Well, I tried using my cell phone to call 611, the general number for service and repair.

Yes, I made sure wi-fi calling was on. It’s even set to “wi-fi preferred.”

When I got through to a human, he could barely hear me. After several attempts at speaking, he asked for my number so he could try calling back. He double-checked to make sure he heard right, then we hung up.

When my phone rang, I heard nothing. At all. I repeated that I could not hear and asking if he could hear, but nothing, until he hung up at his end. He called again, and it was the same. Since it was possible he could hear me, even if I couldn’t hear him, I said we would try again from a different cell phone and hung up.

My husband’s phone handles calls better than mine for some reason. He called 611, but got different automated options than I did, with the system finally saying to call back from a local number.

Of course.

My husband’s phone still has his number from before the move. I’m the only one with a local number, and that’s because we switched SIM cards. When it was time to renew the contract, he got a local number, and they were able to find one almost identical to the land line. The number for the landline is my childhood phone number, so he gave it to my phone.

So he tried logging in to find a service number, but he’s only made an account for cell service (same parent company). I’m the one with the landline account, but I’ve only ever logged in using my desktop.

I no longer have a desktop.

I was able to use my phone to go into an old emailed bill, all of which I keep, and followed a “view my bill” link. Thankfully, I remembered my password.

Among the numbers to call, it says to use 611 for repairs, which we couldn’t do. There’s an 800 number, but only for calls from out of province. So we had to call a non-toll free number.

We did get through, though. We had trouble hearing her, but she could hear us, so it worked.

Describing the problem was a bit difficult. It seems she’d never encountered something quite like what we have happening. Especially the part about it suddenly working again, then not. She did ask if we tried unplugging and plugging in the phone line, of course, and I told her all the stuff we tried.

So we now have a ticket started, under my husband’s cell phone number. They will first check the line remotely, then call us. We let her know we are in a cell phone dead zone, so there may be difficulties getting through, even with Wi-Fi calling. She included that information in the notes.

Wednesday next week, someone should come by to check outside the house. For that, we let her know about the locked gate and to call ahead – or honk real loud!

She got a laugh out of that.

She did include that in the notes, too though!

If all goes well, they will find the problem with the remote check.

If they don’t, they will hopefully find the problem outside the house.

If that doesn’t work, the tech will have to check the lines inside the house.

Unless that remote check finds the problem, our landline may be down for at least another 5 days, including today.

Thankfully, we still have satellite internet for communication!

At some point, I do want to get a new corded phone. If the power goes out, hands-free phones are useless. A corded phone usually still works. We will keep the two corded phones I found in storage, though. Emergency backups.

Plus, I rather like that old rotary dial phone!

The Re-Farmer

I finally got through to my mother. While we were talking on the phone, it started to crackle loudly. We had to cut the call short.

Now it’s back to “home line busy.”

*sigh*

I don’t know why I’m so hesitant to call the phone company. I just am really loathing the idea. I guess there’s always this thought in the back of my head that they’ll decide it’s a customer problem, and we’ll end up with a massive repair bill. Given how things have been for the last couple of years, that would not surprise me at all.

The Re-Farmer

I’ve mentioned before that our landlines is out. On the base, the “hold” light was blinking, and the display read “home line busy” all the time. When I picked up, I could hear a slight crackling. Basically, our phone was acting as if it were on hold, a feature we’ve never had to use, and coyodnt hang up.

We suspected a cat may have sprayed on a phone jack somewhere. The one in my husband’s room being a prime suspect. At the suggestion of my brother, I traced that line in the basement to the hub, and unhooked it.

No change.

The next day, I decided to find and trace the line from the upstairs jack, which we have never used. I did that, yesterday evening.

I also tried moving the base and hooking it up in the living room. That jack has a device hooked up with a voice that announces the number that is calling. Unfortunately, before we were able to barricade the living room, the cats knocked it over, and now it speaks Spanish. I don’t see how to change it!

The jack, however, fits two phone lines, and is well above the floor, so it’s easy to reach. Unlike the jack in my room, which requires crawling under a table.

After unhooking the upstairs jack, there was some change. Sometimes, the display would read “no line,” and the hold light stopped blinking. When activating the phone, however, I heard the same crackling.

Then it would switch back to “home line busy” and the hold light would start blinking again.

After a while, I got tired of crawling under my table, so I set the base up in the living room again, and left it there. It’s very visible right now.

Then, after going to the post office this afternoon (alas; the heat lamp did not come in, yet), I went into the living room, walked past the phone, and did a double take.

The hold light was no longer blinking.

The display screen was inactive. No message showing.

I picked up, and there was a dial tone!

I test called my cell phone, and my pocket started ringing.

Our land line is working again!

So now I’m thinking that it may have been an external problem, and something got fixed somewhere. That’s just a guess, though.

So very strange!

I’m glad it’s working again, though! Even if I have no idea why!

The Re-Farmer