Braudband canceled early

[#1]

So I woke this morning to no internet.  Once I got to work, I phoned Plusnet and was told my account has been cancelled.  Next weekend I'm moving my braudband to Fibrus.  Plusnet cancelled my braudband today, because I moved my phone number to a different provider.

I called Plusnet previously to check what would happen if I moved the phone to one company and the braudband to a different company.  The advice I was given was to move the phone number first, because if the braudband was moved first, I would likely lose the number.

On advice from Plusnet, I moved the number first, today (Monday), with the braudband moving this Saturday.  Now I have a week with no phone or internet and my house is in a mobile black spot.

I don't see why Plusnet needed to cancel today, yet alone on the fibre install date.  The copper and fibre are on different networks, so the copper could have been left connected.

Plus net told me its impossible to get the service re-connected.  So, who is at fault here?  What can I do?

[#2]

Sadly what you have done is ill-advised as moving a phone number does indeed cancel any associated broadband service.

There are many many threads on here warning very clearly to NOT do that unless that's what you want to achieve.

If you were advised to do that by PlusNet then they are at fault, the advice was 100% wrong.

You normally have 30 days to transfer a phone number after the service is terminated by a broadband change, though in the meanwhile you will probably have a few days with no phone service.

Where did you move your phone number/service to?

[#3]

Sadly, @HPsauce , this is not the first time this totally incorrect 'advice' has been given.

@James_B Do first-line agents need reminding - again?

[#4]

@squitter 

The advice I was given was to move the phone number first, because if the braudband was moved first, I would likely lose the number.

as both other posters have said , the advice was totally incorrect!. I'm afraid it isnt possible to get your phone service back, but you SHOULD be able to transfer the tphone number to your new supplier. I suggest you contact them to check that they will transfer a 'ceased' number as they may not be expecting that.

Meanwhile I would raise a formal complaint with Plusnet, there's a link to the complaints process at the bottom of every forum page. 

[#5]

@squitter
If you don't get a satisfactory response from Plusnet you could raise it with Ofcom via their complaints service.

This practice may breach Ofcom’s General Conditions, specifically:

GC C1 – Accurate and transparent information:
Customers are being given advice that is factually incorrect and contrary to standard migration procedures.

GC C7 – Switching and porting:
Customers are being misinformed about number porting in a way that leads to unintended service cessation.
HTH

[#6]

Thanks for the replies.

So if I had set up the broadband and phone number to change on the same day, there would have been no risk of losing the number, as I was led to believe.

Phone number was moved to WebMate.  They were very helpful getting my work number setup, even on a phone that wasn't supported by their commissioning.  Broadband is going to Fibrus.  Fibrus stuck a new telegraph poll at the corner or my garden and their FTTP speeds should be fantastic compared to what I'm getting at the moment.  When I originally got FTTC my speeds were 65Mbps down and 20Mbps up.  Now I get just over 40Mbps down and under 10Mbps up and it feels to get slower every day.

So for now, I'll need to either be without internet, or borrow the backup 4G router from work and see if that will get a signal.

The annoying thing is I asked WebMate and PlusNet about switching the number to a separate provider than the broadband.  WebMate was worried the broadband might get cancelled, but PlusNet was worried I'd lose the number.

[#7]

@squitter "So if I had set up the broadband and phone number to change on the same day, there would have been no risk of losing the number, as I was led to believe." Probably it would go wrong, all the advice in this forum is to do nothing about transferring the phone until the broadband transfer/cease releases the number.

That said, if you're moving to two new and separate providers with different technology there's nothing (apart from possible extra costs due to overlap) to stop you getting the new broadband installed and working, set up an account with the new VOIP supplier then initiate the phone transfer which will automatically terminate the old broadband.

(I did something similar when moving from phone/ADSL to VOIP/FTTC by asking for a new line to be installed - safer but had a small additional cost)