Sky changed landline number but old number is still available. Need old number back

[Bconnolly]

I just moved to a new contract with Sky. The address previously also used Sky for 3 years prior. I wanted to keep the landline number as it's the only number I've had at this address and been here over 50years

This number is attached to all doctors, hospitals etc which are very important given there are people of 60 and 70+ living here.

I rang Sky and they told me that the old number is gone and that in any case, even if it wasn't gone it wouldn't have been possible for Sky to change the landline in this scenario ( Sky to Sky). This seems incredibly strange that Sky wouldn't have access to their own phone numbers.

I have been in contact with a friend working in networks who researched the old number and has confirmed that the number is being ported by sky and that there is a 30 day period after the old contract would end before that number moves on elsewhere. Further to this, they said the number is currently not in use and there is no reason why it couldn't be taken and applied to my new account.

Has anyone any advice for trying to get this done? Or any experience with the same situation? The call I made to Sky they were quite adamant that the number was gone and likely being used already by another customer, which I have now shown to not be the case.

Again I can't stress enough how much we want the old number back. Had this been made clear at the time of registration we would not have gone with sky again.

[Mark39]

I'm unclear why your number was changed if you had unbroken landline service from Sky. Did you upgrade your broadband package and now have internet calls?

[Bconnolly]

@Mark Hi Mark, the house was changed over to full fibre "FTTP" and previous contract was in wifes name. Was advised to go with new contract as it was cheaper and no longer wanted sky Q  

[Mark39]

@Bconnolly ah, that would explain it. We've seen previous reports of customers losing their number as a consequence of upgrading their broadband service. Whether it's universal or there's some technical reason behind it, I don't know.

Your old number will have been returned to the pool of unused numbers where it remains for a period before being re-used. Unfortunately Sky don't have the ability to retrieve a number from the unused pool, so I'm afraid it's lost.

[Bconnolly]

@Mark39  That's really disappointing. So a limitation of Sky that they can't pick a specific number from the pool then?

With Sky not having the ability to get the number (I'll be honest I'm still a bit baffled as to why), would it be possible to cancel and go with another provider to get the number back? 

Just a bit beyond my knowledge, and considering the contact in networks had confirmed the number was sitting there etc, is it possible (to your knowledge) for me to cancel the new sky contract (in cooling off period) and go with another provider in order to obtain the number again?

Thanks for the help

[Bconnolly]

Sorry I've doubled up on one of the questions in that last message

[Mark39 · Accepted solution]

@Bconnolly I imagine you could cancel as you're within your cooling off period - you don't have to specify why. Whether or not another provider would be able to retrieve your number, I don't know. I believe I've seen posted before that BT might be able to, but it would be best to check with them directly. 

[Bconnolly]

Many thanks for your help @Mark39 . I will investigate with BT but likely just have to stick with the new number I'd imagine. Hassle either way! 🙂