NTL phone problem

[THE_GFP]

ill keep it simple

my friends moved house 4 weeks ago

they aranged for their old number to go with them

the number did not

they rang and complained and got lied to by 4 different people with lies from "we need to dig your road up and need permission from the council" to "there is a massive waiting list in your area"

so they have decided to goto B.T but B.T said the number needs to be active to be transfered

NTL say they have closed their account and they can not have their old number back

B.T say as the old number is not active they can not give it to them

NTL say the number is now dead and can not be given back

so my friends thought if they reopend their NTL account then transfered to B.T in a few months but this wont work

the number is damn important as he is a electrician and has had that number for 15 years but its not registerd as a business number

oh they have moved within the same 01480 area (4 miles)

can anyone here help or have any ideas

p.s this is all from memory so might be the odd bit ive got wrong

[UncleBooBoo]

This is not the answer your looking for but he's screwed.

First of all if he reconnects the line he will guaranteed have a new number, second of all you will end up tied into a new 12 month contract!

And BT are correct, a number cannot be transfered if it is not active!

Maybe someone here can offer you help but I reckon you got no chance of getting your/his number back. Not the first time this has happened either! :td:

[otguk]

Shame you could not just goto a VOIP provider and ask them for your number.

[UncleBooBoo]

Can't do that either, they are allocated in batches. You can transfer/port numbers to and from some voip providers though!

One main reason why I would never have an NTL phone line, they often give your number away. Or cross wire your line so you end up paying for other peoples calls! Not to mention many other reasons!

[lostandconfused]

ask them to call ntl CS. you need to ask the person on the end of the call to mail number management to see if they can reserve the number. if this is the case they would be able to re-open a new account, but as said above they would have a new 12 month contract.

chances are it hasnt been given out to another customer yet, but i would call asap just incase