Sirbendy Posted February 23, 2008 Posted February 23, 2008 I've just got the keys to the new property we're moving to..the gas/leccy is on Smartcard (sorted), the water is based on RV (sorted), and the phone is..live. As in, I have a dialtone, but if I try to call out, I get "the number you have dialled has not been recognised". I can 1471, and it sounds like BT to me..the same messages and woman as my BT line here...but BT state the line in the new place was ceased in 2000.. 9 years is a long time to leave a ceased line operational, isn't it? So..how do I find out who provides the line? I can't find the number - I can't call my mobile or anyone else..is there any code I can use on the phone to state my number or reach assistance? Cheers guys and gals...I'm going to go and scrub the silicone off my hands..
powdarrmonkey Posted February 23, 2008 Posted February 23, 2008 Detective work around the phone point is best. If it's cable you'll see it coming into the house from the road. If it looks like a BT master socket, it probably is. is there any code I can use on the phone to state my number or reach assistance? 150 will get you an operator for BT, and I think it's the same for most other providers too.
Oops_my_bad Posted February 23, 2008 Posted February 23, 2008 Try 17070, what do you get when you dial that?
Joedetic Posted February 24, 2008 Posted February 24, 2008 I'd give bt a ring if you don't have the name of some cable company on the master socket. They should be able to tell you I would have thought.
torledo Posted February 24, 2008 Posted February 24, 2008 I'd give bt a ring if you don't have the name of some cable company on the master socket. They should be able to tell you I would have thought. i can't think of anyone other than BT and Virgin who are actually the providers of the physical telephone line...obviously a lot of companies handle billing of BT lines but they still have to go through BT for activation and reinstallation.
FN-GM Posted February 24, 2008 Posted February 24, 2008 Try 17070, what do you get when you dial that? What will happen?
Edu-IT Posted February 24, 2008 Posted February 24, 2008 What will happen? It's used for BT line tests. I think it's only meant to be used by engineers though.
Sirbendy Posted February 24, 2008 Author Posted February 24, 2008 Cheers guys! I'll give those a try. It's definetly a BT NTE5 master socket with the official BT piper logo. I removed the shredded remains of the extension from it...some tenants need shooting, they really do. It was the messiest, most badly executed phone extension I've ever seen.. I have water, power and gas bills..I know there have been at least 3 short term tenants before us, all ladies. The last was a family, who apparently did most of the damage to the house..tearing out walls, removing doors etc. Nowhere do I see a phone bill... It took me 2 hours yesterday to peice together and resurrect the garage door system - it looks like they were going to convert it to another room, and they had semi-dismantled it. They've also put a stud wall smack in the middle of the garage..that's coming down today. ;-) I'll tell you the worrying bit though...kids bedrooms, locks on the OUTSIDE. Holes booted in walls. The scariest bit is the under stairs cupboard..lots of kids writing on the walls...stories, times tables, "We Hide Here" etc...this place has a story.
Sirbendy Posted February 24, 2008 Author Posted February 24, 2008 I'd give bt a ring if you don't have the name of some cable company on the master socket. They should be able to tell you I would have thought. It seems not..all I got is "line was ceased in 2000..doesn't say who to though, sir..looks like there is no line in there now - the copper will have been reused by now, and it'll need a new line."
torledo Posted February 24, 2008 Posted February 24, 2008 It seems not..all I got is "line was ceased in 2000..doesn't say who to though, sir..looks like there is no line in there now - the copper will have been reused by now, and it'll need a new line." the copper gets reused surprising quickly after termination....hence you're lumbered with a 120 quid bill for them running a line back to the exchange if you want to reconnect. Worth it in my case for not having to go with Virgin, but the level of reconnection charge is a bit balls. it's a charge i'd like to see ofcom do something about for a change. i am really surprise that you're getting any dialtone whatsoever from a property that was disconnected in 2000.
Edu-IT Posted February 24, 2008 Posted February 24, 2008 I'll tell you the worrying bit though...kids bedrooms, locks on the OUTSIDE. Holes booted in walls. The scariest bit is the under stairs cupboard..lots of kids writing on the walls...stories, times tables, "We Hide Here" etc...this place has a story. Wow. I hope you like DIY. Sounds like you're going to be busy for a while!
tech_guy Posted February 24, 2008 Posted February 24, 2008 Wow. I hope you like DIY. Sounds like you're going to be busy for a while! Have you checked up in the loft? When we moved in here the bu@@ers had stuffed it full of all their rubbish. Took a few solicitors letters to sort it out.
DG01 Posted February 24, 2008 Posted February 24, 2008 It's quite clearly not been reused if you are getting a dialtone. Ring up BT and ask to speak to the Services Team/someone who knows what they're actually talking about. If they still say it isn't connected then ask them to send out an engineer from Openreach to address the issue. They'll babble on about an Engineers fee if you are wrong, but if you're receiving a dial tone you obviously aren't so it'll be wavered. The likelihood is that BT disconnected the use of the line but didn't actually have the line disconnected at the exchange - thus the restricted service - but a dial tone is existent.
Simcfc73 Posted February 24, 2008 Posted February 24, 2008 the copper gets reused surprising quickly after termination....hence you're lumbered with a 120 quid bill for them running a line back to the exchange if you want to reconnect. Worth it in my case for not having to go with Virgin, but the level of reconnection charge is a bit balls. it's a charge i'd like to see ofcom do something about for a change. i am really surprise that you're getting any dialtone whatsoever from a property that was disconnected in 2000. I moved about 3 months ago and BT were useless. I have never wasted so long on hold in my life. I argued about the fee but they wouldn't budge even thoguh the socket looks brand new. Ended up going to cable, free installation and cheaper line rental. The most annoying thing was BT rang me 5 times after I cancelled asking me if I was happy about with the installation, as you can imagine on the 5th occasion I was less than impressed.
mrcrazy04 Posted February 24, 2008 Posted February 24, 2008 When I moved in here I had a dialtone, with the "number not recognised" message no matter what I dialled (even 150!). I had to the £125 pay for a BT engineer to come out in the end, and it took a month for one to come out, as the guy didn't show on the first time, so I ended up at the back of the queue again, with another 2 week wait. I have no idea what the BT engineer did, as I was in a lecture at the time so the caretaker let him in. If Virgin Media did here, I would have gone with them, as I only wanted internet, but they do all the roads apart from my one!
Andrew_C Posted February 24, 2008 Posted February 24, 2008 I moved about 3 months ago and BT were useless.Me too. BT watned £120 for a reconnect (flick a switch in the exchange). NTL did it free, including digging up the pavement. From memory *#100# did something, but I'm damned if I can remember what! Or is that your own mobile number... There is definitely a way to get the exchange to ring back.
john Posted February 24, 2008 Posted February 24, 2008 The fee is set weather they have to run a cable or turn it on remotely which they can do now, so to get best VFM you dont want a line in and want them to do loads of work
Joedetic Posted February 24, 2008 Posted February 24, 2008 Yeah this was why we didn't get an ADSL line in my house the cost was too much to get a line fitted when we moved in.
Sirbendy Posted February 24, 2008 Author Posted February 24, 2008 Well, the 17070 gave me the test menu and a number for the line, but the line can't do outgoing or incoming, so it's a definite call to BT tomorrow! British Gas are in my bad books too..I put my new gascard in the meter, it took a few quid to replenish the emergency, and then a few more to "recover debt". The landlord did say he put a fiver on it..I was amazed it lasted 48 hours..that'd be why. The debt ate it, and the meter had been run down to 82p! Now, Debt...no, I have none of that.. British gas? Never been with you, ever. Never had gas before, either. Snotty call coming right up. I want my £3 back! Then my last call of the day will be to the gas engineer who's doing a fire fitment before we move in to say the 2 year old combi boiler is refusing to stay lit and goes into a "3 relight, shutdown, reset, reboot" loop, and the cooker doesn't hiss when you turn a knob, but groans and clicks very alarmingly instead.. To be fair, the landlord is a great guy and said "if the cooker is dead, I'll replace it for you. Call me 24 hours - I'm usually up at 5am.". As to the DIY..oh yes. I've got a giant tub of polyfilla and the old gascard as a spreader, 4 toolboxes of goodness, a HUGE tub of magnolia, 3 tubes of caulking, 3 of Silicone sealer, 2 lots of paint roller kit, 2 cordless 18v drill/drivers, 3 boxes of tiles, 4 spare floor tiles, and loads of adhesive and grout (left by landlord) and a large tub of axle grease with a big brush to grease up hinges, garage doors and anything else that can't run away. In one weekend we've filled all holes, fixed the garage, started painting all 3 bedrooms (got to love family), cut the hedges, tidied the garden and got most things ready to move in over the next fortnight. A nice break from the IT world indeed, but god do we hurt now..
plexer Posted February 25, 2008 Posted February 25, 2008 Sounds fun. Back to the phone line. With the line tests you can do they used to ring you back on the number you were calling on to report the results but now the BT puts it through to the engineers mobile instead to prevent people misusing the numbers. Ben
Scotmk Posted February 25, 2008 Posted February 25, 2008 I've just got the keys to the new property we're moving to..the gas/leccy is on Smartcard (sorted), the water is based on RV (sorted), and the phone is..live. As in, I have a dialtone, but if I try to call out, I get "the number you have dialled has not been recognised". I can 1471, and it sounds like BT to me..the same messages and woman as my BT line here...but BT state the line in the new place was ceased in 2000.. 9 years is a long time to leave a ceased line operational, isn't it? So..how do I find out who provides the line? I can't find the number - I can't call my mobile or anyone else..is there any code I can use on the phone to state my number or reach assistance? Cheers guys and gals...I'm going to go and scrub the silicone off my hands.. Thats normal, BT have activated your number and line, but it takes up to 24hours to actually activate, this happened to us when we moved.
Sirbendy Posted February 25, 2008 Author Posted February 25, 2008 The fight is over... The 17070 trick got me a number for the line, I called BT and told them the number, and it resolved to the address. Seems the Previous tenant took it away from BT, but closed their account in January..and now with that number, BT have agreed they can move my number to the new place and have it running in 24 hours, at no charge! So, one less issue hopefully! Once again, many thanks to all who've assisted - I was dreading sorting that mess out..
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