Parents landline number lost

[sw77]

Hi,

Just wanted to make people who are having similar issues aware that my parents had their landline disconnected over a month ago due to the move from the copper line to fibre. They did not receive any notification of this in writing & although they now have had a fibre line fitted they have subsequently lost their original phone number due to it being a BT number from decades ago.

Virgin have informed me that they can't do anything about it so I have started a formal complaint, my parents have been Telewest/Virgin customers for over 25 years

[Daniel_Et]

Hi @sw77 👋 Thank you for your post.

We're really sorry to hear about the poor experience your parents have had 😔

What's the latest information you've been provided in terms of us dealing with the complaint?

You can track complaints using our online checker here. 

Please pop back to us whenever you're ready.

Regards,
Daniel

[sw77]

Hi Daniel,

Thanks for your reply, I've only logged the complaint today with another member of your forum team but I just wanted to put another post on here to highlight the issue to other customers who might have had the same issue with their parents (& looking at the posts there are a few) . 

I can't fault Joe from the forum team for his help but I'm not impressed with the issue that's been created by Virgin

[mlgibbons]

Hi

I too have had a similar experience. You can see it the current status of it at the link below.

I have had zero results through Virgin Complaints in getting my number back and have been told that it is "impossible" despite knowing that it should be a very simple task.

I live in hope that the support in this forum are more competent than those on the phone lines; something which is lent support by the fact that they managed to help get my broadband sorted and they also resolved the "phone number lost" for another customer - see link above for the link to that issue.

https://community.virginmedia.com/t5/Home-Phone/I-come-back-from-holiday-and-have-no-dial-tone/m-p/5...

Best of luck

Mark

[sw77]

Hi Mark,

I had to contact BT myself because Virgin had wiped their hands of it. They advised that as it had passed 28 days since the copper line was switched off the number was not retrievable.

Virgin advised that they had written to my parents on 3 occasions but they definitely did not receive any notification.

The whole thing has been a farce but other than putting in the complaint, that I have done, my parents are now stuck with their new number

Scott 

[mlgibbons]

Hi Scott

Thanks for getting back. Virgin have proved equally incompetent for me too.

I am now resigned to accepting that the number of 30 years is lost although I can get it back by having a new BT line installed and paying for it for a year - the total charge being around £300 which I am not prepared to pay and which Virgin are not prepared to over.

I am therefore going to raise a complaint with the Omsbudsman and may also send the story to the press e.g. The Guardian, MoneyBox etc.

Mark

[Carley_S]

Hi @mlgibbons 

Welcome back to the forums 

I am truly sorry about the lost of the landline number during the home phone switch over. 

I can see that my colleague is supporting you further on this, if you have a complaint raised and would like this escalating as there was no resolution that could be met with my colleague, please do let my them know of your wishes and they'll be able to do this for you. After escalating, if a resolution is still not met, you can request a deadlock letter that you can taken further to the ombudsmen services, who will look independently at your case for you.  

[goslow]

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@mlgibbons wrote:

Hi Scott

Thanks for getting back. Virgin have proved equally incompetent for me too.

I am now resigned to accepting that the number of 30 years is lost although I can get it back by having a new BT line installed and paying for it for a year - the total charge being around £300 which I am not prepared to pay and which Virgin are not prepared to over.

I am therefore going to raise a complaint with the Omsbudsman and may also send the story to the press e.g. The Guardian, MoneyBox etc.

Mark

---

Read this past topic, which might offer you some encouragement, (about a number lost during porting but the recovery may be a similar process)

https://community.virginmedia.com/t5/Home-Phone/Retention-of-landline-number-Complaint-address/td-p/...

the determination of the OP did get the number back. She even provided a number at Openreach for VM to contact! It is VM that has to liaise with Openreach. Individuals can't deal with Openreach and BT can be as obtuse as VM to deal with.

I have seen similar past topics where the term 'favour request' to re-enable the number has been used (VM has to issue a 'favour request' to Openreach to make the number available again to transfer it back again).

My best guess, having read a lot of topics like this on here, is that recovering the number is possible but it requires some individual cooperation (person to person) between providers and Openreach to make it happen. In the topic above, it was a referral to the 'right' person in VM, by one of the VM forum team, which seems to have kick started the recovery process, as well as a lot of determination from the customer.

Haven't read your past topic/case in detail but, as it seems to be VM's bungling that lost you your number, it should be VM who fixes the problem.

[mlgibbons]

Hi

I don't call this "helping". Do you?

"Hi Mark,

Our contact has confirmed BT have now come back to us, but I'm really sorry to have to inform you that they've advised they cannot port the number over to us because it's a disconnected line with them.

The only solution from here is for you to re-connect your line with BT and then, once it's active, we can then port the number over to us.

I completely understand this will be extremely disappointing news for you.

Please come back to us at your earliest convenience and we can discuss the matter further.

Regards,
Daniel"

[mlgibbons]

Thanks Goslow.

I'll review that info and give them one last chance. Let's see how they do. I'm not hopeful.

And I 100% agree - it is not my responsibility to fix this: it is VMs.

Sadly, VM don't seem to ascribe to the basic rules of good customer service i.e. if you make a mistake, admit it and then fix it.