To get back my BT landline number after a break of 4 days with Virgin

[KevinRM]

Hallo there,

I am trying to get back my original BT landline number. I was with Virgin broadband and was changing to Vodafone using Openreach. Virgin contract was expiring on Feb 22nd and Vodafone were due to switch over on Feb 23rd am. Prior to this the BT Openreach chaps came a couple of time and set up the box on the side of the house. On Feb 23rd the engineer came to connect us to the Openreach box which had been installed. It seems there was a problem and without telling me he disappeared and we got a message from Vodafone saying it would now be done on March 2nd. After speaking to Vodafone they couldn't tell us why and wouldn't budge so as we work from home we had to get Virgin to reconnect on Feb 27th but they gave us a different number. Why? We tried on the day and spoke to Virgin but got nowhere. Anyway after many calls they are saying that my original number has now gone back to BT. I know it is still inactive. Please help. What can we do?  Thanks in advance....

[Keith_Beddoe]

@KevinRM 

Welcome to this user forum for BT Retail phone and broadband customers.

As you are not a BT Retail customer, this forum cannot help, only your current provider can help with this.

If porting has failed, then that is their responsibility. Porting between multiple providers normally fails.

All BT number are now provided using BT Digital Voice, which is only available to BT customers. The old PSTN connections are no longer available.

[iniltous]

As already stated , your number port was between Virgin and Vodafone, and doesn’t involve BT at all , even if  your service is over an Openreach ‘line’  ( there is no such entity as BT Openreach ) and the number was once provided by BT .

If the failed port between Virgin and Vodafone , has resulted in the number has been ‘lost’ , and if it is the case the number was  originally from BT’s number range  ( before it went anywhere else ) it will eventually be returned to BT , for possible reallocation to a BT customer.

In the past , it may have been possible, if a customer in this position agreed to join BT , once the number was returned and out of quarantine, BT could arrange reallocation ( a renumber ) of the line to that wanted number ( a temporary number initially given to the  newly provided BT service ) ,  but with ‘Digital Voice’ even that probably won’t work .

Chances are the number is  now  unretrievable …but as VF are your provider, that’s between you and them and annoyance you may feel , needs to be directed appropriately.

[KevinRM]

Hallo there and thanks for your information regarding this.

Just to say that my number was never actually ported to Vodafone because the Openreach box that was fitted to the house  did not work, which was why we had to unfortunately get Virgin to reconnect - we didn't have any choice. 

I was just trying to find out if Virgin had the right to change the number in he first place given that we were never actually connected with Vodafone - and given that Virgin kept telling us the number had gone back to BT. 

I don't know how all this works but I do feel that Virgin have been mendacious at best.

Thanks for your input but I now feel it's a losing battle.