Dear Help Squad,
Please help me get my home office phone number back. I am calling Comcast and getting nowhere!
In June I went to make a phone call from my home office and the line was dead, so I decided to call it. A man answered. Upon my asking, he said he had ordered a landline from AT&T that was installed on June 14. I confirmed that his number was [my number]. I told him this has been my number for 12 years; it’s on all my websites and printed collateral. He said, “It is my number now,” and hung up.
I called Comcast and explained the problem. They looked up my file and said your husband ported the number out. I said he did not! It’s fraud!
I arranged a three-way call between Comcast, AT&T and myself but AT&T would not work with me as I was not their customer. They stood behind their customer – the man with MY PHONE NUMBER!
So I decided if I can’t beat them, I will join them, and I switched to AT&T in September. Today I still do not have my number back. The man who has my number put a freeze on it, so it’s untouchable.
And that’s my story – a nightmare!
Jackie,
Naperville
Help Squad worked on this one for three weeks. We left messages for several Comcast and AT&T employees. We received a call back from a Comcast salesperson who had spent hours working on Jackie’s issue. At one point she successfully reinstated Jackie’s number only to have it vanish again five days later This salesperson stated that she had seen other Comcast customers’ numbers disappear and wind up with AT&T.
Help Squad decided to contact the FCC for assistance. After speaking with the Consumer & Government Affairs Bureau, a formal complaint was opened via Consumer Inquiries & Complaints. Jackie was notified: “Your complaint … will be served to AT&T and Comcast regarding the porting of your telephone number …. Once the complaint is served, the carriers have 30 days to respond to us in writing and they will also mail you a copy of their response.”
Next we received a call from Comcast Director of Communications Joe Trost. What Joe discovered was that on June 3, via a third party number-porting vendor, Comcast received an authorized request from AT&T to port Jackie’s number from Comcast to AT&T. Hmmm, that was interesting.
Upon contacting AT&T’s media relations department, Help Squad was informed that AT&T didn’t “have any info to share just yet.” And then that AT&T was “investigating the issue and … working to find the best solution.”
In the meantime, Jackie was contacted by AT&T’s Office of the President and its Appeals & Escalation team and told that she would have her number back by the end of the week.This was great news!
Then, the next day, Jackie was informed by AT&T that her number had just been … returned to Comcast! What?!
Re-enter Comcast’s Joe Trost. Help Squad contacted him immediately upon hearing that Jackie’s number was now back with Comcast. Joe quickly secured the number and requested that it be installed at Jackie’s home – which it was, two days later. Jackie then requested the number be ported from Comcast to AT&T.
And here is where things took yet ANOTHER turn. Jackie was told by AT&T that her returning landline would now have to be installed as a business line. This made no sense as it had never been a business line before. At this point, Jackie decided that since her landline had been returned thanks to Comcast’s efforts, and her family preferred Comcast’s premium TV channels, she would switch all of her services back to Comcast (more than a month after switching everything to AT&T).
In response, AT&T issued the following statement: “AT&T worked with the impacted customer to move the phone number back to the customer’s prior provider. We are very sorry … for the inconveniences that AT&T caused.” An odd solution considering that Jackie was an AT&T customer and wanted her number to stay with AT&T.
As of today, Jackie is a Comcast customer again and her phones, internet and cable are all working. AT&T refunded her installation and service charges, and Comcast waived all of its installation fees. Jackie and Help Squad are now waiting to learn what the FCC uncovers about this whole perplexing episode!
Need help? Let Help Squad make the call for you. Send your letters, your complaints, your injustices and your story ideas to HelpSquad@pioneerlocal.com and we will be happy to help you.