This isn't a request for a number but for advice.   My son & his fiancee bought a house last autumn and have now found jobs in the area enabling them to move in before their wedding at the end of the month.   As they will now be living there, they want to re-activate the phone line (the house had been empty for over a year before they bought it).    They rang BT who were totally unhelpful (am I surprised??) and said the line rental hadn't been with them and that was all they would say, they claim not to know to whom rental had been paid previously.  This seems odd as, with gas and electricity, one can contact the preferred supplier and they make all the necessary arrangements.   Not only have BT failed to help, they don't even seem to be interested in getting my son's business!

Does anyone know whom my son can contact to find out who dealt with the line rental previously?   He had talked about cable but this is in a VERY small village - so no cable!   I think he has had problems with TalkTalk in the past, particularly their broadband and I know there are problems with Tiscali.   Assuming he can find out about the line, any recommendations for straightforward telephone/broadband etc (he wouldn't bother with anything complicated, even if it was cheaper!) as an alternative to BT?

What about Sky. My neighbour has her b/b with them and reckons they are good. I on the other hand have had BT for over 30 years and b/b for over a year and have to be fair to them, they have never given me any problems.

Thanks, Sherbert.  The problem with Sky is that you ned a dish (& a phone line!) and this is an old cottage so there might well be planning problems (however, that is my son's field so he would know).

How about asking the estate agent that sold the house to get in touch with the guy who sold it and ask him (or her) who the provider was?

Thanks, I will try that but it was a very elderly lady who had had a fall and gone into a home a year before the house was sold so may not even remember.   It seems there should be a system whereby someone should know, I would have thought BT would have a list as they are still resonsible for all the line maintenance even if they don't receive the rental direct.

If the line etc is still fully insitu and unless the line is still working and someones paying the bill, your preferred supplier should be able to take it over without you having to find out the previous suppliers name.

Has he tried plugging in a phone,if  so does he get a tone?

Thanks for all the advice.   His fiancee contacted BT again and, surprise, surprise, they acknowledged that it IS one of their lines!   How incompetent can that lot be?   The line should be fully active within the next few days.