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Moved into residential property with previously had BT Business line installed - HELP
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mr_muz
Posts: 4 Newbie
in Phones & TV
Anyone out there who can help with this?
I moved house at the start of the year and I've managed to sort out all utilities, bills etc... with one exception...a BT landline!
The previous owners of the property had a BT line installed and they dutifully cancelled it before moving out.
After moving into the property, I didnt get a dialtone from plugging a phone into the socket so I placed an order with BT for a reconnection. They said it would take up to 11 working days to take over the line unless they got consent from the previous owners. I asked the previous owners to contact BT again and confirm they gave consent to cancel and disconnect the line, which they did so. I then heard nothing for a couple of weekss as I assumed BT progressed my order (including new phone number), then on the final deadline date for activation I got a call on my mobile from BT saying that the line to the property was a "business line" and they could not disconnect it without the owners prior permission and that they were cancelling my order!! :mad:
Once again I contacted the previous owners who again told BT to cancel their line. At this point I found a second phone socket box upstairs which had an active landline (to the previous owners phone number) when I plugged a phone into it. So I contacted BT again, but every time I got hold of them I was bounced from department to department. Eventually I got hold of someone from their business after-sales team who was very helpful and said that they had received a disconnect order on the 14th Jan but for some reason there was a note attached to the old phone number from an unnamed service centre saying "do not disconnect this line". After she talked to her supervisor she managed to get the restriction removed and then transferred me to a collegue from the residential sales team (whom she had explained the situation to) to sort out a phone line for me... at this point I got put on hold and then got cut off! (Argh!) All attempts at getting hold of this person again proved fruitless as I was usually met with someone from the Indian call centre who seemed to be reading from a script and didnt have a clue what I was talking about.
Subsequent calls to BT over the next few days were met with problems because all their computers had crashed and they couldnt bring up anyones' information. Finally I got back through to BT sales and placed a new order for a phone line to the property after getting reassurances that they knew there was an existing business line to the address which would need to be transferred over or disconnected and that there were no service notes attached to the line. I got another order number and new phone number allocated and all seemed well...
Later that day (whilst I'm away from home) I get a call from BT on my mobile (Indian call centre again) saying "we've noticed that the line to the property is a business line and we'll have to transfer the case over to our business line department who will try to get the permission of the previous line owner to disconnect it"!! They would not accept my protestations that this had already been sorted out and that permission had already been given to disconnect the business line and transfer it to a residential line..... :mad:
I call it a minor miracle that I've managed to somehow stay calm when talking to them rather than shouting every profanity under the sun at them! The situation is being increasingly exaserbated by having a better-half who is currently jobhunting and needs a phoneline and internet connection to be able to do so effectively!
It just seems that despite their old "it's good to talk" advertising slogan, no-one at BT actually seems to talk to each other! All I want is a working landline.. is this too much to ask?
I moved house at the start of the year and I've managed to sort out all utilities, bills etc... with one exception...a BT landline!
The previous owners of the property had a BT line installed and they dutifully cancelled it before moving out.
After moving into the property, I didnt get a dialtone from plugging a phone into the socket so I placed an order with BT for a reconnection. They said it would take up to 11 working days to take over the line unless they got consent from the previous owners. I asked the previous owners to contact BT again and confirm they gave consent to cancel and disconnect the line, which they did so. I then heard nothing for a couple of weekss as I assumed BT progressed my order (including new phone number), then on the final deadline date for activation I got a call on my mobile from BT saying that the line to the property was a "business line" and they could not disconnect it without the owners prior permission and that they were cancelling my order!! :mad:
Once again I contacted the previous owners who again told BT to cancel their line. At this point I found a second phone socket box upstairs which had an active landline (to the previous owners phone number) when I plugged a phone into it. So I contacted BT again, but every time I got hold of them I was bounced from department to department. Eventually I got hold of someone from their business after-sales team who was very helpful and said that they had received a disconnect order on the 14th Jan but for some reason there was a note attached to the old phone number from an unnamed service centre saying "do not disconnect this line". After she talked to her supervisor she managed to get the restriction removed and then transferred me to a collegue from the residential sales team (whom she had explained the situation to) to sort out a phone line for me... at this point I got put on hold and then got cut off! (Argh!) All attempts at getting hold of this person again proved fruitless as I was usually met with someone from the Indian call centre who seemed to be reading from a script and didnt have a clue what I was talking about.
Subsequent calls to BT over the next few days were met with problems because all their computers had crashed and they couldnt bring up anyones' information. Finally I got back through to BT sales and placed a new order for a phone line to the property after getting reassurances that they knew there was an existing business line to the address which would need to be transferred over or disconnected and that there were no service notes attached to the line. I got another order number and new phone number allocated and all seemed well...
Later that day (whilst I'm away from home) I get a call from BT on my mobile (Indian call centre again) saying "we've noticed that the line to the property is a business line and we'll have to transfer the case over to our business line department who will try to get the permission of the previous line owner to disconnect it"!! They would not accept my protestations that this had already been sorted out and that permission had already been given to disconnect the business line and transfer it to a residential line..... :mad:
I call it a minor miracle that I've managed to somehow stay calm when talking to them rather than shouting every profanity under the sun at them! The situation is being increasingly exaserbated by having a better-half who is currently jobhunting and needs a phoneline and internet connection to be able to do so effectively!
It just seems that despite their old "it's good to talk" advertising slogan, no-one at BT actually seems to talk to each other! All I want is a working landline.. is this too much to ask?
0
Comments
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Sounds about normal for BT (particularly when the Indian call centre personnel are involved).
BT dropped that, "It's good to talk" catchphrase a long while ago - think you can see why now!Time has moved on (much quicker than it used to - or so it seems at my age) and my previous advice on residential telephony has been or is now gradually being overtaken by changes in the retail market. Hence, I have now deleted links to my previous 'pearls of wisdom'. I sincerely hope they helped save some of you money.0 -
Ring and order a NEW landline. Forget the fact that one exists. Yes, you'll probably have to pay for a new line.
Or, try another supplier.0 -
If it came to it I wouldnt mind ordering a new landline (definately not via BT if possible), but in order to do so I need to get this business line disconnected and BT seem to completely ignore the previous owners request (on numerous occasions) to disconnect the line.
Every time I call them I just get the "we need to contact the previous owner of the line" statement from them. 0 -
If you're ordering a new landline, the status of the existing one is not relevant. You'll end up with a new master socket. What happens to the existing one doesn't matter.0
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Hi mr_muz, I am very sorry to learn of the problems that you are experiencing with arranging a BT Retail line. Please email me your new BT order details and a link to this post and I'll look into this for you.
Regards Rodney“Official Company Representative
I am the official company representative of BT. MSE has given permission for me to post in response to queries about the company, so that I can help solve issues. You can see my name on the companies with permission to post list. I am not allowed to tout for business at all. If you believe I am please report it to forumteam@moneysavingexpert.com This does NOT imply any form of approval of my company or its products by MSE"0
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