Analogue phone service cut off before Digital Voice equipment had arrived

[Courtenayboy1]

Hi; My octogenarian parents were emailed to say they would be switched to digital around the 28th of October. On that day, their phones no longer worked for incoming or outgoing calls. They had received neither the SH2 or the digital phones. One parent is very frail, the other recovering from an operation. Fortunately, unlike so many of their age, they had recourse to mobile phones to contact BT. An engineer visited today, and plugged their main phone into the router. This is now the only phone that is working, in a different room to that in which they would normally be to take calls.

Digital phones are on their way; when enquiring about the smart hub, they were informed that there is a shortage of this device.

Am I the only one who thinks switching off the analogue service before the digital equipment is in place is irresponsible at best, and potentially life-threatening at worst? Surely a switch-over should not happen until the household has received the equipment, and notified BT that the switch can be made?

I would be interested in people's thoughts on this issue.

[damiandixon]

I am surprised that they had no warning. 

I received an email followed by a letter two days latter which was quite clear as to what is going to happen.

The website order form was however confusing to say the least (lack of voucher code) so I sent a text for a handset from my mobile registered with my BT account to the number provided and a box arrived two days latter with two essential handsets.

I already have a smart 2 router so can't comment on availability of these.

I'm still waiting for a switch date.

Are you sure they did not receive a letter at least?

[licquorice]

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@Courtenayboy1 wrote:

 An engineer visited today, and plugged their main phone into the router. This is now the only phone that is working, in a different room to that in which they would normally be to take calls.

In which case the router is a Smart Hub  and Digital Voice is activated.

[Courtenayboy1]

Thank you for the responses; to answer both replies:

Yes, a letter was received, but in the upheaval surrounding the parent's operation that was taking place at the same time, it was mislaid/thrown out in error. The parent having the operation (the more technically savvy of the two) had read the email and the letter when it first arrived, but thought from the way it was worded that a new phone hub was arriving to plug the phone into, rather than the existing hub that they only associated working with the computer for internet access. With more important things to worry about, the date of the switch was forgotten, until the phones stopped working. There was nothing in the email to suggest the need to acquire digital phones.

Obviously, once BT were contacted, things were sorted out- digital phones arrived today, and I painlessly sorted out pairing them to their hub (teaching my parents the same basic functions to access their contacts half-a-dozen times, though, was more painful!)

What worries me more generally is that this is going to happen to many, many people who do not have a computer or mobile, just their analogue phone. The letter, as far as I know, is the only means by which they will be told about the switch (which will happen between now and 2025 without being requested); if ignored, the phone will stop working one day, possibly with no means to phone if an emergency occurs at the same time.

I just feel that before the switch takes place, there should be a need for the customer to confirm everything is in place, online or via phone call, to activate the switch to Digital Voice. I suspect BT engineers are going to be very, very busy sorting out the confusion.