Landline number changed without notice.

[TimBo]

Hello

  I moved to Now Broadband from Shell a couple of weeks ago. I started the sign up via the website but had to phone them to complete because I had an old dormant account with them.

My phone line stopped working, but this wasn't a concern as my account said a fault had been reported.

Today the website says everything is working fine and my phone can make outgoing calls but if I try to phone it I get a 'invalid number' message.

Eventually I discovered Now have issued me a new number. I was not told my number would be changing and nowhere have I been informed of my new number.

I phoned up Now to complain and they say that there is no way I can get my original number back.

Does anyone know if this is true? OFCOM seem to suggest number portability is possible.

[chilli2]

If i remember correctly the sign up process for Now broadband wasn't that great for keeping your number, you had to confirm your number and that you wanted to keep it more than twice, including an option box that looked like it was hidden away.

It should be possible to get your landline  number back if you act fast enough, as far as i know you could have upto 30 days for this but the sooner you move the better .

 When I was looking at my options at contract renewal time with Now I was looking into porting my landline number to a Voip provider.

 Voip routes the "landline" calls over the internet and you either need a compatible router, or a device called an Analogue Telephone Adaptor (ATA) .

 I was looking at getting a Grandstream HT801 ATA and porting my number to either Voipfone who have a deal for 100 minutes for £5/month  100 minutes for £10/month etc or Andrews and Arnold

Andrews and arnold is pay as you go, with a small monthly fee.

There may be a small number porting charge to take into account as well.

Andrews and arnold are well regarded and receive excellent customer reviews, but you will / may need to source your own ATA/hardware their Customer service should assist you with setting it up if needed.

 Voipfone also have good reviews, and will sell you an ATA ( grandstream HT801) that is pre configured

Analogue phone plugs into the ATA, ATA plugs into your router

As said it should be possible to port your in active / formerly number but you should move fast.

 Separating your landline number from your internet service should also future proof you and in my opinion is a better way to go and should give you more options for the future

[TimBo]

@chilli2Hi

 Thanks for your answer. I wasn't planning on paying out any extra money. I don't really use my landline for outgoing calls it's just the annoyance of telling everyone my number has changed.

 I didn't get far enough in the online process to enter my number, in fact at no point was I even asked for my landline number, before I had to phone up to complete my order. I've still not got any kind of information that states that my number would change, or any notification of what my new number is from Now.

I'm just wondering if Now are trying to fob me off and if I push them further they would be able to give me my old number back.

[chilli2 · Accepted solution]

It *should* be possible for Now to restore your number , the difficulty will be in getting through to someone who knows what you are talking about, and more importantly how to action it , somewhere there should be some offcom regulations you can quote at them but getting them to understand will be harder

[TimBo]

I've raised a complaint through Ofcom, and also through the Now Broadband complaint form. I've told them to port my number back and to also tell me how to go about claiming compensation for the delay.

[Jayach]

@TimBo 

Do keep us informed as to how you get on, but keeping your number when switching supplier is never guaranteed.

[TimBo]

@Jayach 

   I got a reply from NowTV (extracts below). It's not really very helpful. They refer to an email I received when I joined up- I would have thought that the default would be that I kept the same number, not that I had to explicitly tell them to port my number. I that email it said-

 Your NOW phone number:

We'll let you know this in a few days. Leave it with us

I've never received an email telling me what my new number is, and if I had I could have insisted they port my number, or I could have cancelled.

They go on to say-

This shows that no number was requested to be carried over during the order process.

I have also taken a look through every step of your order and there is nothing showing you requested to bring your number over with you unfortunately.

Regrettably we unable to get this number back for you but if it still with the range holder which in your case is BT they may still have the number.

 I think I'll contact BT to see if they'll let me have my old number back if I move to them.

[chilli2]

Your cheapest option going forward -would be to port your number to Andrews+arnold and get a voip adaptor , this should work out much cheaper than BT and BT digital Voice, plus seperating your landline number form your broadband ( internet) account will give you more options in the future and long term.

I would also recomend you take you query to more specialist forums,  the forums at isp review here : https://www.ispreview.co.uk/  and Kitz here : https://forum.kitz.co.uk/ have some extremely knowledgable people with regards to the UK telephone systems and internet access who post there

[TimBo]

@chilli2Thanks, but I don't really want to spend any extra money, I only have a landline for elderly relatives to phone me. Long term I'll probably ditch it.

[chilli2]

@TimBo if you dont want to spend extra money, then a voip solution from someone like andrews arnold may be cheaper than moving to with digital voice