Problems with retaining land line number when switching provider

Mickeyboy49

Hello,
I want to switch from Sky Essentials to Shell Energy and save myself £10 per month but Shell inform me that they have problems getting Sky to
port over my landline number. Sky never told me this when I signed up. Being in our 70's this number is listed at the hospitals depts ,Drs etc. so
important we try and keep it.
I have a old style BT line not a digital or fibre one.
Has anyone else experienced this ?
Thank you for reading.

shiraz99

Some providers do say this, mainly to cover their own backs, but whilst it may be some sort of policy from Sky, it isn't always true. I know a number of people who have moved from Sky and kept their numbers. I moved from Sky to Now BB, and yes, I know Now is a Sky company, but if you were to speak to someone at Now they'd tell you the same thing about not keeping your number but I and many others kept ours. The important thing to make sure is that any order confirmation has your existing landline number listed.

As a side note, there are other more important reasons not to move to Shell Energy broadband.

ka7e

I'm having a similar problem porting my number from Talktalk. Both Now and Vodaphone say they cannot port my old number, which I've had for 35+ years. I moved house 3 years ago and it was transferred within 48 hours, but new suppliers say my number doesn't match my address. I exclusively use my mobile, but the landline number is on my husband's old medical files and gets used by GPs, support agencies and DWP.

Madmel

I had issues with porting our landline number, but in my case it was to a VOIP provider. Our contract with Shell finished before the VOIP provider could port the number. We then went abroad  so in the end, my daughter took out a BT contract and asked to use the original number. This took 10 days. As soon as the line went live with BT, we ported the number to the VOIP provider and our daughter cancelled BT. We now have our old number back. It cost our daughter around £18.

Mickeyboy49

shiraz99 said:

Some providers do say this, mainly to cover their own backs, but whilst it may be some sort of policy from Sky, it isn't always true. I know a number of people who have moved from Sky and kept their numbers. I moved from Sky to Now BB, and yes, I know Now is a Sky company, but if you were to speak to someone at Now they'd tell you the same thing about not keeping your number but I and many others kept ours. The important thing to make sure is that any order confirmation has your existing landline number listed.

As a side note, there are other more important reasons not to move to Shell Energy broadband.

Can you explain the reasons why I shouldn't go to Shell Energy please? 

shiraz99

Mickeyboy49 said:

shiraz99 said:

Some providers do say this, mainly to cover their own backs, but whilst it may be some sort of policy from Sky, it isn't always true. I know a number of people who have moved from Sky and kept their numbers. I moved from Sky to Now BB, and yes, I know Now is a Sky company, but if you were to speak to someone at Now they'd tell you the same thing about not keeping your number but I and many others kept ours. The important thing to make sure is that any order confirmation has your existing landline number listed.

As a side note, there are other more important reasons not to move to Shell Energy broadband.

Can you explain the reasons why I shouldn't go to Shell Energy please? 

Have you not read the numerous threads on here regarding Shell Energy 😉

Madmel

@Mickeyboy49 I wouldn't touch them with a bargepole. They lie and mislead. Their website says one thing but their practice is completely different. They owe me line rental paid in advance. Every time I speak to them, it takes another ten working days for the next action, which invariably doesn't happen. Their website claims that refunds will be made to the bank account the direct debit was taken from, even if you have cancelled the DD. The reality is completely different. Avoid at all costs.

iniltous

Madmel said:

I had issues with porting our landline number, but in my case it was to a VOIP provider. Our contract with Shell finished before the VOIP provider could port the number. We then went abroad  so in the end, my daughter took out a BT contract and asked to use the original number. This took 10 days. As soon as the line went live with BT, we ported the number to the VOIP provider and our daughter cancelled BT. We now have our old number back. It cost our daughter around £18.

If you were not asked by BT to pay early termination charges for taking out a contract , with no intention of ever honouring it , porting the number to a VoIP provider then cancelling with BT , you were very fortunate , as they would have been perfectly within their rights to charge ETC for the entire duration of the minimum term you agreed to, but never completed, it’s not a path others should necessarily follow as they may not be as ‘lucky’