Porting my number to Virgin but keep my service with a new number

[thatsmesd]

I am thinking of having Virgin Broadband installed at address where I currently have BT Broadband as the service is  poor and am told it will not get any better in the near future, I live in built up area residential area not somewhere out in the sticks!

I want my current BT landline number to be ported to Virgin, this is normally straight  forward but the issue is I don't want my current BT service to cease, I just want my existing service to be given a new number, keep my BT email addresses,ber and continue to pay for the service when they port my old number to Virgin.

On paper this would appear to be a simple exercise, port my existing number to Virgin , assign a new number to the existing installation and transfer my emails accounts & Broadband to the new number at my old address and continue paying BT what I pay now.

The reason for this is so I can have the service moved to my holiday home at a later date therefore keeping my email addresses

There is nothing more complicated about this than someone at BT tapping a keyboard to make this happen but I rang them they say it can't be done!

[Keith_Beddoe · Accepted solution]

@thatsmesd 

They are right, to port your number out, your existing service would need to be cancelled, as you would be moving your service provider. You cannot move just the phone line, as the broadband is tied to that line number.

You would have to see if its possible to port your number first. Once your BT  phone and broadband service is cancelled, assuming you are not in a  contract, then you would have to apply for a new phone line, which would be given a new number.

If you are in a contract with BT, then you are going to have to pay cancellation charges.

[thatsmesd]

Not really a solution is it, why can't I just port my existing number to Virgin and the have the existing in situ line and equipment stay as it is with a new number which means I still keep my BT emails but on the newly provided number? later on I can them have the line moved when I am ready.

If i just said I wanted my exiting BT number changing they could do that so why cant they do it if I move my existing number to Virgin?

[iniltous]

Porting a number normally comes with an account closure , you could just renumber your line, but then your ‘old’ number wouldn’t be associated with an account so difficult to then port anywhere..it’s possible that what you want can be done, but it’s not a common scenario and chances are that a speculative call to customer service will get a blanket ‘cannot be done’ answer, who knows that may even be true, TBH what you want ( although not unreasonable) isn’t what number port was designed to deliver.

Number port is really a device to remove the perceived barrier to customers switching provider at their current address for fear of losing their phone number, you can achieve this relatively risk free , your desire seems to be more about keeping  your email address, and that ( although many would argue is too expensive) has a separate solution that has nothing to do with number portability , simply port  your number to VM , this ceases your BT services,  you can maintain the ‘BT’ email address either for free ( albeit with a restricted service ) or pay for the premium email service.
At your holiday home you get , or don’t get , a phone/broadband service, either with BT or with someone else, the phone number (assuming you get a service ) is irrelevant as you would be getting a random number using the scenario you prefer anyway.

If your goal is not to pay separately for email but have it as part of a  ‘BT’ service at the holiday home , then perhaps you get the BT service at your holiday home now,  associate it with your current BT account , then simply port your main home number to VM,  the email address presumably ‘safe’ as you still have one BT service and therefore  a BT account at your holiday home, effectively the same result , just a ‘simpler’ way of achieving it.

[thatsmesd]

Firstly, at no point has BT ever said I could  "maintain the ‘BT’ email address either for free albeit with a restricted service "

You are correct, the point of this exercise is to keep my email addresses which I have had for over 30 years and keep my phone number which I have had for over 40 years,

I first left BT because their Broadband was on average less than 1mb, they charged me £1.60 per month to keep my email which increase to £7.50pm.

I came back to BT because 11 years later as they can now offer me up to 10mb (wow! I know fast isn't it!) which is actually averaging 8mb and keeps dropping out!

It just appears to be nonsense that BT cant port my number, cease the service then immediately provide a new service and number on the same in situ line and equipment they just ceased, Then associated my email with that new number!

I can deal with moving the new service when I am ready to do so.

If they can't do that how would it be possible  for them to port my number, provide a new customer the same services on the same existing line if I move house?

[iniltous]

Seems like going over old ground, but if you port your number to VM, your ‘account’ with BT ceases.
If you wanted you could then immediately order a new BT service , creating a new account , and in all likelihood the ‘old’ switched off BT line would be switched back on with a different number within a relatively short period , at this point you are exactly where you want to be.
Your email address is potentially vulnerable , it was linked to an account that no longer exists, not the new account , you say you have never been advised that you could keep the email address for free, but it’s no secret , in fact it’s a hot topic with various consumer groups, although because the complaint is about price, and given the ‘noise’ about the price they tend to underplay the free email offer as it doesn’t fit the narrative.

Why should any company maintain a comprehensive for free an email service for ex customers ? as a comparison , given that you want to move to VM, if the move were the other way around , and you wanted to keep your VM email address , you couldn’t , it is deleted after 90 days.
AFAIK, the free email offer  just requires a browser session to retrieve mail rather than using a mail client and you wouldn’t be receiving notifications of new mail, if that’s sufficient, it’s quite simple, port the number, no further ‘BT’ involvement at your main address, by far the cheapest option.

I’m not sure what the last point is you are trying to make, if you port to VM it does cancel your account, renumber your existing line, the old number isn’t yours anymore so unlikely to be ported after the event, so the order of things  is important, you cannot ( easily) do both in one transaction, and TBH it’s irrelevant if you think that is nonsense or not , if you are advised it’s not possible , saying it should be possible is a moot point, BT would need someone to micro manage this for you, and it’s unlikely to be offered, given that it’s not just BT that is involved , if you lost the number , who would you blame ?
As I understand it , from your OP, you are prepared to pay for a BT line , that wouldn’t really be used apart from as a device maintaining your email address as it currently is, but you don’t think you should be pushed into getting a line at the holiday home yet. Why not then , order a second line (with any old number) at your current address, the rest is as I previously indicated , when it’s in and working, you port the original line number to VM etc, in the end financially you are no worse off than in your scenario ( paying VM for broadband and ported number and paying BT for a line you don’t really want but are prepared to pay for to maintain email as it is) then ‘home move’ the new BT line and it’s linked  ‘broadband’ to the holiday home at a time of your choosing........

If the outcome is the same, the eventual expenditure is the same , I don’t really see why the inflexibility of the process worry’s you, the only ‘issue’ I can see is  at some point you will need two BT services concurrently, so that when the first line goes to VM, the second service maintains the email, that seems to me that’s what your OP wanted.

If that is not actually what you indicated, and you don’t think you should , even for a brief period have to pay for 3 services( 2xBT 1xVM)  , even if it were for a very short period before it’s 2 (1xVM and 1xBT) , depending on any pre existing minimum terms this overlap period could be a few days,  you may have to consider the free email or paid for email to keep the BT email address.

[thatsmesd]

Do you work for BT by any chance?

I can see I am wasting my time here!

I will have my line moved to the new address free of charge and Virgin installed at my current address, the only thing is I will lose is my old BT number, what I requested could have easily been done but BT would have had reconnect my existing old line with a new number before moving to the new address, not too complicated is it?

Oh!  I forgot they would have lost out on a new installation fee of over which they won't get anyway!

What a way to treat a customer of over 40 years and ex employee of over 30 years!
I think its called being inflexible!

Don't bother to reply.