Taking over a phone line - Keeps getting rejected!

Hi all

I'm almost at the end of my tether right now. I moved house 6 weeks ago (into a rented house, the previous occupier was the landlady herself), and two weeks before that I contacted Plusnet about my home move. They said everything would be up and running on the 13th February. It came to that date and I was told that the current provider has rejected the takeover. Ok, things happen and they may not have wanted their phone line switched off during the moving process.

Since then, I've tried two more times to get this undertaken, and each time it gets rejected. The landlady knows that I've got the house, but when I call with the phone plugged in, in directs to a business number which seems to be operated by her partner. I've tried to get the Agent to contact the landlady (he wont give me her phone number) but he keeps coming up with excuses like "her phone is always switched off". I did "threaten" to contact the guys business directly, but the agent seemed very unhappy with that, and I don't want to pull that card unless its absolutely necessary.

In the meantime, is there anything I can do? I need a phone/internet working in my own house, and plusnet refuses to take any responsibility to help sort it out, its always "contact the previous provider", which I cant seem to do! Is there any way I can get the old line forcibly disconnected? Fed up with using a 3g dongle with awful speeds and high cost, and I can hardly get a signal on that or my mobile phone either which makes phone calls an outside job.

This doesn't directly help, but may progress things. The trouble is it seems the line is still being paid for, and in a way is in use, so the normal Tag removal system probably won't work.

Assuming it is BT Call Divert, you can get hold of the partner's number by using the phone in the house and dialling *#21#

You can also threaten, (via the agent), to turn off the call divert by dialling #21#

I don't think you should do the latter until desperate, and it wouldn't release the line for you to take over anyway.

How long you intend to stay there, as you may be able to get a free install of a second line from Plusnet? If there is trouble however you may have to leave earlier than planned.

Is there any mention in the lease of a phone service? It sounds like you need a landline phone anyway, not just for the broadband, and she is preventing you taking over the line. Which may be in her partner's name of course.

Edit - Ummm! I wonder if the partner owns the house and isn't aware she has let it?

Edited by RobertoS (Mon 24-Mar-14 14:23:55)

A thought...

If you are not actually paying for the voice line that is in the property, just order a second new line to the property. If using an Openreach landline, all this normally needs is an extra NTE5A master socket installed next to the existing one, as generally a spare pair runs to each house.

Which idea is what prompted "How long you intend to stay there, as you may be able to get a free install of a second line from Plusnet?" from me .

Assuming it is BT Call Divert, you can get hold of the partner's number by using the phone in the house and dialling *#21#

No, that will remove the divert. Just dialling 17070 should produce the current working lines number.

Yes? I was assuming he knew the number of the line, as he says calling it diverts to the partner's business.

My thought was that the person moved out and set the phone to divert to wherever the business is now run from. Stopping it would almost certainly cause a reaction, but also maybe a lot of "customer" calls who would also get angry. Which is why I suggested grabbing the target number first.

I get the distinct impression of a partnership breakdown.

The best course of action does have to be a new line and let that one do whatever the property owners want.