A garage owner claims he has spent 26 hours on the phone to Virgin trying to fix a mix-up that left him unable to take any incoming calls for more than two weeks.
Ron Brighton, from New Marske, in North Yorkshire, said he has lost 30 per cent of his business at Brighton Motor Services due to the issue, which saw his line being given to a residential customer by mistake.
The blunder was caused by a mix-up between his provider - Virgin Business - and BT, and has left customers unable to get through to him, TeesideLive reports.
Mr Brighton, whose been running the business for more than 50 years, said he has been with Virgin Business for 17 years and has never experience anything of the sort.
"We've had to deal with Covid, now we're hit in the stomach with this incompetence," he said.
Virgin Business said it is "aware of the issue" and has "requested BT return the customer’s number as a matter of urgency".
Have you ever had a phone mix-up like this? Let us know at webnews@mirror.co.uk
Meanwhile BT has apologised, claiming it is "working as a matter of urgency" to release the number back to Virgin.
Yet more than two weeks later, Ron still hasn't been reconnected - and can only ring out on his landline.
He said: "After a week, Virgin told me that my business number had been given to a residential customer.
"I still have not got my line back. It's really causing us a lot of problems.
"I've spent more than 26 hours on the phone to them, trying to sort it out. I've been with Virgin Business for 17 years.
"The engineer's been out, he was scratching his head, saying 'your lines are fine'.
"A lot of our customers, we've known for years and I've had to repeat the same story to every one.
"As for new customers, I wouldn't know - because the phone's not ringing.
"I printed off invoices with phone numbers and rang every one to give my mobile out.
"It took over four hours. It's just a nightmare."
Ron, who started as an apprentice at the Longbeck Lane garage and petrol station in 1967 and took over the business a few years later, say he's never known anything like this.
Back in 1968, his number was just four digits - 6765 - and no area code.
"They introduced an extra digit - 86765, then 486765," he says.
"As more people were needing numbers, they added the area code - 0642."
Eventually they added a 1 to make the 01642 code that's so familiar now.
The mix-up is affecting everything to do with Ron's business, from MOT testing to petrol supplies to the filling station - even card payments that are usually taken over the phone.
But most importantly, it's affecting his wife's health - and now his too.
He added: "My wife is a partner in my business," he continued, "I can't tell her everything that's going on because she had a stroke in 2015 and she must not have any stress at all.
"My business is around 30 per cent down and we do not know how much new business we have lost.
"I have been in my business for 53 years, we've worked hard.
"Now at the touch of a button they've stopped all my incoming calls to my business."
It's called a 'slam' according to Ofcom, he added, when "they take a number that isn't theirs".
"Some, kindly person I believe, hit the wrong button on February 26.
"Why can't they just put it right?
A BT spokesperson said: "We’re very sorry for the inconvenience caused to Mr Brighton during this time.
"We’re working as a matter of urgency to release the number back to Virgin Media.”
A Virgin spokesperson added: “We are aware of the issue and have requested BT return the customer’s number as a matter of urgency.”
