Still don't know why BT Retail changed FB's number but that is perhaps well outside the topic of this thread?

OK, let's go round in circles!

As the BT Basic application form expects you to be a BT a/c holder with a BT a/c #, it can only mean you need a BT Retail landline before they will allow you have a BT Retail Basic a/c with them.

Maybe it was not portable to BTw, being not originally issued by them?

In reply to a post by XRaySpeX:

OK, let's go round in circles!

As the BT Basic application form expects you to be a BT a/c holder with a BT a/c #, it can only mean you need a BT Retail landline before they will allow you have a BT Retail Basic a/c with them.

It could be the fact they you shouldn't have existing line unless it's with BT before you can have a BT Basic account .... This package is suppose to be for people who haven't got a phone line in the first place. all speculation tho! This is what they wanted they wouldn't agree to it any other way.

I'm surprised they let me have a third party broadband added to the package. soon as you mention Plusnet they back off....Hmmmm wonder why?

Did you complete the application for BT Basic before you were switched to a standard BT line rental package? XRaySpeX has pointed out that one needs a BT account (not merely a BT based land line account, i.e. Primus) before one can fully complete the form.

Primus do say also that phone numbers can not always be kept when switching to another provider.

In reply to a post by 4M2:

Did you complete the application for BT Basic before you were switched to a standard BT line rental package? XRaySpeX has pointed out that one needs a BT account (not merely a BT based land line account, i.e. Primus) before one can fully complete the form.

Primus do say also that phone numbers can not always be kept when switching to another provider.

Primus did not know of the switch or the cease of line when I phoned them... it's funny that Plusnet knew of this. I phoned Primus a few days before, they were completely unaware of what was happening.

Said not my fault you didn't know is it! ....
Reply was...... you're suppose to give us 30 days notice.....
answer: well Plusnet was made aware that the line was being disconnected from BT why wasn't you!

Primus answer : it's not are responsibility. I said well you got no choice because the lines being disconnected in 3 days .... he didn't seem to happy about it.


BT's agreement was I couldn't apply for before the BT Basic package until the New line with BT was connected. They said phone us up on the 20th and then we can sort out your application.

I wasn't going to take any risk of being overcharged so I phone them up on the 19th when the line was connected. done everything by the book but still feel like I got screwed over of incorrect billing and charges.

This is suppose to be for people who is in a hardship situation , how they can justify charging people at full rate 3 months in advance is beyond me.

Edited by deleted (Fri 09-Aug-13 23:28:25)

Did you give Primus 30 days notice regarding your intention to switch to BT Retail for line rental? If not that could explain the cease and reprovide/number change done by BT Retail.

In reply to a post by 4M2:

Did you give Primus 30 days notice regarding your intention to switch to BT Retail for line rental? If not that could explain the cease and reprovide/number change done by BT Retail.

No I didn't give Primus notice.... but it was all confirmed by BT before this happened that a cease & reprovide would have to take place for me to go on a BT Basic package.

In reply to a post by FurballB:

Primus did not know of the switch or the cease of line when I phoned them... it's funny that Plusnet knew of this. I phoned Primus a few days before, they were completely unaware of what was happening.

That's easy.

Primus just resell products from mainstream suppliers. There's two parts to the answer to that question.

When BT placed the line cease and reprovide order on Openreach, Openreach will have notified the existing mainstream supplier of your line. If you had been directly with that mainstream supplier, they would then have written to you, telling you they had become aware of the move away, and asking you if you wanted it to happen.

Although that gives them a chance to try to persuade you to stay, its main purpose is to prevent slamming. If you had no intention of moving your line, and it was being slammed, you simply tell them so and they are able to cancel the move ordered by whichever slamming provider it was.

As Primus weren't aware you were leaving, it seems the mainstream provider didn't tell them or you. Great - Not!

The second part is that as I've explained several times, the line cease order automatically creates a broadband cease order. Although you had told PlusNet the number was changing, you probably hadn't told them there was a cease and reprovide happening. You didn't know that the line cease would cause a broadband cease, so why would you think of telling them. Very few people would.

Unfortunately, there is a big difference between a change of line number that you told them about, and a cease of the line and broadband that happened.

PlusNet are a mainstream provider, unlike Primus. So when Openreach created the broadband cease order, it would show up on the Openreach history file for your line, and if PlusNet looked at that they would see it. Which they did at some stage. But I don't think they get alerted to that order in the same way as the line supplier does. Also, lots of broadband cease orders like that happen every day - almost every migration to Sky and TalkTalk, and many to C & W.

In reply to a post by RobertoS:

As Primus weren't aware you were leaving, it seems the mainstream provider didn't tell them or you.

That's a hole in the anti-slamming defences. The moral is if you want to be sure you never get your landline slammed, don't go with a landline reseller?