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You are paying 32p for a 1 second call
nolly2009
Posts: 13 Forumite
in Phones & TV
I have always been under the impression that my Virgin landline bill has been too high.
I recently requested itemised billing and found lots of calls to mobiles with a duration of 1minute 00 seconds.
On investigating the contract I read:
"Call durations are accurate to plus or minus 1.1 seconds and rounded up to the next minute."
I rang Virgin and they confirmed that a 1 second call is charged at 1 minute. These calls were calls to my family where their mobile was off or they were on a call and the call went straight to their voicemail. I instantly hung up, but the 1 or 2 second call is charged as a connection charge plus a 1 minute call. That comes to between 21p and 32p + VAT per call
Over a month these could mount up to £20 or £30.
I reported the matter to Ofcom. They said that I had signed the contract. I responded that the contract was, by any standards, unfair. They said that they are a statistics based organisation and that only if sufficient customers complained they would look into it.
I guess that all phone companies do the same thing, but I don't see why they should get away with it. I don't mind paying for the time I use, but rounding up to the next minute!!
Do you think it is fair?
Ofcom's number is 02079813040 or 03001233333.
Nolly2009
I recently requested itemised billing and found lots of calls to mobiles with a duration of 1minute 00 seconds.
On investigating the contract I read:
"Call durations are accurate to plus or minus 1.1 seconds and rounded up to the next minute."
I rang Virgin and they confirmed that a 1 second call is charged at 1 minute. These calls were calls to my family where their mobile was off or they were on a call and the call went straight to their voicemail. I instantly hung up, but the 1 or 2 second call is charged as a connection charge plus a 1 minute call. That comes to between 21p and 32p + VAT per call
Over a month these could mount up to £20 or £30.
I reported the matter to Ofcom. They said that I had signed the contract. I responded that the contract was, by any standards, unfair. They said that they are a statistics based organisation and that only if sufficient customers complained they would look into it.
I guess that all phone companies do the same thing, but I don't see why they should get away with it. I don't mind paying for the time I use, but rounding up to the next minute!!
Do you think it is fair?
Ofcom's number is 02079813040 or 03001233333.
Nolly2009
Is the practice of rounding up call charges to the next minute fair? 23 votes
Yes
8%
2 votes
No
82%
19 votes
Couldn't care less
8%
2 votes
0
Comments
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Welcome to the MSE forums nolly2009.
Sign up for a www.18185.co.uk account and use their 0808 1 703 703 access number for all your non-inclusive calls. Problem solved.Time has moved on (much quicker than it used to - or so it seems at my age) and my previous advice on residential telephony has been or is now gradually being overtaken by changes in the retail market. Hence, I have now deleted links to my previous 'pearls of wisdom'. I sincerely hope they helped save some of you money.0 -
Virgin Media's phone service is not cheap for anything. Even their call packages cost more than BT and don't include 0845/0870 numbers as BT do. Only thing that is cheaper is line rental, by 25p.
0845 calls cost 6.85p/min in the evening on VM compared to BT's 0.49p/min and 0870 9.79p/min compared to BT's 1.45p/min.0 -
Hence why they try and force you to take a phone line with any broadband / tv you might want. I hate Virgin.0
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Welcome to the MSE forums nolly2009.
Sign up for a18185 account and use their 0808 1 703 703 access number for all your non-inclusive calls. Problem solved.
I have just signed up as you suggested and made my first call. I was charged 15p for an 8 second call to a uk mobile. I assume that this equates to 5p for the connection plus 10p for the 8 seconds. Back to square one!
I have contacted them (with some difficulty) to ask them to confirm this, but it seems to me that they also round up to the next minute.
nolly20090 -
I, and most of my friends and family turned off voicemail long ago to overcome the problem you are experiencing. We use texts to alert each other we want to speak if we meet the engaged tone.
15p as opposed to 32p is a result in my book.Time has moved on (much quicker than it used to - or so it seems at my age) and my previous advice on residential telephony has been or is now gradually being overtaken by changes in the retail market. Hence, I have now deleted links to my previous 'pearls of wisdom'. I sincerely hope they helped save some of you money.0 -
From the 18185 website...I have contacted them (with some difficulty) to ask them to confirm this, but it seems to me that they also round up to the next minute.
nolly2009
How much will I be charged for my calls? Calls are subject to a connection fee of only 4p or 5p for calls within the UK. You will therefore be charged 4p or 5p plus the applicable tariff for the destination you are calling calculated in minutes and rounded to the nearest penny. Apart from that there are no other charges; no subscription, registration, administration or any other charges!0 -
I'm with Virgin as well and I use my Asda paygo mobile if I know the calls will be short. 8p a minute as against, as you say, 32p +vat.
And I make a lot of short calls
Stan0 -
JohalaReewi wrote: »From the 18185 website...
How much will I be charged for my calls? Calls are subject to a connection fee of only 4p or 5p for calls within the UK. You will therefore be charged 4p or 5p plus the applicable tariff for the destination you are calling calculated in minutes and rounded to the nearest penny. Apart from that there are no other charges; no subscription, registration, administration or any other charges!
Exactly. There is a difference between "calculated in minutes" and "rounded up to the next minute". When I buy diesel I pay by the litre but I doubt if anyone would accept "rounded up to the next litre".
nolly20090 -
I have just signed up as you suggested and made my first call. I was charged 15p for an 8 second call to a uk mobile. I assume that this equates to 5p for the connection plus 10p for the 8 seconds. Back to square one!
I have contacted them (with some difficulty) to ask them to confirm this, but it seems to me that they also round up to the next minute.
nolly2009
Still cheaper than Virgin Media.
Friends and Family of mine don't have voicemail switched on, eventually got all to agree to switch the dreadful thing off.It's PAC not PAC Code, it's MAC not MAC Code, it's PIN not PIN Number, it's ATM not ATM Machine, it's LCD not LCD Display, it's DVD not DVD disc... It's no one not noone, It's a lot not alot, It's got not gotten... Panini is the plural of panino - there is no S!!(OK my English isn't great, the sciences, maths & IT are my strong points!)0 -
Is the 18185 call to mobile charge same off-peak as well as peak? Reason I ask is 15p is what I would have been charged for an off-peak call to a mobile with my 'normal' phone line provider and I just assumed 18185 would be cheaper...Call me Carmine....
HAVE YOU SEEN QUENTIN'S CASHBACK CARD??0
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