problem with my order

[#1]

Thanks for checking Adam

[#2]

Thanks everyone for chipping in and finding out what is going to happen. I have an issue with the arranged contract and timescales with plusnet as i am set to start paying for my internet on the 22nd of december but now it looks like i wont have internet until the 12th january? can you please clarify what will happen regards this? will my contract be reconfigured to start my service from the 12th january or whenever my internet starts....I am so upset with BT i will not have internet to talk to my daughter in amaerica over xmas. And regards the replies from what i can gather i will still have the same number ? as thats what i was promissed by plusnet when signing up. Lastly will my contractual agreement still hold regards pricing and benefits etc that i agreed on signin up? and will there be a period of time where i will have no service at all or can plusnet start immediately when BT has finished? kind regards

[#3]

Hi James, thanks for getting back to us.

I’m really sorry for the complications with your order. 

Based on what you’ve said, I assume you don’t currently have broadband with BT, just a telephone line?

If that’s the case, you could try calling BT and ask to activate broadband for you as it may be possible to on top of your existing Basic/Social Telephony package.

We’re just unable to activate broadband or transfer a line to us when it has Basic/Social Telephony as it flags up as an ‘incompatible product’ on our suppliers records. I believe this may be due to certain agreements.

However this may tie you into a new contract with BT so there’d be that to consider and I can’t guarantee they’ll be able to activate broadband for you before Christmas.

When moving to us, it may be worth calling BT to ask if they can remove Basic/Social Telephony without ceasing your line, so we can transfer your landline number and activate our broadband service with no downtime.

If your line’s ceased, it can generally take up to 10 days for us to reactivate your line and activate broadband for you. Also initially you may be allocated a new landline number, but we should be able to get your previous number back within a couple of days afterwards. 

Regarding a contract you’ve agreed with us, this will begin when we activate our services and we’ll honour the pricing and offer etc you’ve signed up to us on.

The payment you’ve made up front won’t ‘start’ until your order completes, so your next payment will in effect be 1 month after this happens as you’ve paid in advance.

I hope this helps and apologies again for the complexity, but let us know if you’ve got further queries.

[#4]

Thank you so much for your assistance and advice regards going forward.

I am not going to ask BT for  a broadband service and further complicate what seems an already complicated affair. I guess i just have toi wait until the 12 jan for things to move forward. If i was to askBT not to cease the line would that mean i have to call again to cancel my service with them after or on the 12th jan? The problem i have is that i have already told BT that i want to leave them as i have organised Plusnet broadband and phone line so what happens if they say toi me i thought you wanted to cease your service with BT to transfer to Plusnet so why shouldnt we cancel your service with us if that makes sense.

The feeling i get is that BT are making people lives difficult when they want to change over to a new service providor. As afar as i am aware i didnt have any conditions on my service to give them at least a months notice as i have been with them for years.

So as it stands it doesnt look like i will get broadband until the end of january as i think BT with cancel my service and as you say Plusnet with then take a bit of time to connect me. I do want my same telelphone number as lots of people have it so my concern is guaranteeing that my present home phone number can remain the same definatley?

In hindsight it might of been better to have not told BT i was leaving them and just asked them to adjust my service to remove BT basic and then let plusnet organise everything from their side once the BT basic was removed.

I sincerly hope others dont have to go through this trouble to just move away from BT and go to another provider.

kind regards

[#5]

Thanks for getting back to me James,

When transferring from one provider to another, this is what's known as 'gaining provider led' which means the new provider handles the transfer and tells the old provider you're leaving, so you don't need to cancel.

This though is a unique situation where the old provider has a product on the line that's not compatible with our service, so ideally all we'd need is that product (Social Telephony) removing without your line being ceased. 

We'll then be able to transfer your phone line and landline number to us as well as providing broadband. This will then automatically tell your old provider to cancel their services so you won't have to.

While we say we should be able to get your landline number back once it's ceased, we can't guarantee it as it'll go into a pool of available numbers so it can be picked up by another provider who uses the BT network like we do. 

Appreciate you've had your number for a long time and it'll be important to you so I'd highly recommend asking BT to cancel the cease and just remove Social Telephony from your line. This should ensure that your number stays active and we'll transfer it to us as an active number and provide broadband while doing so. 

Let me know how it goes and if this doesn't make sense though or if you've got further queries. 

[#6]

i have just got off the phone to BT and they have most unhelpful!!!!  BT have informed me that now i have chosen to end my service with them they can not keep the line open and will close the line and i cant keep my present number. May this be a warning for anyone wanting to go with BT as i find this disgraceful!!! I sincerly hope plusnet can manage somehow to keep my number although i realise that it is not guaranteed but it might be possible. I am not sure whether the issue was that i have BT Basic on my line why they have acted this way or this is the normal procedure by BT but as far as the BT person on the phone told me the service from BT is ending and i cant keep my number. Please let me know what will happen next

kind regards

[#7]

Thanks for getting back to us @jamesrambler40

I'm really sorry for the bad experience you've had. 

Unfortunately there's not much we can do from our side apart from pick up the pieces when your line's ceased. 

We should be able to reactivate your phone line within 1 working day once it's stopped and retain your landline number while doing so. Once that's been done, we can place the broadband order should normally takes 4 working days to go live. 

I've set a reminder and I'll check back for you on the 12th January to follow up.

[#8]

Thank you so much for your assistance you have been most helpful and made a frustrating situation somewhat better by at least treating me like a human being rather than a waste of space like BT have. kind regards

[#9]

No problem at all @jamesrambler40

I'm sorry to see how this provisioning journey has played out, and for the inconvenience it's caused you. We'll let you know once the order has been placed to reactivate your line. Thank you for your understanding.

[#10]

Unfortunately this is not a new issue, it seems that BT Retail have a history of getting this not quite right ... How to get BT to remove social telephony tag from line so switch to plusnet can take — MoneySavingEx... and the BT forum version - How to remove BT basic/light user tag on my line s... - BT Community

Also Transferring Phone from BT to Plusnet - Plusnet Community - though that references the old BT Basics.

If your mum qualifies, she might be better off looking at the (comparatively) new BT Home Essentials service - see BT to launch £15/mth fibre broadband plan for millions on low incomes – but many can get similar che...

"In order to be eligible for the BT Home Essentials plan, you'll need to be in receipt of one of the following means-tested benefits:

• Universal credit.
• Guarantee credit element of pension credit.
• Jobseeker's allowance.
• Income support.
• Employment and support allowance.

 "Home Essentials will replace BT's Basic package for new customers – but existing users WON'T have to switch"

As best as I can tell from reading around, where BT Basic is concerned, BT Retail appear to be acting at odds with OFCOM's principles of Gaining Supplier Led migration.  Under those principles, you chose a new supplier and they do all of the work to migrate your service WITHOUT contact of interference from the existing supplier.

From what I have seen from a quick search, BT Basic (Social Telephone) is not an option on the service, but it is the service.  To be "removed" from that service (and this remove the tag) the subscriber will have to take out a new BT Retail contract or simply cease the existing service and then ask a new provider to provision the service.

Cease and provide risks a break in service and the loss of the existing telephone number.  It is all quite shabby really - you might care to contact OFFCOM and ask their opinion on the BT Retail practice in circumstances where a BT Basic / Social Telephone user wishes to change service providers.  One cannot help but believe that is something of a wheeze to keep the BT Basic subscriber with BT Retail ... though if you do qualify for that service, the new "Home Essentials" does look attractive.

[#11]

thank you for posting all this information it seems BT are contravening OFCOM's rules itrs a total disgrace they have no respect for customers who have been loyal to them for years.

[#12]

my BT service is due to end tomorrow please keep me updated regardds my plusnet service being switched on thank you for all your correspondance and support so far kind regards

[#13]

Hi @jamesrambler40

No problem, I've got my reminder set for you tomorrow ready and waiting to restart your phone line once it's stopped.

[#14]

Hi @jamesrambler40

Just to update. I've been looking at this first thing this morning and I could see your phone line is stopped in the supplier systems, so I placed an order to reactivate it, but the order was rejected suggesting the line was still active.

I suspect the cease order hasn't fully completed yet across all the supplier systems, but this should happen before midnight, and I'll try replacing the reactivation order afterwards. 

To be sure, I've also sent your line details through our suppliers ORDI (OpenReach Data Integrity) tool to check the records in the systems are all OK, so we can place an order. 

I'll carry on monitoring but if you don't hear from me again today, I'll check back tomorrow morning at the latest.

[#15]

Morning @jamesrambler40

Your phone line & landline number should be reactivated tomorrow and I'll check back afterwards to place your broadband order. Let me know if you've got any further queries in the meantime.