topic Re: blocking premium rate numbers in Plusnet Feedback

blocking premium rate numbers

joncooper — Mon, 03 Sep 2012 17:34:25 GMT

The ability to block premium rate numbers is a service that is freely available from BT - why is it not possible at plus.net ? (which is owned by BT)
I have just found 2x phone calls on my account totalling £60.26 for calls made at 04:31am and 04:57am
Plus.net are adamant that these calls have been made from my phone, despite everyone in the house denying even being awake at this time
Since the bill is in my name, apparently I have to pay for the calls, but I am not allowed to decide the should be blocked
As above, BT offered blocking FREE - if plus.net can't (or won't) then maybe it's time to move back to a company that lets ME decide what calls I want made from MY phone and what bills I am willing to be responsible for

Re: blocking premium rate numbers

Anonymous — Mon, 03 Sep 2012 18:09:35 GMT

As a stop gap, set a limit on your call credit.
Mine is set at £10, for this very reason.
https://portal.plus.net/support/phone/credit-limit-and-top-ups-guide.shtml

Re: blocking premium rate numbers

waynem — Mon, 03 Sep 2012 18:23:30 GMT

@PlusComUK
How ?

Re: blocking premium rate numbers

x47c — Mon, 03 Sep 2012 18:25:23 GMT

PN don't offer free caller display either from what I remember unlike BT.
Perhaps this is why they are cheaper than BT? - 'cos they don't offer add-ons like this for free.

Re: blocking premium rate numbers

joncooper — Mon, 03 Sep 2012 18:38:49 GMT

@PlusComUK
how do you do that? - can't see anything on the page linked to
I'm on the anytime plan for calls, so I'd be happy to set a credit limit of just £1
although, I did just read ~

Quote
If you reach or go over your credit limit, your calls (apart from emergency and operator) will be redirected to our Support Team and a charge of £5.76 will be added to your next bill.

Re: blocking premium rate numbers

Anonymous — Mon, 03 Sep 2012 19:02:54 GMT

Go to your Telephone Control Panel in Member Centre, assuming you are logged into main site.
Link from within this page
https://portal.plus.net/support/phone/home-phone-faq.shtml
I would link directly, but it goes to my account !!

Re: blocking premium rate numbers

The_10th — Mon, 03 Sep 2012 19:24:03 GMT

This is one major drawback of the PN Home Phone service and an issue that PN really need to address.

Quote
How does my credit limit work?
Your credit limit is similar to an overdraft for call charges.
Once a day your Itemised Bill will be updated as the calls you make are processed.
The charge for each call will be deducted from your credit limit (up to the maximum allowed for your product) and added to your next bill. At the end of the month you'll be charged the amount that's been deducted from your credit limit at that point. Your credit limit will then reset for the next month.

If you're on the anytime calls plan you would still have to fork out £75 max for the month. Understand having a limit but with premium calls and the inability to stop them, this limit could easily be reached and not a great safety net.

Re: blocking premium rate numbers

Oldjim — Mon, 03 Sep 2012 19:33:28 GMT

Last time I checked you could increase it but not reduce it.
To reduce it you had to raise a ticket

Re: blocking premium rate numbers

joncooper — Mon, 03 Sep 2012 19:47:25 GMT

think OldJim is right, I can't see any way to reduce it from £75
TBH, on the anytime plan, I don't need any limit at all, I don't want the kids calling mobiles either

Re: blocking premium rate numbers

joncooper — Mon, 03 Sep 2012 20:03:50 GMT

Quote from: The
... but with premium calls and the inability to stop them, this limit could easily be reached and not a great safety net.

too true, £60 I'm being billed is just 2 calls
not to mention how unlikely it is for anyone in my house to be awake at 4:30am

Re: blocking premium rate numbers

adamwalker — Wed, 05 Sep 2012 10:34:50 GMT

I just thought I'd check your account and can see that we're picking this up on ticket 59496445 for you.

Re: blocking premium rate numbers

alanf — Wed, 05 Sep 2012 10:50:35 GMT

Plusnet does offer a service to block premium rate &/or international calls but it is a chargeable option and has to be implemented manually by Plusnet.
As has been shown in other threads the credit limit offers little protection as it is only checked when call data is uploaded and this is at least at least one day in arrears.

Re: blocking premium rate numbers

joncooper — Thu, 06 Sep 2012 11:11:38 GMT

what? so you're saying that even if I have a £10 limit on my phone account, a dodgy phone call in the middle of the night might not show up in the billing for up to 24 hours?
what's the point of being able to set a limit then?

Re: blocking premium rate numbers

joncooper — Thu, 06 Sep 2012 11:18:12 GMT

Adam: when you say "we're picking this up on ticket 59496445 for you" do you mean you're doing exactly what I asked when I called for the second time to attempt to resolve this issue?
and, judging by the comment from alanf, it seems maybe the credit limit option isn't worth relying on anyway
I do NOT understand why this is so hard, it's MY phone, I pay the bill, I do NOT want anyone to be able to call any premium rate number at any time ever.

Re: blocking premium rate numbers

adamwalker — Thu, 06 Sep 2012 15:09:48 GMT

Hi there,

Quote
what? so you're saying that even if I have a £10 limit on my phone account, a dodgy phone call in the middle of the night might not show up in the billing for up to 24 hours?

To explain in a little more detail how the processing of call charges works. We process around 65% of calls on the same day as they are made (which is between midnight and 8.30PM). We then start processing the calls just after 9.15PM and that takes around 2.5 hours to complete so by the next day 99.83% of calls are listed on itemised bills. So just to clarify it's only calls made between 8.30 and midnight that won't show until the next day.
re ticket 59496445, that is there to reduce the credit limit. I've dropped you a PM with some more details

Re: blocking premium rate numbers

jelv — Thu, 06 Sep 2012 15:21:31 GMT

Reading this so far it appears you are not going to credit him for the two calls to premium rate numbers that he claims he didn't make.
Also that unless the credit limit is set to zero he could be charged for similar calls again (although not as much).
Am I reading this correctly? I can't see how a credit limit of £10 would stop a single £20 call if you process the data retrospectively.

Re: blocking premium rate numbers

James — Thu, 06 Sep 2012 15:24:37 GMT

If a credit limit is set to zero, any chargeable calls made would result in a bar being placed and a charge of £5.86 to remove it.
The chargeable call would still be charged for as would others until the bar is in place.

Re: blocking premium rate numbers

jelv — Thu, 06 Sep 2012 15:42:00 GMT

So messing about with the credit limit is not a satisfactory solution to this problem!
So far the only sensible suggestion seems to be to move the phone back to BT.

Re: blocking premium rate numbers

James — Thu, 06 Sep 2012 15:44:26 GMT

Whilst I agree with your first point I would elect not to agree with your second

Re: blocking premium rate numbers

adamwalker — Thu, 06 Sep 2012 15:44:47 GMT

Hi all,
Just wanted you to know that I'm resolving this issue directly with the OP.
Adam