I tried calling a number for over an hour, but it was constantly engaged, so I called BT to ask them to check if there was a fault on the line. They asked me to confirm the first line of the subscriber's address, which I couldn't do. Their answer? 'Sorry, can't check the line unless you can give us the addess'.
I've always been able to have a line checked with no problem. When did the rules change - and why? Surely them checking for a fault - and telling me if there is one or not - does not contravene something like data protection? If I don't know the people, or where they live, how can it?
Too late now. It's sorted - but I just wondered why the rules seem to have changed. At one time the operator would have transferred me to the engineers and they would have checked the line. Now it seems I need to know the address before anyone will help.
A mountain out of a mole hill (again). The subscriber is you (or more accurately the person who pays the phone bill); you were asked to provide extra information to prove that you were who you claimed to be so that they could proceed with your enquiry. Otherwise you might have been a rogue caller intent on stealing information.
Mike, the information I was asked to provide would have proven nothing whatsoever about me - and if you call trying to unite a little lost dog with its owner 'a mountain out of a molehill', you're a sad man.
My mother was in the habit of not replacing the phone properly after answering a call. This meant her number was often 'engaged'. I'd ask the operator to put on what was known as a 'howler', which made a very loud noise on the phone that could be heard from almost anywhere in the house. That would draw my mum's attention to the phone and make her hang up properly.