Grumbles.
Thank gawd for online community forums.
Shortly after making that post on 12th, mobile went crazy.
Answered 1st call.
Why aren't you picking up on the landline & why is my daughter ignoring me on her mobile?
Said, let me look into it & I'll get straight back to you.
Rang landline, heard it dialing then go to voicemail. Landline did not ring.
Too late to call customer services, so posted on the specific board on VM's community forum.
Been back & forward from last Tuesday to this afternoon.

Finally resolved. Engineer booked for Fri morning, also got another issue resolved.
Have been unable to log into My VM A/c since Sept 2017. Got through to CS back then. Issue understood, but as not the /C holder had to provide an alternate e-mail addy for her, did so. Nothing received, so never bothered trying again as we both use web mail.
However, with this years price increase & the potential for the same again next, needed log in info so if needed can access A/c & possibly downgrade package.
Current one very close to stretching our budget.
Finally got that one resolved.

Called FiL back, explained situation, so until landline fixed, my mobile is the only comms available.
Can't understand why he didn't e-mail me or her. :-(
Oh as I forgot to order some case fans for the new build, did so Tues via eBuyer - Payment failed, said screw this & ordered via Amazon.
They arrived Fri.

2nd half of that grumble.
Lost phone is an iPhone 7 :(
On 02 PAYG.
Oh well, that's her 6th lost/stolen phone over the years. :-(
Okay, ordered a much cheaper one & it came next day with new sim.
Activated sim, topped it up for the 1st month
Logged into 02 A/c to look into reporting previous phone as lost.
Had to use a different number for that, so did.
Managed to get through & speak to someone.

Situation understood. Wanted info transferred to new phone number.
Got told - Done, will take up to 24 hrs.
24 hours later - Not done & can't change security info on A/c.
It asks for confirmation & would send code to OLD phone.
Sheesh.

Tried several more times to get through to someone - no joy.
Popped into 02 store in town & explained the problem.
They have better options that the public do not.
After they took all the relevant info, told them they have until Midnight Sunday 25th to contact me via phone/e-mail.
As 09:00 Monday reporting 02 for not complying with electrical equipment requirements.
Then I'm going to seek a full refund of new phone as unfit for use.
Note bottom plug is standard UK plug. :-)



Top plug is what came with the phone. Note it is stamped with the UK compliance. :-)
I don't know of anywhere in the UK that takes plugs like that.

Grumble.
I'm either cursed or karma is biting me on the butt on a regular basis.
Had a slight mishap on a home project, nothing serious but enough of a mishap to delay completion.
Cause of delay is that I ran out of some M6 nuts & bolts.
No problem. just order some from Wilko's (click & collect). Paid for them online & had missus pick them up on way home.
She has just got home.
Apparently, when the staff member picked up the order to hand it to her, it was noticed that there was only one pair instead of 4.
They tell the missus, "sorry, we'll refund to the account".
Jesus wept.
What are they employing these days?
According to to store's stock levels, they had 5 packs in store.
Sheesh!

Hopefully everything works out for you.

Maybe you need to find some lucky 4 leaf clovers or some one to scare off the bad luck.

LOL.
Believe or not, but I used to have some Shamrock. :-)
Gave Wilko's a call, instead of having 5 in stock, they had none, hence the refund.
Being processed & will be back in A/c in 3-6 days. They take it pretty quick but...
Anyway, A grumble finally turned into a most welcome glory.
Thanks for letting us know Virgin - not. :-(

Reason why landline failed is that it is being switched off throughout the country.
They're going over to VOIP & connect phone to routers (their routers not only have 4 RJ 45 connections but 2 RJ 11 connections as well.
Ah the freedom. :-)
Internet & TV connection at one end of the lounge (on right wall), phone master socket at the other end (on left wall).

As for the M6 nuts & bolts. Missus said to try B&Q. Did so.
A pack of 10 @ £3.92
Wilko's pack of 4 @ £2.75.
Duh :-(
Should have gone to Specsavers 1st B&Q.

Probably even cheaper at Screwfix.

It is, but 2 problems.
1: Store is way over the other side of town & Wilko's much closer with B&Q slighter closer.
2: Minimum is 100 pack.

It is, but 2 problems.
1: Store is way over the other side of town & Wilko's much closer with B&Q slighter closer.
2: Minimum is 100 pack.

RE:2 https://www.screwfix.com/c/screws-nails-fixings/bolts/cat840086?boltsize=m6&packsize=10

Oops, must of missed those.
Did a search for 70mm & they do sell 10 pack of those. :-)
Sadly to get to their store entails, 2 buses & a fairly lengthy walk as it's in the industrial area & buses don't get that close to it.
Can with B&Q.
Anyway got them now.

Spent most of the day sorting out lounge as it had too much moved to get to the master socket.
Going to spend Sunday getting case out of storage, cleaning it up (if needed).
Then going to start on new build from Monday.
Bit annoyed with Asus/eBuyer as no support CD/DVD with M/B.
Had to download all needed from Asus.

Reason why landline failed is that it is being switched off throughout the country.
They're going over to VOIP & connect phone to routers (their routers not only have 4 RJ 45 connections but 2 RJ 11 connections as well.
Ah the freedom. :-)

Be careful with that. I've been living with VOIP for 18 months now, and a side effect of VOIP is no phone service at all - not even 999 - if there's a power cut (because it relies on the router in your home). Make sure you have an alternate kept fully charged.

I've just had two (momentary) cuts to foreshadow the thunderstorms predicted for this evening. All the computers had to be restarted, but I've still got two electric clocks to reset :-(

Thanks Richard, was aware of that.
Don't forget the maintenance downtime when they're updating their network.
Did in fact mention that to the technician but he shrugged his shoulders & said, eventually the landline system will be shutdown.

We have 2 power banks fully charged should our mobiles ever need them (gives us close to a week if needed)

Did in fact mention that to the technician but he shrugged his shoulders & said, eventually the landline system will be shutdown.

After which they will take over and this becomes reality. 😨🤪

I thought the groundwork for that has already started with this AI crap.

Yeah, we're on the same line there.

We have 2 power banks fully charged should our mobiles ever need them (gives us close to a week if needed)

Got a couple of extra 18V 5Amp hour batteries for my drill etc. I have a USB charging adaptor sits on top and one will power my phone for about ten days.

The rush to eliminate "copper" landline phone service has been going on in the US for at least 15 years now...

In many parts of the US the telco's have "decommissioned" the old copper infrastructure and laid next to it all fiber optics from the central office to the sub division / greater neighborhood area aka "Fiber to the node."

A 2010 order from the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) that mandated all POTS lines in the US be replaced with an alternative service by August 2, 2022. But that date has passed and some legacy telco's still offer copper landline but it's not cheap.

My subdivision which was built about 18 years ago is fiber to the neighborhood and the new subdivision going in down the road from here will be all fiber to the premise / home for both the Telco and "local" cable TV provider.

The rush to eliminate "copper" landline phone service has been going on in the US for at least 15 years now...

In many parts of the US the telco's have "decommissioned" the old copper infrastructure and laid next to it all fiber optics from the central office to the sub division / greater neighborhood area aka "Fiber to the node."

A 2010 order from the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) that mandated all POTS lines in the US be replaced with an alternative service by August 2, 2022. But that date has passed and some legacy telco's still offer copper landline but it's not cheap.

My subdivision which was built about 18 years ago is fiber to the neighborhood and the new subdivision going in down the road from here will be all fiber to the premise / home for both the Telco and "local" cable TV provider.

Until about 4 months ago where I live was POTS only. The cable TV provider was and still is coax only. Now I have a fiber to inside. I appreciate POTS for what it is. Many years ago when I was a wee lad - the rotary dial days - the local telco installed a new switch plant and had an open house. The battery bank was ginormous and it only would power the plant for 45 minutes. Diesel generators held two days of fuel. What people don't understand is their local cell site may not have more that a handful of minutes of standby power.

It comes back to what Jord & I stated.
Using a landline or mobile is all good & well for family & friends, but when it comes to organisations...
...trying to get through to an actual person is becoming njgh on impossible.

Too much reliance on technology is going to come back & bite on the ass.

Further proof of that reliance.
Mobile went off at 05:50 this morning (text message).
Your order has been dispatched.
Your delivery is due between 10:29:00 & 12:29:00 on 26-06-2023.

As a retired truck driver & a current customer, who gives a crap about micro seconds. :-(
Also, you bet it is 2023, I don't expect to get this delivery next year numbskulls!
Sheesh.

As a past Argos delivery driver, we never called customers before 07:30 & never texted (most of the time, as we only had landline numbers on the delivery notes).

One courier company really missed the point the other day. They sent me a text saying they couldn't give me the time slot for a delivery as they didn't have a mobile or landline number for me. Work that one out.....

Probably even cheaper at Screwfix.

And another glory for Screwfix. The power cuts last night reminded me (the hard way) that one of my machines has a flat CMOS battery (flat in the sense of discharged, rather than the form factor).

Quick search on screwtix, click and collect, job done. Their local depot is less than a quarter of a mile beyond my newsagent - and I walk there anyway every day. Identify, confirm it's a battery, assistant picks it, handover, walk out. As I left, I passed the next customer who had driven into the car park just before I arrived - coming in. It was as quick as that.

And four brand-name CR2032 batteries for £4, no delivery or collection charge. It's not worth buying second-hand non-rechargeable batteries on ebay!