Landline out of order ? any refund possible.

[Deleted User]

I pay my Plusnet annual telephone line rental in advance. My landline has been out of order and was to be fixed in 72 hours. After 72 hours I enquired again and was told it would be on 07 January 2020 - so hopefully lit will be working again sometime today.


It has been out of order now for over (about) 140 hours and I wonder if I could possibly ask Plusnet for a partial refund - or if Plusnet maybe refund something automatically to my account without me asking.


The main problem has been that my landline has been ringing 'as normal' to incoming callers but there has been no ringing on my landline and, understandably, no message being left on my answering machine - I always leave my answering machine on if I am going out. People have been trying to get in touch wondering where I am. Although it cannot be helped it would have been better if there had been no 'normal' ringing sound from callers' own 'phones.


I'm glad to be on the last lap. Plusnet have been good when I enquired but, as line rental is so expensive, I wondered if I should ask about a modest refund, thanks. My broadband is working normally and, thankfully does not seem to be affected. Thanks for any information.



Retired Saver

Swipe

Nothing to lose by asking.

Neil_Jones

This sort of fault where it rings on the exchange but doesn't ring at your house is quite common. 1571 which you can set up from your Plusnet panel will intercept the call and "answer" it should your home phone not be working.

Can you make outgoing calls? Faults work both ways. A relative of mine used to have no end of issues with their phone line that saw BT spend quite a bit of time up the telegraph pole fixing the same issue over and over, but it was at the highest point in the region so...

[Deleted User]

Thanks for the replies. Neil Jones #3: I cannot make outgoing calls at all or receive any incoming calls. When I first contacted Plusnet they checked and said it was an external cabling problem and would be fixed in 72 hours. The information about 1571 is good to know.


When my 'phone was still out of order after the 72 hours since I notified the problem - still unable to make outgoing calls or receive any income calls at all - this is when I contacted again and learned that it may be sorted on 7 January. My answering machine was left on but, understandably no messages could be left on it for me to receive.



I am not sure how long it had been out of order before I reported it because it was only when people could not contact me that I found out.


When I contacted Plusnet and explained the problem (about it seeming to ring but not on my landline 'phone) nothing was mentioned about the 1571 your mentioned. That would have helped as a relative is unwell and no one knew my landline was not working. They were wondering where I was.

If Plusnet do offer a modest landline rental refund it would be welcome. A friend told me that BT do this but I'm not sure if Plusnet would do the same.


I received a text message from OpenReach this morning so hopefully it will be sorted today. For now I'll just be very grateful to have my landline working again. If anyone knows if Plusnet do offer some kind of refund it would be a good help, thanks.


Retired Saver

Mister_G

The best you can probably hope for is a pro rata refund. For 6 days, that'll be about £3.

[Deleted User]

Thanks Mister G. £3 is better than no refund at all and even a small amount contributes towards expensive line rental cost. Still no sign of landline repair yet.

Retired Saver

[Deleted User]

Mister_G wrote: »

The best you can probably hope for is a pro rata refund. For 6 days, that'll be about £3.

Probably less, given the OP has paid for a year in advance at a reduced rate. Hardly worth the effort of asking in my opinion, but I suppose it's the principle...

[Deleted User]

I agree - no need to ask about any refund. My landline has been fixed and I am just so glad to have it back - and good BroadBand connection too.

I really didn't appreciate how much I used my landline until it was out of order!

Thank you for all the replies.

Retired Saver

iniltous

If you have a mobile , or someone wouldn’t mind passing messages onto you, you could get your incoming calls put onto divert to a number of your choice ( most people would obviously divert their incoming landline calls to their mobile ) for the duration of the fault, that way you don’t miss incoming calls and people calling you don’t get ringtone no reply , and potentially worry why you weren’t answering, your provider should provide this for free

[Deleted User]

I did not know that was possible, thanks iniltous #9. I'll remember for the future if ever necessary as it is really good to know.


One positive thing about having no landline or internet temporarily is that, once restored to normal, it really is appreciated!



Retired Saver