any such action, making it abundantly clear that there could be serious implications.

There was an email sent out 3 working days before the disconnection happened saying thanks for making some changes to your package etc... (although she never actioned any type of change). She thought this was pertaining to a broadband speed boost made the previous month. She does receive around 10-12 emails per month from Virgin such as channel changes, program news, surveys, tips etc... so it is quite easy to miss something... 

From a personal point of view, I know that any contract change/renewal email or letter that I've ever received from any vendor etc has had very clear language, plenty of advance notice and an 'urgent' or 'important action required' description in the title.

It is quite distressing to find that such important changes could be made without any authorisation from a customer and actioned in such a short timescale.

Having the security of knowing you have a land line if there's an emergency or for anyone to be able to get in touch is reassuring. We have no idea if there's anyone who has been trying to get in touch or if we've missed anything important. Even when we do get reconnected with a different number, there's bound to be some contacts that we've overlooked who will no longer be able to reach us.

Thanks again!

[Steven_L]

Thanks for coming back to us @sam_g123 and I'm sorry for any issues that this has caused.

I would be happy to take a further look into this for you and we maybe able to get your original number back working again. I would need to confirm a few details via private message, please look out for my message and we can get started.

Regards,
Steven_L

[sam_g123]

Thanks so much to @Steven_L who got in touch when he saw my message. We were at our wits end about what had happened.

Steven was courteous and extremely helpful in solving this problem in a quick and efficient manner. He sets the bar very high in terms of customer relations and getting the job done - fantastic work! 

Thanks!

Sam

[Reece_MH]

Hi @sam_g123,

Thanks for your post. I'm really glad to hear that Steven has been able to assist you and resolve the problem and show the high standards that we aim to provide. I've forwarded the feedback on, regarding your experience 😊

If you need anything else, feel free to create a new post and one of our team/community will be more than happy to help.

Cheers, 

[kt_john]

Dear VM technical team,

I am writing on behalf of my very elderly parents who have been having an ongoing issue with VM since early December.

My parents have been customers of VM for many years but in late November/early December, due to affordability issues, they tried to change over to a Vodafone package instead. During the change, their house was connected to fibre for the first time. Unfortunately my parents experienced many issues with the service they received from Vodafone including losing the use of their land line (no connection at all to handset), and they consequently decided to cancel the Vodafone contract within the 14 day period. They never actually left Virgin Media so were able to re continue as existing customers. Their land line was reconnected by VM but they were given a temporary number until their old land line number was re-ported.

It has been well over 6 weeks and yet my parents have still not been able get their old land line number back - a number they have had for 50 years! At 80 years old, it’s a big deal to lose the number you’ve had for such a long time! 

My parents have written to VM and spoken to several customer service people over the last month to try and get this issue resolved, but still they have not been able to have their old land line number back. They received no clear explanation as to why this was not being done. 

Frustrated by my parents lack of progress, I contacted VM and Vodafone yesterday regarding this issue. Eventually, I was told by VM that the issue is that Vodafone needs to re-activate the line so VM can re-port. BUT when I spoke to Vodafone, they told me the number has already been disconnected and they cannot reconnect! 

Please can someone advise if there is any way that my parents can get their old land line number back? Can Openreach help if VM and Vodafone cannot retrieve an old number? 

I would be very grateful for any help in trying to sort this issue out as it’s been a stressful 6 weeks for my parents.

Kind regards,

Katie 

[Kain_W]

Many apologies for the issues faced kt_john,

Welcome to the community.

With regards to the port at hand our team would be unable to retrieve the number as the Vodafone service was cancelled before the re-port took place.

Given the amount of time after the disconnection, also with the team raising the matter it would appear it is not achievable.

When did our team last advise an update on this?

Thanks,

[kt_john]

Hi Kain,

Thanks for your reply.

I believe that the initial request for the number back was on 10th December. Since then my parents have made repeated contact with VM to chase this up.

The Vodafone account was settled on 5th January, so could this have been when the number was disconnected?

Why could VM not re-port the number between 10th December and 5th January? 

What can we do?

[John_GS]

Morning kt_john 

Thanks for coming back to the thread

If the number is now de-activated, you or they will need to speak to the previous supplier to get them to re-activate it, we'll then be able to submit a port request for the number. 

Best wishes,