Openreach has messed up my landline

[#1]

I don't know if I should report this as it is a fault out of my control, also I am worried calls may appear on my outgoing list that are not made by me but could be charged to me.

I will explain, it seems Openreach are in the process of upgrading the landline cabinet that my line terminates in ready for a new FTTC cabinet to be added as our other two have reached capacity.

While doing this it seems he has inadvertently swapped, my line with another subscriber. I only discovered this during this evening when an Openreach support agent contacted me and asked if I had reported a fault. When he questioned me regarding my name etc it transpired he was calling the other subscriber number but I had answered and it was the other subscriber who had reported the fault.

It seems from his information it may take a few days before an engineer can be tasked to fix the problem (I guess the weekend is in the way). So any idea what if anything I should do (besides wait).

FTTC is still working fine so it seems the fault is in the incoming connection from the exchange rather than from the cabinet to me (thank goodness).

Regards, P.

[#2]

Can you dial 17070 on your land line. The number in the automated message should be yours.
If it's not you need to log a fault with Plusnet as you may end up being billed for someone else's calls.

[#3]

Thank you, so simple it was staring me in the face all the time.

Checked as you suggested and no it’s not my number so will log it as a fault with Plusnet just in case.

Thanks, P.

[#4]

Well this is really, really silly, I can’t report the fault by mobile as the wait time is 30 min or more and trying to report it via the website either takes me to a broadband fault reporter or when I eventually found the landline fault reporting page (thank goodness for Google) it insists it runs a line check.

It’s a crossed line what the hell would it need a line check for, I’ve given up, I will just have to hope the other person doesn’t call the speaking clock in Aus or somewhere LOL.

If anyone from Plusnet does read this by chance just note my landline is out of use by me from lunch time yesterday until further notice. You have my mobile if you need to contact me.

Regards, P.

[#5]

Hello there.

Sorry to hear you're having problems with your landline.

If your run the phone line test online and if it detects an external fault it'll automatically report the fault to Openreach and it'll raise an open ticket on your account here: https://www.plus.net/wizard/?p=search

I hope this helps

Anoush

[#6]

@Gandalf

A phone line test won't detect a crossed line unless it checks that the call is coming from the expected number for the account. Does it do that? If not will it still raise a ticket?

[#7]

Exactly jelv, as far as I understand the line test will only detect an actual fault not a ‘crossed line’, the line test will just check the line to the other persons phone so would achieve nothing.

The line is working fine as is broadband it just has the wrong number allocated to it.

[#8]

I've definitely known a line test to detect a crossed line, so it's worth running the test in my opinion.

EDIT:

It only takes about 45 seconds, and we'd have to run the test anyway in order to book an engineer or raise a fault.

Let us know how you get on with the test.

[#9]

OK this thread is getting out of hand so I will go through it one step at a time so everyone I hope is clear.

Yesterday (Friday) at around 12 O’clock I lost all connection to both landline and broadband, being the inquisitive type and the box a short walk out to the main B road I took a walk to investigate.

I found a ‘Contractor’ working on behalf of Openreach ‘Upgrading’ our cabinet, put simply, he was attaching a new twisted pair of tails to each line then extending them to a new connection panel one at a time.

At some time while doing this he managed to connect my pair to someone else’s outgoing line and the other subscriber’s to mine.

On returning home my broadband was back ‘up’ and as far as I was concerned my landline was working (how many people check 17070 they have the right number LOL).

At 8:40 last night I received a call from Openreach support asking if I had reported a fault, during the conversation we arrived at the conclusion the lines had been swapped.

Openreach support have logged the fault and there is nothing for anyone at Plusnet to do, their contractor mucked it up and they will fix it OK, if I also log a 'fault' it will only confuse things and cause even more problems.

All I wanted to do was log the ‘problem’ with someone at Plusnet so if in the future I needed to dispute any calls made against my number during this time they would have record of it, Simple, not if you’re a Plusnet customer it seems.

I mean what if the other number (I do know it now) is a business or someone with a couple of teenage daughters who spend all day talking to their friends (not likely these days as they all have mobiles to keep Mum and Dad at bay LOL), but you get my drift.

Anyway, there is nothing for Plusnet to do just note the times and dates so my bill is mine and not someone else’s.

Nothing more to say lets leave it at that, Regards. P

[#10 · Accepted solution]

Update for anyone interested, Openreach called this morning at 8:07 to say engineer dispatched to fix problem.

It seems my line was not exactly crossed but the other subscriber had both numbers (well both tail pairs) attached to his landline.

All fixed now so have ticked the box for fixed, no worries about any extra calls as the other subscriber does not use the landline for calls at all, he didn’t even have a phone to check the line, but had reported a broadband speed fault.

Regards, P.

[#11]

That's good to hear.