iPhone Phone number showing in US format in contacts when they should be UK

[adrianlondon]

I had this type of issue with iOS 12. It turned out to be some kind of network provider issue as my phone always thought incoming calls that started 0044 were still here in Switzerland. Changing absolutely nothing else, I swapped sims with a different provider and then the calls were correctly recognised as coming from the UK. I had (and still have) dial assist turned on.

Odd, huh. I never got to the bottom of it, as the reason I changed providers was due to better rates rather than any attempt to fix this issue, and I've not moved back.

 

[ledzep1]

Just had a call from my dad to say that he updated to iOS13 and now can't call anyone. Guess what? Its this issue again! He thought the update had broken his phone.

Do yours and his contacts numbers display a bit like this 00 79 48 39 900 when it happens?

Thats what they look like on mine and I don't think thats even the US format.

It's a weird issue thats for sure.

 

[ledzep1]

Happened again today, whats weird is it only mucks up numbers without prefix, for example a number like 03893 499444 will look like 03 89 349 94 44 and when I attempt to call it, dial assist will display and it will fail to make the call.

Numbers in my contacts that are in US format with +1 prefix are unaffected.

 

[adrianlondon]

One suggestion off the top of my head ... change your phone's region to some random country, reboot, set it back to the US, reboot.

You could try it first without rebooting after each change.

 

[nebo1ss]

How do you all save your numbers in the contacts? Do you use the international format for e.g. +44 7482 123456 or 7482 123456? It is always better to save them in the international format as it works better without the dial assist mess and while dialing in from an outside country.

This. I always use the international format +44 for UK or +1 for USA. I travel a lot and it will only work overseas if you use this format.

 

[adrianlondon]

I believe Dial Assist relies on the regional setting (hence my advice to toggle it away from and back to your home country) and also the country in the address field for each contact if the phone number isn't in the international format, to work out where it might be.

 

[Vlad Soare]

I've always found Dial Assist unreliable and unpredictable. It's best to turn it off and to store all the numbers in international format.

 

[ledzep1]

Happened again the other day, took into an Apple store, they reset iPhone, been fine since, touch wood.

 

[ledzep1]

Not long after posting the above it happened again , I decided to add the country code prefix to all numbers as that seems to prevent this issue from occurring.
Apple store reset the phone and restored from an iCloud backup, might have been better setting up from new, but anyway I should be ok now.

@Sir Ruben, is issue still happening for you?

 

[Sir Ruben]

Hi all, just to update regarding this issue. Its still happening randomly to my Dad (iPhone SE) and my wife (iPhone X) but not to myself (iPhone 11 Pro) or my Mum (iPhone 6). What I have discovered though is that it may only be happening to people who are on the4 Virgin Media network. Can anyone affected confirm if they are with Virgin?

 

[ledzep1]

Hi all, just to update regarding this issue. Its still happening randomly to my Dad (iPhone SE) and my wife (iPhone X) but not to myself (iPhone 11 Pro) or my Mum (iPhone 6). What I have discovered though is that it may only be happening to people who are on the4 Virgin Media network. Can anyone affected confirm if they are with Virgin?

Yes both my parents are with VM, to update my dad reset his iPhone SE, still happened not long after, I then placed +44 and other corresponding country codes to all his contacts numbers, this has fixed the issue.

My mums iPhone 8 has not had this issue for going on a good 5-6 weeks now and hasn't used the country codes like above or tried a reset.

 

[Sir Ruben]

Yes both my parents are with VM, to update my dad reset his iPhone SE, still happened not long after, I then placed +44 and other corresponding country codes to all his contacts numbers, this has fixed the issue.

My mums iPhone 8 has not had this issue for going on a good 5-6 weeks now and hasn't used the country codes like above or tried a reset.

Thanks for the update, it seems like it is specifically related to Virgin Media, and they are aware of it. At the moment though I don't think either Virgin/Apple are taking responsibility so not sure when a fix is likely to come. I will do what you did and modify my Dad's contacts to +44 as its getting on his nerves! Its also a bit of a safety risk as your smartphone is also your lifeline should you fall ill or get into danger.

 

[ledzep1]

Thanks for the update, it seems like it is specifically related to Virgin Media, and they are aware of it. At the moment though I don't think either Virgin/Apple are taking responsibility so not sure when a fix is likely to come. I will do what you did and modify my Dad's contacts to +44 as its getting on his nerves! Its also a bit of a safety risk as your smartphone is also your lifeline should you fall ill or get into danger.

I agree, strange why the issue seems to have resolved itself on my mums iphone 8, must be a very random bug.
If your dad has an iMac or laptop/tablet its much easier to add the +44 to contacts on those devices, it can take ages depending how many contacts he has, but it's just a little easier than doing it on the phone itself.

 

[decafjava]

I had this type of issue with iOS 12. It turned out to be some kind of network provider issue as my phone always thought incoming calls that started 0044 were still here in Switzerland. Changing absolutely nothing else, I swapped sims with a different provider and then the calls were correctly recognised as coming from the UK. I had (and still have) dial assist turned on.

Odd, huh. I never got to the bottom of it, as the reason I changed providers was due to better rates rather than any attempt to fix this issue, and I've not moved back.

Hmmm I have had the same problem and my provider said it was a technical issue on their end they were working on. Only happens with calls from Canada.

Since I am in the same country as you may I inquire as to which provider it was? Maybe number 3 (who also provide an Apple TV 4hd with very rapid home internet which is why I stay with them)?

 

[Sir Ruben]

I agree, strange why the issue seems to have resolved itself on my mums iphone 8, must be a very random bug.
If your dad has an iMac or laptop/tablet its much easier to add the +44 to contacts on those devices, it can take ages depending how many contacts he has, but it's just a little easier than doing it on the phone itself.

Yes that's a good shout, he has an iMac with his contacts synched so I will do it from there. Thanks.

 

[adrianlondon]

Hmmm I have had the same problem and my provider said it was a technical issue on their end they were working on. Only happens with calls from Canada.

Since I am in the same country as you may I inquire as to which provider it was? Maybe number 3 (who also provide an Apple TV 4hd with very rapid home internet which is why I stay with them)?

I was with M-Budget, which uses the Swisscom network. Caller-ID worked fine. I switched to UPC as they had a great deal, and caller-ID messed up. They were using Salt. Around a year ago, UPC moved from Salt to Swisscom and the caller-id issue was solved.

 

[decafjava]

I was with M-Budget, which uses the Swisscom network. Caller-ID worked fine. I switched to UPC as they had a great deal, and caller-ID messed up. They were using Salt. Around a year ago, UPC moved from Salt to Swisscom and the caller-id issue was solved.

Ahh ok, I am with Salt and this problem started a few months ago for me. I like their roaming offer and the home internet so I will live with it for now.

 

[adrianlondon]

Ahh ok, I am with Salt and this problem started a few months ago for me. I like their roaming offer and the home internet so I will live with it for now.

Yeah, I wouldn't pay more just to fix this caller-id issue. The number shown is correct, it simply prints the wrong country underneath.

 

[Geefunk]

Hi all, another with the same issue and with Virgin. I’ve been trying to get this resolved for months. I’ve got iPhone SE and gone through every update without resolving it. Link to this thread;
https://forums.macrumors.com/threads/ipad-contacts-phone-number-format-nightmare.2181006/

 

[ResidentRob]

Hi All





The fix listed on here is only temporary and will change randomly back to the wrong format at any time as some of you will have noticed



Here is the 100% guaranteed fix

1st off the issue is NOT in the phone or the network provider. Most of us use Icloud to back up our phone numbers and that is the problem

On your computer goto icloud . com and log in

open Contacts then at the bottom left of the screen click on the cog for settings then select preferences

In here look for Formats and see which country it is set to. Obviously for us in the UK we want United Kingdom not United States. Once changed click save

Now restart your phone and hey presto ALL FIXED



Good Luck All



Message to Virgin Mobile Tech support make sure all your staff read this to save the hassle of us customers becoming frustrated with your staff when they are asking for help

 

[ledzep1]

Hi All





The fix listed on here is only temporary and will change randomly back to the wrong format at any time as some of you will have noticed



Here is the 100% guaranteed fix

1st off the issue is NOT in the phone or the network provider. Most of us use Icloud to back up our phone numbers and that is the problem

On your computer goto icloud . com and log in

open Contacts then at the bottom left of the screen click on the cog for settings then select preferences

In here look for Formats and see which country it is set to. Obviously for us in the UK we want United Kingdom not United States. Once changed click save

Now restart your phone and hey presto ALL FIXED



Good Luck All



Message to Virgin Mobile Tech support make sure all your staff read this to save the hassle of us customers becoming frustrated with your staff when they are asking for help

Thank you will try this, it happened again recently on one of our iPhones.

 

[Vlad Soare]

Huh? You've registered on the forum just to resurrect a two year old thread?