Quote:
Originally Posted by weemax
Thank for the help Paul, i wont bore you with the ins & outs too much. I lost my job & home last year after being diagnosed with terminal cancer. my daughter pays for my internet as she works away in New Zealand 7 I can video talk with her. I cannot afford it myself & i will not pay anymore for this awful service.
Its not the broadband they cant provide - im on it & its working, its just thy cannot take over my line for calls, now they eant to cancel.
I really need to get speaking to someone in Newcastle. Is there anyway I can get through to Newcastle?
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This has always been the case. Back in the 90s BT had big problems with people subscribing to the Light User Scheme (the predecessor of BT Basic) and then using carrier access codes to make their calls on someone else's network. BT was practically giving the line away, and then making nothing out of it because those customers weren't then making any BT-chargeable calls on the line.
They eventually got wise to this, and blocked access to all the third party carrier access codes on lines that were subscribed to the light user scheme. We were caught out by this, and had to switch onto one of their regular packages in order to continue to use our carrier of choice. It actually got rather more expensive for us at that point, which was one of the triggers for us to go and get NTL cable instead, but that's another story!
It seems that BT has the same rules in play today for its Basic service. This service gives you a line for a very low rental, but then BT makes that up with higher call charges. If you are not going to make any BT-chargeable calls on the line, then they naturally won't be happy with this arrangement. These days, instead of manually tapping in an access code to make your calls on a third party network, you can opt for 'carrier pre-selection', where all your calls are automatically routed onto your chosen provider's network. In this case, you want to choose Virgin. However, the rules are the same whether you use a manual access code or carrier pre-selection; if you have a BT Basic line, you are not allowed to route your outgoing calls on to a third party.
Now, there is absolutely no reason why you cannot have Virgin ADSL on this line and continue to make your calls on BT Basic. I have Virgin ADSL but I don't route my phone calls through them. Virgin may not be able to complete your order for a phone/ADSL package due to the line being on BT Basic, but they should be able to have you as an ADSL-only customer, just as I am. You need to give them a call and tell them that BT Basic is more important to you than having a Virgin phone line is, and ask them to switch you to one of their ADSL-only packages. You may pay slightly more for the ADSL but so far as I can see it's the only way round this.