Landline Phone Down? Good Luck

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mso489

Lifer
Feb 21, 2013
41,210
60,433
My landline went dead, no dial tone. I called the toll free repair number and was on hold for a hour listening to elevator music with static. One tech advisor, then another, said this wasn't their job and passed me along. I was in the phone company's store, and the one staff person there was helpful, let me stay on his landline phone. Eventually, supposedly, I was talking to the landline repair people, but the line was spotty. This is a phone company, mind you. She asked for the number I was at, and I gave it to her so she could call back. She didn't. Since they can't or won't help, I am down to calling the state utilities commission, and maybe visiting the fire department to see if they have a back door way to contact the repair crew.

In short, landline repair services are dead. I just paid about a hundred bucks monthly bill for this service. I now have a minimalist "smart phone," and will use that to try to get my landline dial tone back, so the cordless phones in my house work.

I doubt I need to name the company involved. It is one of the old outfits that is now straggling in the cell phone, cable TV and wifi services industry while they let their older revenue stream fade.
 
Jan 30, 2020
1,850
6,088
New Jersey
Who is your provider? Mine has been bought and rebought a couple times in the past few years but I've still been able to get to tech support on the few rare cases it goes down.
 
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shanez

Lifer
Jul 10, 2018
5,188
24,083
49
Las Vegas
I haven't had a landline in probably 20 years. I just use a cell phone.

If you have cable internet you can set your smart phone to call on your wifi without using any of your cell service plan.
 

Jan 30, 2020
1,850
6,088
New Jersey
Your cell service won't really work in the event of an emergency that impacts an entire area. That's why we keep ours. Emergency services get priority on registered devices, and everyone else gets bottle necked.

There was a major outage this past summer that impacted a bunch of major carriers. I was still able to cal. my parents landline to landline on the other side of town. $20 a month absolutely worth it.
 

anotherbob

Lifer
Mar 30, 2019
15,677
29,395
45
In the semi-rural NorthEastern USA
My landline went dead, no dial tone. I called the toll free repair number and was on hold for a hour listening to elevator music with static. One tech advisor, then another, said this wasn't their job and passed me along. I was in the phone company's store, and the one staff person there was helpful, let me stay on his landline phone. Eventually, supposedly, I was talking to the landline repair people, but the line was spotty. This is a phone company, mind you. She asked for the number I was at, and I gave it to her so she could call back. She didn't. Since they can't or won't help, I am down to calling the state utilities commission, and maybe visiting the fire department to see if they have a back door way to contact the repair crew.

In short, landline repair services are dead. I just paid about a hundred bucks monthly bill for this service. I now have a minimalist "smart phone," and will use that to try to get my landline dial tone back, so the cordless phones in my house work.

I doubt I need to name the company involved. It is one of the old outfits that is now straggling in the cell phone, cable TV and wifi services industry while they let their older revenue stream fade.
you poor guy. When that happened to me I was on the phone for less then five minutes. Got a tech out later that afternoon and as a bonus the guy was hilarious too while stay professional.
 
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mso489

Lifer
Feb 21, 2013
41,210
60,433
One aspect of the problem, but by means the only issue, is that these companies don't fund their customer services staffs, and to the l limited degree they do, they can't staff them with appropriate people or anyone at all. Same problem with many medical practices. It's interesting (if that's the word) that in this time of so many technical means to solve problems, there simply aren't the people to make it happen. So we end up with less capability rather than more.
 

woodsroad

Lifer
Oct 10, 2013
11,569
15,218
SE PA USA
One aspect of the problem, but by means the only issue, is that these companies don't fund their customer services staffs...
The answer to your problem is simple:

Disconnect your copper landline. Use your cell phone. One number, always with you. If you feel that you must have phones scattered around the house, then use the phone service that is offered by your cable company. It works just like a landline, you can't tell the difference, except that it comes in on the same cable as your TV and internet.

You do have cable internet, right?
 
The answer to your problem is simple:

Disconnect your copper landline. Use your cell phone. One number, always with you. If you feel that you must have phones scattered around the house, then use the phone service that is offered by your cable company. It works just like a landline, you can't tell the difference, except that it comes in on the same cable as your TV and internet.

You do have cable internet, right?
He can't respond right away. I have to print this out and mail it to him. puffy