"Lost" telephone number

[KazE]

I needed better broadband.  I asked BT at the beginning if I could keep my number if I changed to BT from Sky and was told yes (I wanted to be sure as it is an old 5 digit number). I would have stayed with Sky otherwise.  I have had my telephone number for 30+ years and have been careful who I give it to, so very rarely get any cold calls.

BT have now “lost” my number due to their errors - please could someone advise if there is any way to get my original number back (or at least explain properly why I cannot have it).  I have been told so many conflicting things, I am not sure I believe any of it.

When we got the number I was with BT.  I changed it over to Sky when AOL broadband was transferred to Sky.  In December 2020 I changed from Sky to BT (broadband and landline telephone). 

This a summary of what I have been told:

15th Dec 2020: BT installed Full fibre.  Should have been ready to go, but engineer had to call them and wait 20 mins while they set it up.

All seemed fine with the digital phones until it became apparent that I was not receiving all my calls.  I was receiving some and could call out on my original number.

6 Jan 2021: I called and was told the number had not come over fully from Sky and it would be OK in a few days.  It wasn’t.

19 Jan: I called.  The number was still with Sky.  Was told they needed to cancel my digital voice order and re-order it.

24 Jan: still not sorted, so I called, was told there was a back log and I would have to wait.

1 Feb: I called - it will be another week.

8 Feb: BT called.  I was told my original number could not be used on the digital phones, so it was suggested I go back to a copper line and then they could get my original number on it, but it would take 5 days.  I agreed.

I had a text saying my line was sorted and here was my new number!   There was no dial tone on my (non-digital) phone.  I called, she said there was a fault on my line (it was still working for half a day after the engineer left in December).  I was also told my original number was with BT but on the digital phone, so it just needed to be moved over.  It would take 5 days.

Fault was fixed, but telephone still on new number.

10 Feb: BT called and told me that my original number is still with Sky and because Sky have already closed my account, BT now cannot get it from them.  Was told it was due to BT’s issues with digital voice the number was not released.

I have been given a choice of using the new number or going back to Sky in the hope I can get my original number back.  I don’t want the stress of changing back and risking being without broadband whilst working from home, but it would also be stressful trying to work out who has my landline number and let them know, which is why I wanted to keep my original number.  I have already had two cold calls on the new number and I haven’t even used it.

This has caused me a lot of stress and I have been without a landline for 3 months, so any advice would be great.

[Firefox1701 · Accepted solution]

The forum rules don't allow me to post this information on here,  so my suggestion to you would be to Google  'BT',  CEO',  and  'e-mail',  and I leave the rest to your imagination.

[KazE]

Thanks Firefox, I will do that.

Is there any chance at all that I could get my number back from either Sky or BT?  I don't want to waste more time trying if it is not retrievable.

[Firefox1701]

I can't give you an authoritative answer to that;   my answer to your question,  purely as a matter of my own opinion,  is that if it were me,  using the route I sort of suggested in my previous post,  I would give it a try  -  given how important it is to you.    Such ventures have,  for me personally,  often proven fruitful in the past.    There are no guarantees,  however,  and others on the forum may have more expert advice to offer.

[KazE]

Thank you Firefox, I will try that.

[iniltous]

As you have had the number for decades ( well before Sky were a network provider ) the number will almost certainly be a ‘BT’ number , that you ported to Sky.
Failed number ports are quite common , but apportioning blame is impossible as both company’s are involved and either can mess it up, but you were not really porting your number, it was being really being returned to the number range holder ( BT ) , basically reversing the port to Sky, this can also be messed up by either party but the good news is you should be able to get the number back , if you remain a BT customer.

If you have service with BT , but with a random number , in time , the number you want will be returned to BT , where normally , after a period of quarantine, it’s available to be allocated to a BT customer, what you need to do is get a ‘renumber’ order raised from the number you have to the number you want , ( once the number you want is back with BT )
The BT Mods on here seem to have a good level of success doing exactly this, so if a Mod offers to assist you in this, you probably should accept the offer, it’s not instant though , it may take a short while for the number to be available.

I didn’t notice at first your ‘digital voice’ comments, ( BT’s VOIP service ) that may be a deal breaker.....if you had a 5 digit phone number ( which is quite rare ) it’s possible that any DV service won’t accommodate that nunber, but as you have had BT and Sky in the past, presumably over a copper pair , and as you should be at the same address, you probably don’t want DV at all ,but your telephone service delivered over the existing copper pair...you may have to try and get the FTTP delivering broadband only and the copper pair for telephone.

In time you may have issues anyway, when the PSTN network is switched off.

[KazE]

Thanks Iniltous.

I did not especially want digital voice, so I would have been happy to stay on copper if they had said it would be a problem.

We have got as far as getting the telephone back on copper service - I just need to get the number back.

I just called Sky and they say that the number went back to BT.

If there any Mods that could help with getting the number back on my line, I would be very, very grateful.

[KazE]

I did write to the CEO and they passed my complaint on to Executive Customer Services.  They managed to get my number back within two days.  Why it took so long to get to this point I will never understand, but it is finally sorted after 3 months.