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£380 bill for calling "123"!!!!!!!!!!! Read on u won't believe it!

Teresam
Newbie
Posts: 2
Registered: ‎19-03-2012

£380 bill for calling "123"!!!!!!!!!!! Read on u won't believe it!

I received an e mail from us net to advise my phone bill for the month was £380.00! Thought it strange as rarely use landline. Find out I've been charged for a 21 hour call to "123" the speaking clock. My 8yr old had called and hadn't replaced the receiver!! My bills are supposed to be capped at £75 !! Plusnet were unhelpful and refused to offer any kind of discount and even charged me for going over the limit!! WTF!! What a joke!  Needless to say I'll be moving ASAP
18 REPLIES 18
alanf
Aspiring Pro
Posts: 1,931
Thanks: 78
Fixes: 1
Registered: ‎17-10-2007

Re: £380 bill for calling "123"!!!!!!!!!!! Read on u won't believe it!

Plusnet only gets to know what calls have been made when the data is uploaded from BT. I think that this is meant to happen daily but has on occasions been not for a few days. As you say it does make a nonsense of the cap as it cannot be applied until the data is received. I assume that other landline telephone service providers (if they had any kind of cap at all) would have the same problem but if you find out different I would be interested to hear. However, other phone service providers do offer Call Barring (at a price) which so far PN has not been persuaded to offer its customers.
I have read reports of similar problems with mobile phones on contracts. Parents thinking that they are safe by applying a cap but large usage being run up before a periodic check against the cap. In the case of a mobile there is the option of a prepay phone to limit ones liability but that option is not available for a landline.
ITWorks
Superuser
Superuser
Posts: 2,107
Thanks: 756
Fixes: 9
Registered: ‎05-11-2008

Re: £380 bill for calling "123"!!!!!!!!!!! Read on u won't believe it!

Some offer call barring for free such as the Post Office.
Regards Mike

Superusers are not staff, but they do have a direct line of communication into the business in order to raise issues, concerns and feedback from the community.

198kHz
Seasoned Hero
Posts: 5,730
Thanks: 2,773
Fixes: 41
Registered: ‎30-07-2008

Re: £380 bill for calling "123"!!!!!!!!!!! Read on u won't believe it!

If Plusnet are as good an ISP as I believe they are, they will waive this ridiculous charge, and put pressure on their parent company to immediately modify the 123 service to time out after a reasonable period.
I can hardly believe that it doesn't already. Or maybe it does, and this was a fluke occurrence?
Murphy was an optimist
Zen FTTC 40/10 + Digital Voice   FRITZ!Box 7530
BT technician (Retired)
rodtrotter
Grafter
Posts: 113
Registered: ‎01-11-2011

Re: £380 bill for calling "123"!!!!!!!!!!! Read on u won't believe it!

This will put plusnet to test let's see how they do I can't believe. This sort of thing can happen in this day and age
James
Grafter
Posts: 21,036
Thanks: 5
Registered: ‎04-04-2007

Re: £380 bill for calling "123"!!!!!!!!!!! Read on u won't believe it!

Hmm.
This is the second one of these I have seen in the last fortnight.  Leave it with me and I'll see what I can do.
198kHz
Seasoned Hero
Posts: 5,730
Thanks: 2,773
Fixes: 41
Registered: ‎30-07-2008

Re: £380 bill for calling "123"!!!!!!!!!!! Read on u won't believe it!

BT's charge for Timeline (123) is 31p per use, as shown on page 20 - http://www.productsandservices.bt.com/consumer/consumerProducts/pdf/UKInternationalprices.pdf
So how come Plusnet charge 30p per minute? Specialised Number Call Tariff - Standard pence per minute calls - http://www.plus.net/residential/tariffs/homephone.html
Murphy was an optimist
Zen FTTC 40/10 + Digital Voice   FRITZ!Box 7530
BT technician (Retired)
James
Grafter
Posts: 21,036
Thanks: 5
Registered: ‎04-04-2007

Re: £380 bill for calling "123"!!!!!!!!!!! Read on u won't believe it!

I'm aware and currently having this fixed.
Leave it with me, for me, does mean that I will come back to those involved as promised ;).
James
Grafter
Posts: 21,036
Thanks: 5
Registered: ‎04-04-2007

Re: £380 bill for calling "123"!!!!!!!!!!! Read on u won't believe it!

@Teresam
I'm really sorry about this.  I have removed the call in question from your account and have also placed an order to remove call barring from your line. This should complete today.
I have also contacted the other customer that I am aware that has been affected by this to let him know the same thing.
We expect the overall 'problem' to be resolved in the next 24 to 48 hours.
BenTrimble
Plusnet Alumni (retired)
Plusnet Alumni (retired)
Posts: 2,106
Registered: ‎06-02-2008

Re: £380 bill for calling "123"!!!!!!!!!!! Read on u won't believe it!

Hi, James passed me the details of this problem and I've got the new tariffs all figured out, I'm just waiting for our QA team to test the changes before I can roll them to our live platform. I've also requested changes to the website tariff list but these may take a little longer to be updated. I'll keep you updated as to progress!
198kHz
Seasoned Hero
Posts: 5,730
Thanks: 2,773
Fixes: 41
Registered: ‎30-07-2008

Re: £380 bill for calling "123"!!!!!!!!!!! Read on u won't believe it!

Thanks both - my faith in PN is restored maintained.
Murphy was an optimist
Zen FTTC 40/10 + Digital Voice   FRITZ!Box 7530
BT technician (Retired)
BenTrimble
Plusnet Alumni (retired)
Plusnet Alumni (retired)
Posts: 2,106
Registered: ‎06-02-2008

Re: £380 bill for calling "123"!!!!!!!!!!! Read on u won't believe it!

Glad to hear that 4C Smiley
Our QA team are looking at tomorrow morning for the testing on the tariff changes so we should be OK from there!
Teresam
Newbie
Posts: 2
Registered: ‎19-03-2012

Re: £380 bill for calling "123"!!!!!!!!!!! Read on u won't believe it!

Plusnet have now resolved the issue and have waived any charges. Thank you to James Bailey who dealt with the matter today in a professional manner, despite my grumblings yesterday. I will now most definitely not be switching companies.
BenTrimble
Plusnet Alumni (retired)
Plusnet Alumni (retired)
Posts: 2,106
Registered: ‎06-02-2008

Re: £380 bill for calling "123"!!!!!!!!!!! Read on u won't believe it!

The testing was delayed yesterday but is in progress so this should be rolled out asap.
BenTrimble
Plusnet Alumni (retired)
Plusnet Alumni (retired)
Posts: 2,106
Registered: ‎06-02-2008

Re: £380 bill for calling "123"!!!!!!!!!!! Read on u won't believe it!

These changes have now rolled to the live platform so any calls that are processed as of now will be on the new, lowered price Smiley