Shame the COMPANY is so awful ...

[Pixilated]

Kudos to the long-suffering local Bell technicians who have been out to my house twice so far, trying to fix my sudden loss of internet connection (last Wednesday!) despite convoluted and in at least one case incorrect info from the mothership.

Especially the one who came by today and who had to check every phone in the house to make sure they had filters ... and when he got to the one in the basement (which I confess I've never looked at closely) the poor guy's eyes just bugged right out. "OMIGAWD, it's HARD-WIRED IN!!" No plug, no jack ... a rotary phone hardwired into the phone line. He said he couldn't remember the last time he saw one like that.

[csquared]

No plug, no jack ... a rotary phone hardwired into the phone line.

Ooooo. Want to sell?

[wolfie]

"OMIGAWD, it's HARD-WIRED IN!!" No plug, no jack ... a rotary phone hardwired into the phone line. He said he couldn't remember the last time he saw one like that.

Are you still renting that phone, or did you take the "buy in place" option some time ago?

[Pixilated]

It's a peach-coloured plastic phone, if that matters. And AFAIK, it's ours. Even if we had rented it from Ma Bell, I'm sure they've long since lost the records for it ...

As for selling it, I'll have to clear that with my brother (as it is part and parcel of Mom's house and belongings) but I can't see that as being anything other than a formality. I don't want it; I'm sure he doesn't want it, and sis and her family have long since stopped using a landline altogether.

[wolfie]

When my family had a hardwired phone, that was in the days when ALL phones had to be rented from Bell. When I moved out on my own, I rented my phone from them, and about 10 years later I received an offer for "buy in place" (i.e. pay the price for a used model of that phone, and stop paying rent on it - no need to bring it to the PhoneCenter). Check your phone bill - if there's a line on it for equipment rental, you're still renting that phone. If not, it's (probably) yours.

I wouldn't sell that phone - it was designed and built to be rented, so it's one tough piece of machinery (spend a bit in manufacturing, save a lot in avoided service calls). The desktop models were designed so that if you dragged it off the desk by the handset cord (i.e. reaching for something with the handset clamped between your ear and shoulder), and it landed upside down, the "cradle" for the handset was tall enough (and durable enough) that the "hangup" button wouldn't hit the floor. Abuse of this nature MIGHT damage the dialing mechanism wouldn't work to start a new call, but you wouldn't lose the call in progress.

[PepperElf]

Are you still renting that phone, or did you take the "buy in place" option some time ago?

I still remember when we didn't own the phone. Mom also said she had to argue with the installer to let her have the extra-long cord so that she could use the phone in the kitchen.


i get sad when i see the modern "rotary style" phones for sale. putting push buttons in a circle does NOT make it a rotary phone. Yeah I'd like to have one. Although one that plugs in vs being hard-wired.

[Pixilated]

I'll check the phone bill for sure. It's just that the phone is so old I can't imagine we're still paying rent on it ... but just in case ... For the last several years Mom has been using a cordless phone. The rotary dial one had been wired up in the basement so she didn't have to run upstairs to answer the phone if she was doing the laundry.

The technician said the line that the phone was hardwired into was set up for a party line. How's that for retro??

[dalesys]

The technician said the line that the phone was hardwired into was set up for a party line. How's that for retro??

*WE* didn't need no steenking FaceBook to know what the neighbors were doing.

[wolfie]

The technician said the line that the phone was hardwired into was set up for a party line. How's that for retro??

If that's the case, the phone will need some alterations before it's installed on a private line. Without those alterations, it can still make and receive calls, but it won't ring properly. Basically, by default a phone will ring when the ring signal comes in on the wires FOR A PRIVATE LINE. On party lines, certain wires are shuffled around in the phone (no, I don't know which ones) to make it ring for "party 1", or to make it ring for "party 2".

[Bandit]

I want that phone!

I can't use it right now as I am VoIP here, but I would love to have a rotary wall phone in my collection.

B