Switching broadband and phone

I have just decided to switch my broadband and phone provider, Plusnet for Zen.
The new switching process seemed simple when I read it but already I have hit a snag. Zen has emailed me to say my broadband order has been cancelled by BT as they will only allow one order to progress at a time and as my phone line switch has started first that will have to complete before the switch of my Broadband can proceed.
Apparently nothing can be done about this so it will now take at least 21 days for my new broadband service to go live. This is more than a little annoying as it is my poor Broadband service from Plusnet that has prompted the move.
Have others come across this switching snag?

Is PlusNet doing both phone and broadband now, or is BT your voice line rental provider?

Plusnet was doing both.

In which case should have gone smoothly as per processes, but without seeing what orders the new provider has placed hard to say for sure.

Under old system this was not uncommon, and as a lot of the back end systems are still the same some providers may still be doing stuff the old ways.

Ofcom General Condition 22.14, September 2014

22.14 Where a Gaining Provider elects to co-ordinate a Communications Provider Migration on behalf of a Customer who has requested a transfer of Broadband and Fixed-line Telecommunications Services to be provided by it over the same line, it shall ensure that, where applicable, an order is submitted to Openreach, where available, for the simultaneous transfer with minimal loss of service of both Communications Services.

That's what is called (for short) a SIM Transfer. It needs the gaining ISP to submit an Order to Openreach asking for a SORN (Simultaneous Order Number). They then submit that special type of order number with their order for the move of the other service.

Openreach then have a mechanism to match the two and do them on the same day.

It sounds as though Zen just submitted two independent orders.

In reply to a post by RobertoS:

It sounds as though Zen just submitted two independent orders.

Yep. And then the ISP will proceed to blame BT since, well, the customer can't prove otherwise.

Thank you all for your replies.
I have emailed Zen with the info contained in RobertoS post for their comments and will update the post if they reply.
I am now thinking if they cannot get the first step right then maybe I should cancel.
Maybe as usual I have been over confident that the new switching process would work.

Don't forget what MrSaffron said, "Under old system this was not uncommon". Some ISPs never did seem to really get the hang of SIM transfers. They've existed for years.

In reply to a post by Oliver341:

In reply to a post by RobertoS:

It sounds as though Zen just submitted two independent orders.

Yep. And then the ISP will proceed to blame BT since, well, the customer can't prove otherwise.

Except in this case the ISP has said "broadband order has been cancelled by BT as they will only allow one order to progress at a time ..."

Normal behaviour if you try to migrate broadband when phone is already moving and not using sim or lorn process