Virgin Media - increased call charges

jicms

Hi
I make daily international calls to mobiles in the US from my Virgin Media landline using a supposedly 1p/min 0844 access no. with one of the call providers e.g. Dialaphone, Bestminutes. Until this month the calls were costing around 1p/min but this month they are showing on my bill as around 3p/min! I phoned Customer Services but had great communication problems. All they said was that they had increased their charges. Does anyone know whether this is likely to be correct?

Ypaymore

jicms wrote: »

Hi
I make daily international calls to mobiles in the US from my Virgin Media landline using a supposedly 1p/min 0844 access no. with one of the call providers e.g. Dialaphone, Bestminutes. Until this month the calls were costing around 1p/min but this month they are showing on my bill as around 3p/min! I phoned Customer Services but had great communication problems. All they said was that they had increased their charges. Does anyone know whether this is likely to be correct?

If you look at the sites mentioned 1p a minute is only from a BT Landline.VM do charge more then BT to call them.Their have many posts about this before

EG http://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/showthread.html?t=1716915&highlight=virgin+media+0844

Or http://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/showthread.html?t=1590519&highlight=virgin+media+0844

Suggested workaround here: http://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/showthread.html?t=1779545&highlight=phone+coop+0844

ACDeag

jicms wrote: »

Hi
I make daily international calls to mobiles in the US from my Virgin Media landline using a supposedly 1p/min 0844 access no. with one of the call providers e.g. Dialaphone, Bestminutes. Until this month the calls were costing around 1p/min but this month they are showing on my bill as around 3p/min! I phoned Customer Services but had great communication problems. All they said was that they had increased their charges. Does anyone know whether this is likely to be correct?

Try http://www.1899.com/mobilerates.php 0808 access, call charges to the US are 1p/min. You need to sign up for an account with them, but at least VM cannot increase the charge for 0808 numbers which are free.

Ypaymore

ACDeag wrote: »

Try http://www.1899.com/mobilerates.php 0808 access, call charges to the US are 1p/min. You need to sign up for an account with them, but at least VM cannot increase the charge for 0808 numbers which are free.

Plus its only 4p connection,and unlike 0844 access numbers you dont pay if your not connected.

jicms

jicms wrote: »

Hi
I make daily international calls to mobiles in the US from my Virgin Media landline using a supposedly 1p/min 0844 access no. with one of the call providers e.g. Dialaphone, Bestminutes. Until this month the calls were costing around 1p/min but this month they are showing on my bill as around 3p/min! I phoned Customer Services but had great communication problems. All they said was that they had increased their charges. Does anyone know whether this is likely to be correct?

OMG this is all very depressing. Thanks for all the prompt replies. Looks as if I really need to ditch Virgin Media. I'll have to make enquiries from BT to see what the cost will be to change lines.

utilitybroker

jicms wrote: »

OMG this is all very depressing. Thanks for all the prompt replies. Looks as if I really need to ditch Virgin Media. I'll have to make enquiries from BT to see what the cost will be to change lines.

If you havent got a working BT socket they will want £122.50p connection for a 12 month contract,or free connection if you agree to a 18 month contract.

Your best bet when/if you get a BT line would probaly be to CPS your calls to a supplier who offer,s inclusive USA landline/mobile calls.

In the meantime or if you stay with VM whats wrong with 1899?

jicms

I was quite surprised to find that BT were not very keen for our business which would probably have included phone, tv and broadband. Although we have one existing BT business line and another BT phone point they were not interested in reconnecting us without charging the new customer installation fee of £122! I will probably rearrange my current Virgin Media package.

Yes, I will definitely check out this 1899 service for the US calls. Thanks.

ACDeag

jicms wrote: »

I was quite surprised to find that BT were not very keen for our business which would probably have included phone, tv and broadband. Although we have one existing BT business line and another BT phone point they were not interested in reconnecting us without charging the new customer installation fee of £122! I will probably rearrange my current Virgin Media package.

Yes, I will definitely check out this 1899 service for the US calls. Thanks.

Have a look at this thread:

http://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/showthread.html?t=1640845

Although a rather long thread, you can get installation for free if you agree to a 18 month contract and make 10 calls a month. It can be difficult to get someone who knows about the offer but generally (or certainly when I used it) BT was aiming it at Virgin Media customers, so if you mention that it should help. Have a look at the more recent posts as people tell you the department to speak to.

jicms

Presumably you can't take the contract with you if you move so I'm not sure if I could commit to 18 months.

ACDeag

jicms wrote: »

Presumably you can't take the contract with you if you move so I'm not sure if I could commit to 18 months.

If you find the link to the deal on BT.com from one of the messages it should say there.