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Message 1 of 9

Vulnerable person left with digital voice line not working - phone says 'no service on your line'

I'm hoping someone here can help me as BT has left me in a desperate state. I'm a vulnerable & disabled person with a care alarm & a working home phone line is vital for me for many reasons including the many important calls from various hospital & various depts I'm under etc.

I recently moved my broadband & home phone from Plusnet to BT on Tuesday 15th August & very sadly  I've had nothing but problems & appalling service from BT since then. For three and a half days I had no broadband or digital home phone working. I was told in writing that the engineer who fitted the ONT would connect all the equipment I was promised that he would do - including the battery back up units (which I was told would be free of charge though they later billed me for it & it took me 2 days to sort this out with promises of phone calls I never received). However, he only plugged in the SH2 & digital phone & left me without checking any of it was working - and neither my broadband or phone line worked. They eventually arranged to send out a home tech expert to me on Friday 18th August & that engineer identified that the smart hub was faulty (I believe it may have been a software issue). The SH2 was replaced & thankfully my broadband & digital voice service was working. However, when I placed my original order (on 28th July) to move to BT, I was told that my home phone number would stay the same - but this didn't happen either & I was given a new number. (I was later told that when BT took my broadband & phone line order that they should also have requested & placed an order at that same time for me to keep my original number that I had with Plusnet  - so this was also something else BT let me down with).

It's really important that I have my original number so the home tech expert phoned BT whilst she was at mine to get my original number back. I was told the change in number would happen without loss of service & that was due to happen yesterday (24th August). However, this did not happen either - worst still, my digital home phone stopped working at the same time as the number change was due to happen. There is no dial tone & there is a message on my BT digital handset which says 'no service on your line'.

I phoned BT yesterday where I was fobbed off again - I was told my phone line would definitely be working later that day & that I would also have my original phone number back - but this didn't happen either. I woke up this morning & my digital voice still isn't working & is displaying the same message as it was yesterday & has no dial tone. When I go into my account it says - status: 'modify'.

I spent 2 hours on the phone this morning seemingly not getting anywhere. I was told that the request to get my original phone number back was 'stuck' in the system & it would take a couple of days to get it back - but how can I have any confidence that this will happen when I've repeatedly been told things would happen in a few hours & then a few more hours more & then the next day - and so on & on it goes etc etc. I was then told that the issue regarding my digital voice line was probably a separate issue to the phone number issue (although I think it's too much of a coincidence that my phone line stopped working on the same morning that they were supposed to be getting my original phone number back). Regarding my digital voice line not working he told me that he would refer it to TMC. When I asked him how long this would take he initially said it could be a couple of days but then said it could be a few weeks (but not months) to get it working. This is absolutely not acceptable to leave anyone like this especially a vulnerable & disabled person. I broke down in tears & I asked him if he could escalate this urgently or request an engineer visit or put me through to someone that deals with vulnerable customers but I was told 'no'. I asked if I could speak to a manager - he said he could get a manager to call me but that he wouldn't be able to do anything or say anything that I hadn't already been told - so obviously that isn't going to get me anywhere. 

I already suffer with poor health & the stress of this is making me more ill. I'm unable to eat & sleep with the worry of it all & I desperately need my digital phone line working (and with my original number). As well as being disabled,  I also suffer with severe anxiety. It's taken a huge amount of courage & energy to phone & speak to various people at BT & I'm not sure I can do this anymore because it doesn't get me anywhere & I'm now a nervous wreck. It's taken such a huge toll on me & I'm now struggling to cope & I end up in tears on the phone. They do not seem to care or understand my plight.  So reaching out on here feels like my last resort. I have almost zero knowledge of anything tech related & it's already taken me hours to work out how to post on here - with several failed attempts. I just hope I'm able to work out how to respond to any messages I may receive on here. I would be extremely grateful for any help. Thank you in advance.

 

8 REPLIES 8
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Message 2 of 9

Re: Vulnerable person left with digital voice line not working - phone says 'no service on your line

@Moonbeam 

I have asked a moderator to assist.

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Message 3 of 9

Re: Vulnerable person left with digital voice line not working - phone says 'no service on your l...

Hi, @Moonbeam I'm so sorry about the problems with your broadband install and the subsequent issues you have experienced with the digital voice line and getting your number back.

I'll send you a private message in a moment so you can get in touch with your details and the moderation team will be happy to check if anything can be done to help.

Thanks

Neil

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Message 4 of 9

Re: Vulnerable person left with digital voice line not working - phone says 'no service on your l...

I just had a phone call from a manager telling me someone would call me on Monday with hopefully an update - but he admitted this could possibly take days or weeks to sort - which was obviously very upsetting. I was very tearful & he seemed to get inpatient with me which upset me more. I'm perplexed & I cannot understand how it could potentially take so long for BT to sort out issues. I got off the phone from him & I was halfway through responding to Neil0's private message on here when suddenly I received an email from BT saying my service was ready to go. I then picked up my digital handset & noticed it was suddenly working again & I also noticed that I had got my original phone number back too. Obviously I'm now over the moon - let's hope it continues to work properly because I cannot bear to go through this rigmarole with BT if I encounter any other issues. I have no idea what the issue were & clearly it wasn't anything to do with the manager phoning me a few minutes earlier because according to him there was nothing more he could do for me except arrange for someone to phone me on Monday with hopefully an update. I'm still extremely concerned that BT think it's acceptable that it could possibly take weeks to sort out an issue - surely this is not acceptable to anyone? Is this the norm for BT? I also have grave concerns over how they treat vulnerable & disabled people. Very sadly, my experience from signing up with BT ten days ago has been appalling so far. However, I'd like to thank Keith for flagging up my post so quickly for the attention of a moderator - this was much appreciated. Thank you also to the moderator Keith0 for reaching out to me so quickly via private message - it's really good to know that people here are willing to offer help & support. Apologies if I'm supposed to tag people I've mentioned in this post but I'm not sure how to do that - hopefully you'll understand that I have no idea how these things work. My knowledge of all things tech related is almost non existent! Many thanks.
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Message 5 of 9

Re: Vulnerable person left with digital voice line not working - phone says 'no service on your l...

Have you registered with BT as a vulnerable customer? If you haven't, I suggest you do so in case of future problems.

https://www.bt.com/content/dam/bt/help/including-you/BT_Free_Priority_Fault_Repair_Scheme.pdf

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Message 6 of 9

Re: Vulnerable person left with digital voice line not working - phone says 'no service on your l...

I've not used the link you gave above to register as being vulnerable but they have told me that I'm flagged up on their system as having a vulnerability - would this be the same thing?

Mind you, when I spoke to someone from BT earlier today & I wasn't getting anywhere & I was becoming more distressed, I asked to speak to someone that dealt with vulnerable people & I was told no such thing existed.
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Message 7 of 9

Re: Vulnerable person left with digital voice line not working - phone says 'no service on your l...

@Moonbeam 

I would suggest you use the link posted by @licquorice  and make sure your records are updated to show you are a vulnerable person.  Better twice than not at all



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Message 8 of 9

Re: Vulnerable person left with digital voice line not working - phone says 'no service on your l...

Exactly

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Message 9 of 9

Re: Vulnerable person left with digital voice line not working - phone says 'no service on your l...

Thank you @licquorice and @imjolly  I will definitely use the link provided to double check that I'm definitely down on BT's records as being vulnerable  - as you say, it's better to be doubly sure! Thank you so much to everyone that replied to my post - apologies for not using the @ previously for @Keith_Beddoe  and @NeilO - I've only just learnt that's what I probably should have done. Many thanks for everyone's kindness - it's very much appreciated.