Don’t drop the ball on your 800 number transfer
Don’t assume your phone company has transferred your toll free number over just because you sent in the transfer request form.
It seems like today is the day for customers that sent in a transfer request for their toll free number and assumed it had been transferred. One customer transferred it or actually thought he had transferred it three years ago. You’d be amazed how often the paperwork never reaches us or even the resporg department at the new phone company.
Unfortunately this is how toll free numbers can get lost at other phone companies. We don’t get rid of or take numbers back unless they’re abandoned for a couple years. But other phone companies will often cancel them fairly quickly if the main service is transferred away.
You can’t just call the number and assume that it’s been transferred because it connects either. One tip that helps sometimes is to use a different ring to number because that makes the otherwise invisible transfer much more obvious. You can also call the Ameritech hotline, 800-337-4194 to use their automated system to see who the phone company responsible for the number is. Our code is QZA01 so if it gives that code, it is still under our control and hasn’t been transferred.
You can also call or email us to verify that as well. Our Instant 800 Lookup uses a monthly cached system for the resporg so it isn’t good at checking for recent changes. We try to process 800 number transfers faster than anyone else but we really can’t release numbers until we get the request from the new phone company or they wouldn’t have it set up for you, even if we switched it over to them.
If your number doesn’t get transferred don’t be surprised if they blame the releasing company for rejecting your 800 transfer. There’s also more on how to transfer your number if you need it in the Toll Free Manual section as well.
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Joseph Horton (2 comments.) says:
August 2, 2008 at 6:31 am
The facts listed in the article regarding checking your own toll free number transfer is very important. The article is well-written, but most importantly very accurate. We facilitate the transfer of thousands of numbers and frankly, even we can get false information from the carriers at times. It’s rare, but if it is your number that fails to transfer properly, your problem is 100%. So note all that TollFreeNumbers.com has said and follow through on checking your transfer. Once with the carrier of choice, you should be able to relax for many years.