Atrocious service!!

[#1]

Beware ..I have now has now been without a business phone service for 5 days. I made the mistake of transferring from another provider and was told the hand over would take hours ..it's now been 5 days and the last person I spoke to says it can take another 5 days!

The problem appears to be porting my old number across and as nice as the Plusnet agents are they lack the knowledge and tools to solve the problem.

The irony is when people call my number rather than being told there  is a fault they are transferred to Plusnet voicemail which I or nor anybody else can access.

It really is a catalogue of errors with no light at the end of the tunnel....but only fair to warn others

[#2]

@Phil3 The UK number porting system is really not fit for purpose in this day and age but would require OFCOM to get some teeth and tell the mobile operators to sort it out, and that's unlikely to happen anytime soon. This explains a little https://www.theregister.co.uk/2017/07/20/uk_number_porting_creaks_as_arcane_system_shows_its_age/

Basically the number port process is largely manual and involves the transfer of files between the new operator and the old ( and possibly any other operator that the number has EVER been with!). When it works, it's fine, but when there is any error in the data being transferred, you get the situation you're in , a 'split port'.  It can be a nightmare to find the error and requires ALL the network operators involved in the port to cooperate.  I suspect when MVNO's (like PlusNet) are involved it's can get even more complicated, as both they and the main network operator(EE) are required to be part of the port process.

I realise that doesn't actually help with your situation but may help to explain why it's difficult for anyone to give a timescale to fix the problem.

This probably isn't what you want to hear either, but TBH for a business phone I would never recommend using an MVNO supplier, stick to the main network providers!. It's usually against the T's & C's of MVNO's anyway to use the account for business use.

[#3]

I'd like to first apologise for the delay, Phil3 - please do PM me if you'd like a singular point of contact on this.

I'd also like to thank @MisterW for his thorough reply: unfortunately he is spot-on in his information regarding the porting process, as frustrating as this can be. He's also correct in that our Terms and Conditions prohibit business use.