potential porting hiccups from QWest

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scottlindner
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Re: potential porting hiccups from QWest

Post by scottlindner » Tue Jun 09, 2009 2:16 pm

lohertz,

You are confirming some of my concerns after contacting QWest today and an email exchange with Ooma. I did the Guaranteed Price for Life deal with QWest. Sign a two year contract and you get $13/mo off. A very good deal. I have to wait another full year for that finish. So cancelling my service isn't an option like your other post describes.

Someone that posted prior to you suggested that I call QWest before the port happens to make sure just the number ports because Ooma is doing a "Disconnect" rather than a "Port". This makes it sound like Ooma could be doing something to make this easier for DSL users to port their numbers. Is this true?

This is a little old, but tells the same story you guys are. http://www.dslreports.com/forum/r191227 ... -qwest-DSL

I'll call QWest again and see what they can do.

Scott

buzzman
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Re: potential porting hiccups from QWest

Post by buzzman » Wed Jun 10, 2009 4:28 am

Please note that Qwest cannot do anything (other than dry-looping) before if they haven't received the porting request. When I called Qwest before they receive the porting request, most of CSRs told me not to worry a thing since they will automatically assign a new number once the porting is done. However, one CSR told me that it all depends on the porting request (porting vs. disconnect). So a week before my porting request due date, I called Qwest to confirm the porting. Then the CSR told me that the request was a disconnect instead of porting, therefore the CSR placed an order to create a new account on the porting date.

I too have a two year contract with Qwest, so by changing my account number (instead of disconnecting my service), Qwest told me that the contract will still continue with the new account number.

Good luck!

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scottlindner
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Re: potential porting hiccups from QWest

Post by scottlindner » Wed Jun 10, 2009 6:55 am

That's excellent news buzzman! Thank you. So I will schedule the port through Ooma today, and in a week call QWest to see if they know about it and confirm the actions they plan to take.

What number did you call at QWest? Was it billing, or tech support that you called?

When I spoke to QWest yesterday they had never heard the term "Dry Loop DSL". Should I keep calling until I get one that is familiar with the term? He spoke to his supervisor about it and even his supervisor had never heard the term.

Cheers,
Scott

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southsound
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Re: potential porting hiccups from QWest

Post by southsound » Wed Jun 10, 2009 8:27 am

If you are having trouble with the normal Qwest customer reps, there is an "escalation" group that is quite a bit more knowledgeable. The number for that group is 866 780-5329. At the recording, press "3" for escalations. These folks have been extremely helpful with some rather complex issues I had with DSL promotions, provisioning, and pricing.
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scottlindner
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Re: potential porting hiccups from QWest

Post by scottlindner » Wed Jun 10, 2009 8:47 am

It sounds like the general advice is to schedule the port through Ooma, and the call QWest in a couple of days to confirm that it is being done correctly. Everyone agree?

buzzman
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Re: potential porting hiccups from QWest

Post by buzzman » Wed Jun 10, 2009 12:42 pm

A few days? I'd say a few weeks.

In my case, my number got ported almost TWO MONTHS after I sent my OLA.

Here's what I learned from my porting experience:
- Ooma uses a third party carrier for the porting
- It can take weeks for Qwest to receive the request after you sent the OLA
- Once a request is received by Qwest, they're in control of determining the date
- If Qwest still doesn't know what the porting date is, that means the porting is not going to happen anytime soon, no matter what Ooma CSR tells you
- Ooma doesn't necessarily know when the exact porting date is, but Qwest does
- PATIENCE PATIENCE PATIENCE, especially since Ooma doesn't have all the info they need about the porting

If I were you, I'd call Qwest once a week to find out the porting date.

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Re: potential porting hiccups from QWest

Post by scottlindner » Wed Jun 10, 2009 1:38 pm

Thanks everyone for explaining what to expect in great detail. I just schedule the port through Ooma. In a week or so I'll call QWest and see where things are at.

Cheers,
Scott

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Re: potential porting hiccups from QWest

Post by scottlindner » Mon Jun 15, 2009 5:30 pm

I have a few updates to share.

Today I received an email from Ooma stating the "port" was submitted to QWest and scheduled to occur on 6/26/09. I called QWest Customer Service and they confirmed they have received the "disconnect" notice scheduled to occur on 6/30/09. The CSR rep was a bit confused by what I was asking so he sent me to their Win Back department (whoops!). Thankfully the WinBack rep was able to help me. They cannot change the disconnect request, but did schedule new DSL service under a new telephone number for the same date. I quadruple checked he noted in the request that I will not be charged an early termination fee.

Something I found interesting is he told me the new telephone number for the new DSL service. I fully expected it to be some bogus number, but I think it's legitimate although not in service.

The only thing that concerns me is he said I'll be getting a new low 12 month rate before it goes up. After 12 months the price goes above my current "Price for Life" rate even after accounting for the $5/mo discount for combined Internet and Phone service. But, that's another battle for another day.

I fully expect I will be out of service on 6/30. I'm sure my service will be disconnected promptly at 8am, and my new DSL will be in service at 5pm.

Last interesting tidbit. He said a technician will have to come out to the phone box to change something. It sounded like he was talking about the demarcation point. Why would the phone guy have to deal with that?

Scott

niknak
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Re: potential porting hiccups from QWest

Post by niknak » Mon Jun 15, 2009 7:09 pm

I don't think they have to rewire anything at the demarc. All they need to do is swap the numbers when they do the dry loop at their end. CSR is probably confused about what you need to do!

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scottlindner
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Re: potential porting hiccups from QWest

Post by scottlindner » Tue Jun 16, 2009 2:27 am

niknak wrote:I don't think they have to rewire anything at the demarc. All they need to do is swap the numbers when they do the dry loop at their end. CSR is probably confused about what you need to do!
My only thought was it's their standard statement with all new service installations.

One question I had for him that he could not answer is if my PPP username and password would change. He said to call Tech Support if there are any problems. I'd prefer to know in advance.

I'm starting to think I should call back and ask if the new service could start one day in advance so I am not without service at all.

Scott

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