'reverse charge' marketing calls

rob_s_2

When checking my recent phone bill I noticed three calls to a mobile number- 07022737668- which I didn't recognise. It was marked as PNS under the destination. I called it and was instantly disconnected. As the calls amounted to approx. £10 I called my provider (Virgin) who said it was most likely a marketing call that operated like a 'caller collect' or reverse charge call. We had received some calls from a company who said they were doing a survey for the local authority on leisure activities but were not on the phone for long (one call said it took 12 minutes).

Has anyone come across this before and what can we do about it, we are registered with the TPS but this seems to have got round the system. Is there anything I can do to stop this happening again?

Many thanks.

BexTech

070 numbers aren't mobile phone numbers, they are personal numbers and can be routed to a mobile, international or landline, and cost up to 50p per minute to call. You would have to personally dial these numbers, they wouldn't be able to be used as a reverse charge call as the number is for calling only, not outgoing.

Ypaymore

Have you called anyone in Hospital recently that number is allocated to Hospedia formerly Patient Line.

DVardysShadow

I don't think you can be reverse charged for incoming without knowing about it.

DonnyDave

Mobile numbers begin 075, 077, 078 and 079. Numbers prefixed 070 are "personal numbers", hence the designation "PNS" or "Personal Numbering Service".

Different number prefixes (blocks of numbers) are operated by different telephone companies and lists are available from Ofcom. Ofcom shows 070227 numbers to be allocated to "Patientline UK Limited" the hospital bedside telephone provider, now called Hospedia.

I think someone has called a patient in hospital.

Information on the cost of calls from Virgin Media lines is available at https://www.virginmedia.com/callcosts

From that page, the "UK non-geographic calls" document shows this number block as being in charge band PN3. Cross referencing this with the information in "Residential tariffs" about PN3 rates shows that they 47.96 pence per minute during the daytime and 38.17 pence per minute during the evening. These time periods apply seven days a week, as does a call connection fee of 9.79 pence.