BT ceased BT DV landline and says it cannot restore my number!

[RIC9380]

So, on 16.03.21 I tried to make a call but couldn't get beyond the dial tone. 

Called Customer Services on my mobile only to be told that there was a cease order put on my line the day before!  After a further 4 hours of calls to various centres around the country I was eventually told that "due to a technical error" the cease had been placed by an offshore centre, lots of apologies for not being told about it but my line would be restored by midnight.  New order was placed but I was told that my landline number of 30+ years had "gone into the ether" and that there was no way it could be brought back.  There was also an issue with international calls not getting through from my family in Australia/NZ but that may have been sorted now.

I've read quite a bit here about porting numbers to and from different networks but nobody at BT has been able to tell me why a BT issued number cannot be reallocated back to me.  It has not been allocated elsewhere because if I call it I hear "The number you have dialled has not been recognised" announcement.  I'm just constantly told that it is not possible.

Can anyone (especially the Mods) help please?  Many thanks.

RIC9380

[JohnC2]

Hi @RIC9380, sorry that you are having a problem with getting an old Digital Voice number back after it was cancelled in error.  

I know that the Digital Voice renumbers are more complex than the standard renumbers and unfortunately, the Mod team cannot help with these orders. You would need to speak with the FTTP orders team who deal with the Digital Voice service for help with this.

thanks

John

[RIC9380]

Thank you, JohnC2. I'm still fibre to the cabinet not FTTP. Am due a call back from BT on Friday but we're still at the stage of "sorry but there's nothing more that we can do". The things is that DV worked perfectly well (including receiving international calls) on my old number from 2019 until BT cut me off a month ago with no notification or proper explanation. It just seems bizarre in 2021 that BT can cease my BT issued number one day and not retrieve it the next! Telling me that it was a "technical issue" is not really a sufficient explanation to me. I just want my old number restored as it hasn't yet been reallocated to another BT customer.

RIC9380

[RIC9380]

Just an update in case it helps others. On 19.04.21 I received an evening update that I was being renumbered back to my old landline number. All done by midnight and I got a call yesterday morning from Stephen (BT) who has been working hard for me to get my number back. So, it can be done if you persist, shout loud enough and have the right people on your side!

RIC9380