Can I recover my phone number my new ISP lost in the port?

Vodafone applied new phone number without telling me and say they can't now retrieve my old, really memorable number I've had for over 20 years as it's now in quarantine.

Anyone able to advise so I don't get fobbed off? The number's worth more than a good deal for 12 months but I want to know what's possible before throwing any toys out of the pram.

Thanks in advance

Potentially, the number could be allocated out quickly if you're in a busy exchange area.

Unfortunately you don't own a phone number.

In reply to a post by SoSlo:

Vodafone applied new phone number without telling me and say they can't now retrieve my old, really memorable number I've had for over 20 years as it's now in quarantine.

Anyone able to advise so I don't get fobbed off? The number's worth more than a good deal for 12 months but I want to know what's possible before throwing any toys out of the pram.

Thanks in advance

Theoretically yes it is possible - you'll need to speak to your original phone line provider though, and see if you can find someone sympathetic. I imagine you'd need to take a new line and have the number restored to it via that provider.

OR

You need to try and force Vodafone to resolve it - but I suspect that might be even harder.

It's possible, you just need to speak to someone who knows their stuff - ASSUMING the number is still available in the pool.

So, the sooner you act, the better.

Who was your telephone with before you moved to Vodafone?

Might be worth reading this http://www.revk.uk/2016/05/fun-with-numbers.html

Thanks for the replies so far folks and apologies if this appears like a reply to just this bit of advice - I've not used a forum with this structure before.

VF referred me back to BT yesterday, but the immediate and possibly convenient answer from India (local knowledge might have been more reassuring) was that it was not possible.

Today VF say that they'll get their interface dept who deal with Openreach involved and hope to come back to me today or Monday. In the meantime I called Plusnet who I have a separate landline account with at a remote address that can't sustain ADSL at > 200kbps (I use satellite there now) and they sounded optimistic but would not guarantee. BUT, they can only pursue once you have a line and activation, and presumably the sales guy gets his sale (good offer ends on Tues so maybe a silver lining to my cloud). Perhaps I'm cynical.

BT sent me this "spilled milk" bunkum which is factually incorrect (I didn't pay upfront landline) and reminds me of a jealous ex. They also sent an email with the header saying I had to return the equipment then respectfully suggesting it might be a nice green idea...


Goodbye
We're sorry to see you go, but we hope you were happy with the service we provided while you were with us and hope to welcome you back someday soon.

For now, here are some things you need to know.

These are the services that have stopped:

BT phone line
BT Broadband
BT TV


These services have also stopped:

Unlimited Weekend Calls
BT Privacy at Home
BT Privacy Caller Display 12 months offer
BT Sport Pack
BT TV Starter subscription
AMC Channel and On Demand


A note about your bill
If you're cancelling everything with us, we'll send you a final bill within seven days of you telling us (or you can look for it by logging in at bt.com/mybt). We'll take this payment in the same way we took your previous payments. So, if you've been paying by Direct Debit or Monthly Payment Plan, please don't cancel it until we've taken your final payment. This means the credit or debit balance you have can go towards your final bill, and you'll get any refund due to you faster by Direct Debit than cheque. If you're keeping something, you'll carry on getting your usual bills.

Other things to know

We can't refund your upfront payment for BT Line Rental Saver
You've paid up to £194.28 in advance for 12 months' line rental. Because you're leaving before that 12 month period has ended, we can't refund any of it as it was a special discount for paying upfront.

You'll lose BT Sport and BT TV when you stop your broadband
BT TV is only available with BT broadband, so you'll lose it when your broadband stops. And because you've got BT Sport on BT TV, you'll lose that at the same time.

If you want to get BT Sport again, you can get it without BT broadband for £19.99 (changing to £21.99 from 3 July 2016) a month, plus a one-off activation fee, on the Sky Digital Satellite Platform. To find out more, go to bt.com/sport

Because you're stopping your broadband, you'll also lose your:

free BT Wi-fi - unlimited broadband away from home at more than 5 million Wi-fi hotspots in the UK and over 9 million abroad
free BT Protect - helps prevent infection from viruses, scams and phishing whenever you're browsing online using your BT broadband connection
free BT Parental Controls - helps to keep your family safe online
free BT Cloud storage - online storage space, to upload, protect and share your most important files


If you don't want to miss out on these exclusive benefits, just call us on 0800 800 150 before midday on xx Jun 2016.

If you use BT NetProtect Plus to stay safe online
It'll stop when your broadband stops. And if you pay for BT NetProtect Plus, you'll need to cancel your monthly BT NetProtect Plus payments - they won't stop automatically. To stop your payments, call 0800 800 150.

About your BT TV purchases
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You'll always be important to us, so if you change your mind and decide to come back to BT, you can be sure of a warm welcome. Just call us on 0800 800 150.

Yours sincerely,

Libby Barr
Managing Director, Customer Care

Been busy trying to recover the situation but I'll have a look a this useful

Fantastic vid RevK. Think he was the cousin of "Mark Spencer" who called us a lot. I strung him along before asking him to confim my laptop's MAC address since he could allegedly "see" my laptop was compromised. Enough bull to enjoy reeling the guy in and stop him hassling someone else. Great fun too....

Reassuring that the number pool can be quite stagnant especially on a small exchange.

I'm told there can be a number of reasons BT won't allow a number port, but the bill was paid by DD in full and never late. I just wonder if ending the contract 1 month early under the "price increase" break facility caused them to be "awkward" as retribution.

Did I say I was cynical....?