topic Re: Sudden Increase In Call Charges in Home Phone

Sudden Increase In Call Charges

BobR1 — Fri, 10 Feb 2023 08:03:06 GMT

Recently I've been in two separate hospitals and not at home. I also don't have a Call Plan in place because I resolved a while back to only take incoming calls on my landline. For everything else I use my mobile. Usually I don't see any call charges on my bill.

Suddenly I'm seeing some call charges every month and I don't understand why.

How can I check if there's some kind of diversion in place? Or any other ideas as to what might be happening?

Re: Sudden Increase In Call Charges

jab1 — Fri, 10 Feb 2023 08:15:19 GMT

@BobR1 Do you recognise the called numbers? Have any of them been over 60 minutes

Re: Sudden Increase In Call Charges

BobR1 — Fri, 10 Feb 2023 08:30:06 GMT

Hi Jab1, no none of them over 60mins. I can guess the origin of most although it's complicated with hospitals and all the different extensions they have.

Here's a case in point: on 1st January 2023 @ 17:28 I am charged by Plusnet for a eight minute call to my mobile. At the time I was lying in a bed at a London hospital. My mobile runs on the Lebara/Vodafone network so why are Plusnet charging me for anything?

Re: Sudden Increase In Call Charges

jab1 — Fri, 10 Feb 2023 09:17:52 GMT

Was the call TO your mobile made by anyone at home? Only calls made FROM your home will appear on your invoice.

Re: Sudden Increase In Call Charges

BobR1 — Fri, 10 Feb 2023 09:25:54 GMT

Nope - I live alone so the house was empty while I was in hospital.

Re: Sudden Increase In Call Charges

jab1 — Fri, 10 Feb 2023 09:28:38 GMT

Very weird then - I would be inclined to call PN and request an explanation.

Re: Sudden Increase In Call Charges

MisterW — Fri, 10 Feb 2023 11:34:41 GMT

Sounds like some form of Call forwarding is active . In which case you are charged for the forwarded call

Re: Sudden Increase In Call Charges

jab1 — Fri, 10 Feb 2023 11:39:51 GMT

Good point, @MisterW . Wonder if the OP has inadvertently done this, but I always thought it was a feature you has to explicitly set up - and pay for?

Re: Sudden Increase In Call Charges

MisterW — Fri, 10 Feb 2023 11:57:50 GMT

@jab1 you are correct , its is chargeable £2.50/m according to this https://www.plus.net/help/phone/call-features/

That it is enabled seems the most logical explanation

Re: Sudden Increase In Call Charges

Townman — Fri, 10 Feb 2023 12:35:21 GMT

That is £2.50pcm for having the service available, plus the cost of calls (as though dialled from home) if there is no call plan.

Re: Sudden Increase In Call Charges

BobR1 — Fri, 10 Feb 2023 13:22:20 GMT

Sorry guys but the only call forwarding option set is to send a call to my landline if the network cannot find my mobile. As I understand it that is treated as a incoming call and is not chargeable by Plusnet.

This as opposed to the other options where it can see my mobile and tries to establish a call with it e.g forward when busy, or unanswered or always.

Re: Sudden Increase In Call Charges

Townman — Fri, 10 Feb 2023 13:42:19 GMT

@BobR1 wrote:

Hi Jab1, no none of them over 60mins. I can guess the origin of most although it's complicated with hospitals and all the different extensions they have.

Here's a case in point: on 1st January 2023 @ 17:28 I am charged by Plusnet for a eight minute call to my mobile. At the time I was lying in a bed at a London hospital. My mobile runs on the Lebara/Vodafone network so why are Plusnet charging me for anything?

This is a confusing description...

The only thing which needs to be identified is the DESTINATION number recorded on your Plusnet landline bill - where the calls come from is not relevant
It the only dialled number is your mobile then there must be a diversion service in place
Do you have any alarm / monitoring service which in the case of an event dials your mobile?
If there are various (predominantly) low digit numbers on the call list (typically 123) then there could be a contact fault on the line giving rise to fantom pulse dialled calls

To switch off "divert all calls" dial: #21#

@BobR1 wrote:

The only call forwarding option set is to send a call to my landline if the network cannot find my mobile.

This as opposed to the other options where it can see my mobile and tries to establish a call with it e.g forward when busy, or unanswered or always.

Call divert on your MOBILE is something entirely different and will not appear on your landline bill ... unless the land line has call forwarding on no answer to your mobile...!

What is "it" in "other options where it can see my mobile and tries to establish a call with it ..."?

It appears that "it" is referring to two different unspecified entities, neither having anything to do with your landline service.

Re: Sudden Increase In Call Charges

jab1 — Fri, 10 Feb 2023 14:10:59 GMT

@Townman / @MisterW All yours - my brain is totally confused.

Re: Sudden Increase In Call Charges

MisterW — Fri, 10 Feb 2023 15:00:46 GMT

Do you have any alarm / monitoring service which in the case of an event dials your mobile?

@Townman that had crossed my mind but

Here's a case in point: on 1st January 2023 @ 17:28 I am charged by Plusnet for a eight minute call to my mobile

you would have thought in would a) not be an 8 minute call and b } would be obvious to @BobR1 where the call was from

@BobR1 can you remember who the call above was from ? and check whether they called your landline or mobile number ? (if they remember!)

Re: Sudden Increase In Call Charges

BobR1 — Fri, 10 Feb 2023 15:09:53 GMT

@MisterW

The 8 minute call was to my mobile from my son's mobile. Plusnet should have had nothing whatsoever to do with that call.

Re: Sudden Increase In Call Charges

MisterW — Fri, 10 Feb 2023 15:14:22 GMT

If that was a call from him, direct to your mobile then I would agree! and I don't see how such a call could appear on your landline call list. If you check the call history on your mobile , does that call show as from your own landline number or from your sons mobile number ?

Re: Sudden Increase In Call Charges

Townman — Fri, 10 Feb 2023 15:46:18 GMT

Something is terribly confused here - an INBOUND call's to the Plusnet land line number will not appear anywhere on a Plusnet bill.

If there is (on no answer) call diversion on the landline to the mobile then...

If the telephone hand set records the CLI of the last N callers, the calling number will show on the handset
The call to the landline will be diverted (on no answer) to the mobile and show as a call to the mobile on the Plusnet bill
The mobile receiving that call will see the calling number (not that of the house phone) so the receiver will have no knowledge if they were called direct or are receiving a diverted call
If the diversion is to a mobile number, that could give rise to a charge, even if the call does not connect / is not answered / is answered by voice mail

"The 8 minute call was to my mobile from my son's mobile."

How do you know that the call was from your son? The calling number would not appear on your Plusnet bill.

Re: Sudden Increase In Call Charges

Longliner — Fri, 10 Feb 2023 16:55:14 GMT

@BobR1 A very long shot, but could your son/someone else have used your home phone by mistake rather than their mobile? It happened here, only twigged when we received a monstrous bill for one call between my dear wife ~~and her sister~~ and some important matter or other 🙄

But then we're still getting used to the absence of Buttons A and B.

Mike

Re: Sudden Increase In Call Charges

BobR1 — Fri, 10 Feb 2023 19:24:14 GMT

@Townman

I know because I asked him.

@Longliner

There was nobody in my own home to pick up the wrong handset.

Re: Sudden Increase In Call Charges

csmith94 — Fri, 10 Feb 2023 19:51:06 GMT

Hi @BobR1

I've been going through your account to see if there's anything there that might be causing you issues. Short answer is no to be honest, the only conclusion I can find is that the call has been made from the landline.

Also, I've ran tests on the line, nothing comes up there either. No products on your account that would divert your call, even if you did you would've set this up yourself so you'd be fully aware this would happen.

There is no way a mobile would ring you and then we charge your landline for that. I really am stumped to found another explanation other than the number was dialed for the phone.