Help Me Hank: Help Me Hank! Number porting

When Anne walks into her barn, she expects to be greeted by her Welsh pony Midi. But inevitably it's the ringing phone she hears first.

Anne's an award-winning carriage driver with wins and ribbons from across the country. And she's inundated with phone calls from family and fellow equestrians.

Anne Bliss
"I spend my life on the telephone."

Anne's avocation may be old-fashioned, but she was facing a new age problem. She wanted to streamline her Internet, cable, and phone service, and found the right price. But most importantly she wanted to keep her same number.

Anne Bliss
"I've had this number since '83."

Her phone company told her no problem, contact the new company, and they'd set up the number transfer. So she was told that in four days her number would be ported.

Anne Bliss
"So I thought it was going to be a fairly easy thing to do."

Wrong. She got a call from the new company saying the number wasn't ready and she was getting a new number. Problem. If her number were changed, how would her family or friends find her?

Anne Bliss
"No customer should have to go through what I went through."

She called the old company back and they assured her it was set to go. So again she called the new company. But they told her that it wasn't ready! Call, after call, after call. But the switch was stalled.

Anne Bliss
"I had no idea what to do."

Frustrated and fed up. She made one other call.

Anne Bliss
"I remembered Help Me Hank."

Now hold on. We know the federal government has strict rules on number porting! If you're not moving far away you get to keep your old number no matter what new phone company you choose.

So we got on the phone asking what was the disconnect?

Well, it turns out the computer ate her request. The day Anne asked for the change, the company was updating their computer systems and it simply didn't go through. Why didn't they just tell her? Ahh, no answer for that one.

So we made sure there were no more computer glitches. And now Anne is back in the driver's seat saving money and getting her phone calls too.

The same rules apply to cell phones. So make sure if you change companies, you know when you can keep your old number.

(Copyright 2007 Sunbeam Television. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.)