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Irratecaller · 25-01-2014, 11:34 AM

I made the mistake of moving back from Chess Telecom to DamTel. Our line has been blocked since 4pm yesterday (Friday) and 18 hours later we still cannot make or receive calls! Without our phoneline we have lost a phenomenal amount of business as the weekend is the busiest for us. DamTel initially told us it is a fault and they are working on it but it's evident the line is blocked/barred and they now I have been trying to call them for the past 12 hours but do not answer the phone. We now have a line that is in limbo. I fear the company might even have gone bust so no idea what will happen with our line. Is anyone else in the same position? Can anyone shine any light on this situation? What happens to a phone line when a telecoms provider goes under? Please can anyone help, I am so stressed out at the moment.

**mirdragon** · 25-01-2014, 04:12 PM

What makes you think the company has gone bust and which company?

Irratecaller · 25-01-2014, 05:11 PM

DamTel aka Dam Telecommunications. Our line has been disconnected for 24 hours now. I managed to get hold of them immediately after the problem occured and they said there was a fault at the exchange but I know that to be a lie. Dialling any number (except emergency calls) gives "The number you have dialled has not been recognised". When you try to dial in into that line it gives "This number does not receive incoming calls". This I know occurs when the line has been disconnected. It is not a billing issue as I have only just moved over from Chess to them so haven't even recieved any bills yet. A couple hours after I got through to them they stopped answering their supposed 24/7 hotline. It just goes to voicemail but does not let you leave a message because their mailbox is full.

**mirdragon** · (This post was last modified: 25-01-2014 08:17 PM by mirdragon.)

it maybe that the switch-over did not go smoothly, how do you know it's not a problem with openreach - did chess disconnect you early - just because you have a fault on your line doesn't mean to say that the company has gone bust. a lot of these mistakes happen when switching providers and one reason after the issues I had when using one-tel then switched to talktalk and back to BT I will never switch my line from BT in the future.

Even when I left DR, I had a new line installed to ensure it worked fine and was not without a service and then had old line disconnected fully.

Irratecaller · 25-01-2014, 09:33 PM

(25-01-2014 08:16 PM)mirdragon Wrote: just because you have a fault on your line doesn't mean to say that the company has gone bust. a lot of these mistakes happen when switching providers

I just said I feared they might have gone bust - I do not know for sure. I was moved from Chess last month to DamTel so it's not as if was disconnected too early. My concern arises because they are not answering calls (even at 1am, 3am etc I still cannot get through to their 24/7 hotline) and they claimed it was a fault at the exchange when clearly the line is blocked (as confirmed by a BT engineer).

**mirdragon** · 26-01-2014, 01:48 PM

The way your original post came across was that you had only just moved as you never stated when you had switched.

Have you tried their sales number or normal numbers?
Which BT Engineer told you it was blocked? Have you spoken to them directly as usually you have to go through your provider

I did notice on their website that they change your service level care to level 3 which means faults should be investigated within 4 hours. This is not the highest care and should get the fault repaired within 24 hours - see here for more information

Are you in any specific contract with Damtel, if not have you thought about switching back to BT. If you are in a contract and as a business can you break that contract?

This is one reason why won't change provider, even though BT CS can be a pain at least I'm not having to go through a third-party to get it resolved.

Irratecaller · 26-01-2014, 04:49 PM

I've tried every number they have. Same no answer and full mailbox. As a last resort I even visited their registered address but noone there. I was so desperate, I called BT and although they could not assist me, they said the error messages I get arises when a block has been placedonto the line, it is not a fault. I have not signed anything, they just called us and asked us to switch from Chess to them and that they would do all the work. To date, I have not seen any paperwork from Damtel and cannot contact them to at all. I am at a loss.

**mirdragon** · 26-01-2014, 07:04 PM

How easy is it for you to get a new line installed with BT, it will mean switching numbers as well - you may also have to speak to ofcom regarding the problems - also during switching you should get some form of documentation through as I'm sure you have a cancellation period.

Are you saying you went to London to their registered address or do they have a local one in South Yorkshire

Looking at DamTel information via internet they changed company director's and registered address earlier this month and they have only been in operation from November 2012 (based on company check)

Irratecaller · 26-01-2014, 08:18 PM

Don't really want to switch number as we have been in business for over 40 years with the same number (albeit with the "1" added to the dialling code many years ago) They moved office to Southend, Essex last year and is where they called me from to switch to them. I made the mistake of thinking of helping a local company. Do you now how a company switches your line from one to another? I am thinking of asking Chess to switch back to them...if DamTel doesn't respond, can they still obtain my line from them?

**mirdragon** · 26-01-2014, 08:50 PM

I'm not sure as it's about 8 years since I switched my line back to BT - I can't advise of if Chess can do it or not, you will need to speak to them - the only reason they are listed on the forum is because they took over littlebigone who were an isp on the digital region network.