Plus Net Slammed my number

[#1]

Plus Net have slammed our number from BT. We have never had any communication from or with plus net.
How can they do this? And how can we get our landline number back. We have had our number for years. We support many elderly relatives and neighbours and they always call us on our landline so not having our number is a real issue. Can anyone help us get our number back?
BT say they ported the number to SKY as requested. SKY say they requested our number, but there was an open order for the number by PlusNet.
We have complained to OFCOM, but we just want our number back.
Spent hours and hours and hours on the phone trying to sort this out. It's really stressful.

[#2]

That does not make sense. If there was an open order from Plusnet, SKY would not have been able to take it over - there can be nothing done by anyone else when a CP has an order - BT systems cannot process two orders at the same time.

[#3]

Hi @Howcanyoudothat, I'm really sorry to see this and I can get it sorted out. Can you send me a private message with the phone number in question please?

FYI you'll just need to make 2 more posts first. 

Adam

[#4]

@Howcanyoudothat 

A warm welcome to the forums.

Whilst the staff sort this, it is worth explaining how a service take over is processed in the industry ... which at the end might lead you to ask "How can you do that..." to BT Retail who appear to have let you down dreadfully, as I expect Ofcom will similarly advise you.

Taking over a working line goes like this...

• Some one asks some ISP to take over a service, based on various bits of information, which might or might not be complete
  • The address (house name / number etc)
  • The post code
  • The phone number (if known)
• The ISP in question takes the supplied information and attempts to identify that line from the infrastructure data held and provided for this purpose by BT Openreach - in some cases this data is in a terrible mess
  • Have a look here to see what lines are known about at you post code - see if there is anything which looks odd - https://www.broadbandchecker.btwholesale.com/#/ADSL/AddressHome
• Having identified what looks like the right line, the ISP places take over orders for that line
• Then Ofcom's anti-slamming measures kick in
  • BT Openreach is responsible for notifying the existing provider (in this case BT Retail) that there is a line take over order in progress
  • The existing provider (in this case BT Retail) is then OBLIGED to notify their customer (in this case your) that there is a line take over in place - they must
    • Notify you immediately
    • Tell you what your exit charges are
    • Tell you that if you do not want the transfer to take place, you must tell your supplier (In this case BT Retail) that you DO NOT WANT TO MOVE
  • If the customer (you) then tells the supplier (BT Retail) that you do now want to proceed...
    • The supplier (BT Retail) Must tell BT Openreach to cancel the order

Did you receive a warning communication from BT Retail that a takeover order had been placed on your line?  If not then your first point of complaint is with BT Retail - who are responsible for the restoration of your service.

Having received such a communication, did you notify BT Retail within the appointed 10 days that you did not want to migrate?

If you have received more than one such notice, did you respond to all of them?

Having had this happen twice, I would wager that BT Openreach's records are in such a state that (at least) twice two different ISPs have chosen the wrong line for someone's order.  Further it would not surprise me that whoever is seeking to move their service, somewhere along the way got so brassed off with the repeated delays (orders being cancelled) that they swapped preferred ISPs in the hope that such might fix issues beyond their awareness.

[#5]

Thank you Townsman,
Your reply is much appreciated and very detailed. But according to Sky, they requested the number port and there was already an open request from Plus Net. So stuck in limbo land as BT said they were cancelling our number and Sky said they were blocked by PlusNet.
We just want our number back. I have a very busy job dealing with complaints all day. To come home at night and spend 2 to 3 hours every night trying to sort this is becoming stressful. If you have any advise on what I need to do, say and to whom to get our number back I would be most grateful.

[#6]

Thank you Townsman,
Your reply is much appreciated and very detailed. But according to Sky, they requested the number port and there was already an open request from Plus Net. So stuck in limbo land as BT said they were cancelling our number and Sky said they were blocked by PlusNet.
We just want our number back. I have a very busy job dealing with complaints all day. To come home at night and spend 2 to 3 hours every night trying to sort this is becoming stressful. If you have any advise on what I need to do, say and to whom to get our number back I would be most grateful.

[#7]

Hi Adam,
Nice dogs! I can't message you because I don't have access to PM on this forum. Just another frustration.
What can I do to get my number back? It's really important to us and our family and elderly neighbours so we can keep in touch.

[#8]

@Howcanyoudothat Just try one more post before trying PMs - the 'access level is five posts over long periods, three if you login/post within a short time - or something like that. You should be able to PM Adam after that.

[#9]

@Howcanyoudothat 

I hope that this gets sorted for you quickly.  However, the people who should be sorting this are BT Retail.  Your service is with them and it is down to them to protect you against your line being slammed ... by whomever, in whatever order.  BT Retail should have given you the anti-slamming notice and they should be sorting out the consequences of having not done so.

It will be interesting to see what Plusnet uncovers - as I explained, this very unfortunate situation probably arose out of some nearby person seeking to establish a service with one provider (possibly Plusnet) and having experienced difficulties / delays skipped off to Sky rather than sorting out the original issues ... all coupled with an untidy database.

Did you take a look at service availability by postcode to see what lines BT OR have registered for the location?  Is there another property with a similar name / number to yours?  EG. 7a and 7b The High Street or Honeysuckle Cottage and Honeysuckle Lodge?  We have seen two adjacent properties with the lines the wrong way around in BT OR records in the past.

[#10]

Hey @Howcanyoudothat,

I've had a look at your profile and your account should now have permissions to send a Private Message with your details With that having been said, as @Townman has suggested, if your account was originally with another provider than ourselves we may be quite limited in terms of what we can realistically do to assist in this situation.

Having read through the thread this morning, my number one recommendation would be to get in touch with the provider you'd like to provide the services and make sure that they're doing all that they can to reinstate the line. Please understand that I cannot guarantee it 100%, but generally speaking you shouldn't lose your landline number over this as long as swift action is taken to place orders.