Well, something weird is going on with our land line.

For some reason, our line is active, as if someone were on the phone.

We have a phone with two cordless handsets, and a hands free head set. The base with the answering machine is in my office. I noticed a red light blinking on the base that normally is off, which is when I saw the “line is busy” message on the handset display. That’s what the red blinking light was showing; that the line is in use.

The second handset is in another room, and was not in use. With both of them, I activated them to listen, and could hear crackling noises. On hanging up, I get the usual “call ended” display, then it goes right back to “line is busy”. I even checked the headset, which we don’t use because the ear piece no longer attaches to the head piece, and got the same thing. Crackling noise.

We do have a corded phone. This is our emergency back up, and is tucked away in my husband’s bedroom. I had to actually move furniture to reach it, then brush off the dust and cat hair.

It was not off the hook. When I picked it up and listened, it was the same. The line is open and active, but no one is on it. Hanging up made no difference.

With all the phones, I tried hanging up repeatedly, disconnected the power and disconnected the phone line. No change.

After not finding a solution, I went online to see how I could get technical support. After logging in to my account, the first thing I tried was the live chat, but that’s available only during office hours. It’s past 10pm now.

After much looking around at support options, I finally tried to call 611, which is their 24/7 service number, using my cell phone.

The call kept dropping.

I do have my cell phone set to use Wi-Fi calling, but it doesn’t seem to make a difference. Even when the call didn’t drop, there would be just dead air for about a minute – and then the call would drop. I did actually get a pick up, once, got their automated system, and the robot voice disappeared in mid sentence.

Then the call got dropped.

In the end, I had to send an email.

I got their automated response with a ticket number, and a message saying they’ll get back to me within 2 business days.

Meanwhile, our line is still active, though no one is on it. We can’t call out, and no one can call in.

So very bizarre!

The Re-Farmer