Okay I'VE GOT A GOOD ONE FOR ANY PHONE PEOPLE OUT THERE.

Here, in a nutshell is my problem.

I have 4 landlines in my house. All worked fine until this evening.

The one in the kitchen went dead.

Before it went dead, it had a dial tone, but I could not phone out. If I got a phone call and picked up one of the other phones in m house, and then I picked up the kitchen phone, I could have a conversation, it worked fine.

As soon as I hung up (no other phone was off the hook). I tried to see if I could make an outgoing call. Sure enough I got a dial tone, but when I pressed the numbers, it didn't sound like I was pressing any numbers. For example, if I pressed 1 718, all I heard was the dial tone.

So then I waited and all of a sudden I got NOTHING from the kitchen phone. It was completely dead.

So I did what the phone people would have told me to do. I tested other phones, NOTHING WORKED. I took the kitchen phone into another room, plugged it in and it worked fine. SO IT WAS NOT THE PHONE ITSELF.

I then changed all phone lines (don't know what you call the line that goes from the phone to the jack). Replaced it. Still did not work.

Oh, just to let you guys know, this is a wall jack with a Verizon DSL filter on it.

So seeing that anything I did was not making me even get a dial tone anymore, I went to all the other jacks in the house and unplugged ALL of them, and waited 5 minutes, then replugged them all in.

No change. ALL OTHER PHONES WORKED. NOT THE KITCHEN PHONE.

And here's the mystery. I took my cell phone and dialed my home number to see if the kitchen phone would ring.

IT RANG.

So how can a dead phone line make a phone ring. When the phone rang, I picked it up. Nothing. Dead phone line.

I then called Verizon. She told me "from what you are telling me, it might be the jack, and if we send someone it will cost you $91.00 blah blah, because you don't have the maintenace plan'. I thought I did.

Guess I'm wrong.

So then I tried to take off the VERIZON DSL FILTER that I had to put on the wall jack when we got the DSL installed in the house. All phones have filters.

But the wall phone has this plate (the filter), over the original thing. It's been fine for 4 years.

I tried to take off the filter to see what was up, BUT I CANNOT TAKE OFF THIS FILTER. Do I slide it up, snap it off. I have no idea.

Can anyone please tell me how a dead phone can ring? Can I go to the store tomorrow and buy a phone line tester to actually test my line?

I have other phones in the house so this is no emergency, but I would like to know why my kitchen phone went dead and still rings.

Any comments are welcome


P.S. I tried to find a message board about telephone repairs (because there are MESSAGE BOARDS FOR EVERY TOPIC).

Can't find one.

any ideas. puleeeeeze!!

Melody

UPDATE UPDATE UPDATE UPDATE.

Five minutes ago, I went over to the phone and I got a dial tone. From a phone that was dead for 2 hours. I got so excited I screamed. Then I tried to make a phone call. No luck. I press the buttons, no call is made. I took my cell phone, I gave it to husband to call the home phone. the kitchen phone rang, I picked it up, I then had a phone chat with my husband who was in the other room.

So how on earth can I receive a call from a phone in my kitchen and not make any calls out.

And I just AGAIN phoned the Verizon tech support guy who told me HE HAD NO CLUE HOW THIS IS HAPPENING, BUT HE COULD SEND A GUY TO MY HOUSE AND THEY WOULD BILL ME.

I don't think so!!

mel