BT/Sky/Internet problem

[CheltenhamHacker]

I just wondered if anyone has had the following happen, and if they have any tips to getting it resolved:

Sky internet suddenly stopped working a week ago. Long story short, turns out we have no dial tone. When I rung my house number (no home phone, so never used it before), it went to a different property, who randomly had their number changed last week, out of the blue!

It seems BT have reassigned my number so I don't have anything? Anyone know how easy this is to resolve?

 

[DCB]

it should be fairly straight forward if your with BT. Not sure just how it will go if you're with someone else though. Get in touch with your provider in the first place.

 

[woody69]

That all sounds rather suspect and unfortunately I think you are in for a world of hassle. If you're with BT you will need to speak to them first and find out what the hell they think they are doing!

 

[CheltenhamHacker]

That all sounds rather suspect and unfortunately I think you are in for a world of hassle. If you're with BT you will need to speak to them first and find out what the hell they think they are doing!

This is what i'm fearing I'm with Sky, but as the line rental is with BT, I imagine that Sky will want to wash their hands of it ASAP and pass me across! Sky are giving me a ring back tonight, so I can let them know I've worked out what I think it may be at least, save troubleshooting the same 5 steps again and again (unplug each bit, and re plug it)

 

[GreiginFife]

This is, unfortunately, becoming more common as the telecoms landscape starts to creak at the seams with providers.
This is usually down to a reassignment of the connection at the exchange where a customer (not necessarily you) has changed provider (e.g. the Openreach engineer goes out to do the work at the exchange and buggers something up on another connection or unplugs your connection and attaches someone else's). Other issues can be the cause (line hi-jack/slamming but this is becoming less common as regulator panalties increase).

BT will need to be notified of the problem as they are the line provider so that it can be logged with Openreach. I wouldn't expect a swift turnaround though and expect it to take 48-72 hours.
There is nothing for Sky to "wash thier hands of" as they do not supply you the line connection. If your number is being connected to another property when you call it then no amount of troubleshooting is going to fix it. The voice and data tie pair at the exchange has been physically reallocated.

 

[woody69]

This is what i'm fearing I'm with Sky, but as the line rental is with BT, I imagine that Sky will want to wash their hands of it ASAP and pass me across! Sky are giving me a ring back tonight, so I can let them know I've worked out what I think it may be at least, save troubleshooting the same 5 steps again and again (unplug each bit, and re plug it)

Fingers crossed BT don't say you have to pay to reactivate the line. I would guess your line has been reassigned as they assumed it wasn't being used or something. The fact it is already being used by someone else suggests you just won't be able to get it back, which would mean the need to get a new number. You might want to mention it to Sky to see if they can do anything to help, otherwise you could be paying for broadband as well as a telephone you don't/can't use. Good luck, but anytime I have had to deal with BT customer services it has been a giant ball ache

 

[Odvan]

Aye, I wish you luck too. Had to deal with BT customer services recently and it was probably the most painstaking experience I have ever had whilst actually giving money to someone.