# What could be causing my phone to not dial 800 numbers? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [April 22, 2010, 7:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-could-be-causing-my-phone-to-not-dial-800-numbers/537018 "2010-04-22T19:05:49Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 15\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Renee](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/renee/32/287_2.png) [@Renee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Renee)\ **Post date:** [April 22, 2010, 7:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-could-be-causing-my-phone-to-not-dial-800-numbers/537018/1 "2010-04-22T19:05:49Z")
We moved back to the States last month, and signed up for digital phone/internet, which is through time warner cable. In attempting to actually use the phone, we’ve had problems. I can dial normal numbers in the continental US (ones with normal area codes) but when I attempt to dial most 800 numbers, I get “your call cannot be completed as dialed.” These numbers are fine on my cell phone, but we get terrible cell reception out here and it would be nice to have a customer service call that didn’t get dropped in the middle of it. The other “call can’t be completed as dialed” was a call to Alaska, not a toll-free, again works fine on the cell. But not all toll-free numbers behave like this–calls to Time Warner go through, but due to unusual call volume, they recommend I call back later. :rolleyes: I don’t get it. What could possibly be causing this problem? ---
**Author:** ![tdn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/94ad74/32.png) [@tdn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tdn)\ **Post date:** [April 22, 2010, 7:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-could-be-causing-my-phone-to-not-dial-800-numbers/537018/2 "2010-04-22T19:19:21Z")
Did you dial 1 first? ---
**Author:** ![Renee](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/renee/32/287_2.png) [@Renee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Renee)\ **Post date:** [April 22, 2010, 8:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-could-be-causing-my-phone-to-not-dial-800-numbers/537018/3 "2010-04-22T20:06:07Z")
I’ve tried it both ways. ---
**Author:** ![Keeve](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/f07891/32.png) [@Keeve](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Keeve)\ **Post date:** [April 22, 2010, 8:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-could-be-causing-my-phone-to-not-dial-800-numbers/537018/4 "2010-04-22T20:07:40Z")
Dialing 611 should bring you to customer service. Ask them. ---
**Author:** ![Renee](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/renee/32/287_2.png) [@Renee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Renee)\ **Post date:** [April 22, 2010, 8:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-could-be-causing-my-phone-to-not-dial-800-numbers/537018/5 "2010-04-22T20:12:26Z")
> [@Keeve](#): > > Dialing 611 should bring you to customer service. Ask them. Yeah, as I said, I’ve tried a few times today and get the “call back later” message. ---
**Author:** ![Mollie\_Magill](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mollie_magill/32/20882_2.png) [@Mollie\_Magill](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mollie_Magill)\ **Post date:** [April 22, 2010, 8:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-could-be-causing-my-phone-to-not-dial-800-numbers/537018/6 "2010-04-22T20:14:12Z")
You could have 8xx blocked on your line. The only way to be sure is to talk to your phone company. ---
**Author:** ![Renee](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/renee/32/287_2.png) [@Renee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Renee)\ **Post date:** [April 22, 2010, 8:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-could-be-causing-my-phone-to-not-dial-800-numbers/537018/7 "2010-04-22T20:23:47Z")
Hmmm. Interesting. I’ll keep trying to call them. Thanks. ---
**Author:** ![tdn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/94ad74/32.png) [@tdn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tdn)\ **Post date:** [April 22, 2010, 8:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-could-be-causing-my-phone-to-not-dial-800-numbers/537018/8 "2010-04-22T20:26:24Z")
Can you dial 888 and 877 numbers? ---
**Author:** ![Renee](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/renee/32/287_2.png) [@Renee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Renee)\ **Post date:** [April 22, 2010, 8:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-could-be-causing-my-phone-to-not-dial-800-numbers/537018/9 "2010-04-22T20:44:34Z")
> [@tdn](#): > > Can you dial 888 and 877 numbers? Just checked, and yes, I can. ---
**Author:** ![OldGuy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/3bc359/32.png) [@OldGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/OldGuy)\ **Post date:** [April 22, 2010, 11:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-could-be-causing-my-phone-to-not-dial-800-numbers/537018/10 "2010-04-22T23:42:25Z")
Is it possible the 0 doesn’t “dial” right. Each button sends two tones one associated with its row and one with its column. The zero sends the same row tone as the # and \* which aren’t often used. If this tone isn’t being sent, the 0 won’t be recognized. So can you dial other phone numbers with zeros in them? ---
**Author:** ![Renee](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/renee/32/287_2.png) [@Renee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Renee)\ **Post date:** [April 22, 2010, 11:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-could-be-causing-my-phone-to-not-dial-800-numbers/537018/11 "2010-04-22T23:49:16Z")
Brilliant idea, but no, other "0"s work fine. ---
**Author:** ![Mollie\_Magill](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mollie_magill/32/20882_2.png) [@Mollie\_Magill](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mollie_Magill)\ **Post date:** [April 23, 2010, 1:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-could-be-causing-my-phone-to-not-dial-800-numbers/537018/12 "2010-04-23T13:01:06Z")
> [@Renee](#): > > But not all toll-free numbers behave like this–calls to Time Warner go through, but due to unusual call volume, they recommend I call back later. :rolleyes: I missed this part. Do you have a VOIP line? ---
**Author:** ![Renee](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/renee/32/287_2.png) [@Renee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Renee)\ **Post date:** [April 23, 2010, 2:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-could-be-causing-my-phone-to-not-dial-800-numbers/537018/13 "2010-04-23T14:03:51Z")
Good question, I don’t know–I’ll bet trying customer service again today. ---
**Author:** ![Mollie\_Magill](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mollie_magill/32/20882_2.png) [@Mollie\_Magill](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mollie_Magill)\ **Post date:** [April 23, 2010, 2:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-could-be-causing-my-phone-to-not-dial-800-numbers/537018/14 "2010-04-23T14:22:41Z")
> [@Renee](#): > > Good question, I don’t know–I’ll bet trying customer service again today. Did you plug a device into your cable modem? I think TWC calls it Digital Phone. ---
**Author:** ![MannyL](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/ba8739/32.png) [@MannyL](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MannyL)\ **Post date:** [April 24, 2010, 8:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-could-be-causing-my-phone-to-not-dial-800-numbers/537018/15 "2010-04-24T20:03:56Z")
It may be that the 800 # is region dependent and because you are using a “phone line” from the cable company it thinks you are in a different area