Landline phone issue - cannot dial out but can receive incoming calls

[dcheung87]

Afternoon,

I've been having issues with my landline over the past week.

The phone is working fine and cables checked, but for some reason when dialling out to a regular UK landline or any mobile number for that matter it always diverts to the Virgin Media helpline. Receiving calls has not been an issue.

I've checked my online account for any technical faults and also I have been paying my bills on time (it's DD anyway). 

I can't find a way to possibly book an engineer to come out and take a look as this would be a lot easier for me using this arrangement.

Can anyone help?

Many thanks in advance

[Carley_S]

Hi dcheung87

Welcome to the community. 

Sorry to hear you're having issues making calls from your landline. Have you had any correspondence from us about a home phone switch over? Can you advise what is mentioned when the Virgin Media helpline comes through? Is it just the regular options or is there any information at all concerning your services? 

[dcheung87]

Hi Carley,

Thanks for your reply back.

I've had no correspondence regarding "home phone switch over". And the Virgin Media helpline states the usual regular options e.g. "are you having issues with your broadband/tv or phone services - press *number*"

Nothing out of the norm. I don't know if it's to do with the phone being old (over 10+ years) but doesn't seem to have surface problems, so I'm deciding to test by purchasing a new phone as a test/replacement. If this doesn't work then it must be the Virgin line connection.

I've gone through the options to have Virgin run "phone test connections". The automated message mentions that I can "wait 10 minutes, hang up the phone while we continue running the test and call back". I have tried this several times, but there doesn't seem to be any progress and each call I make (both on landline and my personal mobile) loops back to the start menu until going through the same steps again to run the phone line tests. There seems to be either a problem with this "test" or nothing has actually been actioned as far as I'm aware.

Hope this helps.

[Carley_S]

Thank you for confirming this dcheung87. 

Can you confirm how your landline is connected? Does this connect into a main master socket, extension or do you have the phone connected into the back of the router?

[dcheung87]

Unfortunately, due to the phone being at my parent's place I cannot check this with immediacy and cannot remember as it has been a long time since first installing this. My parents are also quite old and not very tech-savvy!

I believe it is via the main master socket, but I cannot be 100% certain. So, I intend to assess this next week and have a new phone as backup to replace/test if it's due to a faulty old phone.

What differences would there be if the landline was connected to either the main socket, extension or back of the router? Just to note, that the TV and internet have been working fine.

I will check back to this thread should there be further updates from you or the Virgin Team.

Sorry, I can't be of further help at this current time!

Thanks again.

[Carley_S · Accepted solution]

That's no problem at all dcheung87. 

If the phoneline is connected to the master socket or extension, there could be a crossed line or something loose which we can send a tech to investigate. It could also be a home phone switch over to the newer IP systems, where the home phone uses the internet to make/receive calls rather than the older cooper lines. 

If you are able to pass account security we can discuss the account as a 3rd party - I can run fault checks if needed without this, but I would not be able to discuss the account. 

If you'd like for me to take a look, please join me on private message so I can locate your account and pass account security. You can see your private messages at the top of the page, in the envelope icon. If you'd rather wait after you have tried a new phone, we can also just wait for your update. 

[Carley_S]

Thank you for joining me on private message @dcheung87

Glad to hear we've been able to get this resolved for you. If there are any further concerns or questions at all, please do not hesitate to come back to us on community. 

All the best. 

[dcheung87]

Thank you, Carley.

You were extremely responsive and helpful. 

All the best, 

David

[Carley_S]

You're very welcome David. 

Have a lovely rest of your day.