virgin connection charges for engaged tone

bexyboo1312

Hi,
I have cancelled my contract with virgin and they rang me today to advise me that due to continuous dialling of 0844 numbers, my bill was currently 51pounds. My husband was trying continuously yesterday to get through to a ticket hotline....it was engaged or giving the can't connect tone. I successfully got through in the evening.
Virgin are saying that even though we only got the engaged tone or the funky little tune that tells you you can't connect, its still classed as a connection charge...because you need to connect to hear that tone.
Is that correct?? I am furious but obviously if this is right there is little I can do and although it might sound stupid I genuinely believed I was only "connected" when there was a response from the phone line I was tryin to call.
Any help would be most appreciated.
Thanks

vyle

After doing some research, it looks as though the answering system of the ticket line was connecting the call, then effectively going "Oh wait, we're full" and returning their internal engaged tone.

So your call was connected, but you were only hearing THEIR internal phone system being rubbish.

What company did you try calling? Do they have a website?

david39

Even if you had called from a landline with all-day free calls, you would have got a charge each time on an 0844 number (but not as much.)

It is wrong that the operators of the service allow people to connect and run up a charge each time.

It maybe that they think they are being customer friendly in advising the caller that they have the correct number and to keep on trying but do not realise that someone repeatedly calling is unwittingly running up a large bill.

Maybe the OP could notify them as to what has happened. If they don't realise the problem then it won't get corrected.

bexyboo1312

Hi, no i didn't get through to anything - it was purely engaged the normal engaged tone. It didn't place me on hold or tell me to try again...just engaged (sorry see what you mean, so any place I ring that is engaged, uses their own engaged tone?)
It was seetickets 0844 number. I posted this in the phone forum and a chap has replied saying that an engaged tone isclassed as connected! I must be stupid because I thought connection was a means or channel of communication....there was no communication!
Thanks
edit -i have all day free calls but the 0844 numbers aren't included

wealdroam

bexyboo1312 wrote: »

Virgin are saying that even though we only got the engaged tone or the funky little tune that tells you you can't connect, its still classed as a connection charge...because you need to connect to hear that tone.

What Virgin are saying is that each time you were connected to See tickets.

You must be connected to hear that funky little tune.

The more times you ring and listen to that funky little tune, the more you pay.

The longer you listen to that funky little tune, the more you pay.

Is that 0844 number listed on Saynoto0870?

bexyboo1312 wrote: »

I must be stupid because I thought connection was a means or channel of communication....there was no communication!

No comment.

fozmcfc

I agree with others, you were connected whether you speak to someone or not, as soon as it say all our sales people are busy or anything similar and/or plays music you are connected.

What do consumers really want, we have 2 basic choices.

1/ Connected listening to a tune, paying for call, but at least moving closer to speak to someone, however long it takes.

or

2/ If no operators are free we get an engaged tone and no charge, but end up risking having to call numerous times before we strike lucky and get a free person.

Of course we could all say, well they should employ enough people to answer phones all the time, but that is not practical, there are always going to be times when unexpected amount of calls happen.

johnwallace

Years ago a radio station (Atlantic 252) used to run a competition that if you were the 1000th caller you won £1000.

Guess how they financed it?

So my daughter waited until they annouced that they were up to caller 900 and dialed the premium rate number. She got an engaged tone so hung up and hit redial. She did this until they announced a winner, it wasn't her.

Luckily that was the only day she was in when they ran the competition as when I got the phone bill there were £15 worth of calls to that number. I wrote to one of the Sunday papers and they investigated, guess what how did the radio station know when they had reached the 1000th caller? They answered the phone with an engaged tone.

I never got my £15 back but I got £5 for my letter being published.

To this day no one in my house is allowed to call any phone in competition, be it on radio or newspaper or TV.

david39

This from :

http://www.planet-numbers.co.uk/numbers/0844/

to prospective companies signing up for 0844 numbers:

"You pay no incoming call charges or any other extra charges whatsoever. All you pay is a small one-off connection fee (from £49 plus VAT) plus a low monthly service charge - great value and a highly competitive way to increase your response rates.

What's more, you'll earn a revenue on your incoming calls!"


So seetickets earned a kickback from the cost of each of the aborted calls the OP made.

The site also says that calls are charged to the caller at 5p per minute, but I expect that is landline - mobiles would be higher than that.

geordieracer

david39 wrote: »

This from :

http://www.planet-numbers.co.uk/numbers/0844/

to prospective companies signing up for 0844 numbers:

"You pay no incoming call charges or any other extra charges whatsoever. All you pay is a small one-off connection fee (from £49 plus VAT) plus a low monthly service charge - great value and a highly competitive way to increase your response rates.

What's more, you'll earn a revenue on your incoming calls!"


So seetickets earned a kickback from the cost of each of the aborted calls the OP made.

The site also says that calls are charged to the caller at 5p per minute, but I expect that is landline - mobiles would be higher than that.

thats only from BT landlines - other companies will incur significantly higher charges

evei_2

thats only from BT landlines

Correct
I am with virgin and my calls cost a connection fee of 12p then 8.5p a minute so my cheapest call costs me more than 20p including vat.

0845 numbers cost me 11p a minute plus 12p connection fee

I have an Asda mobile and if I know the call will be short I use that as it only costs 8p a minute.

One of the reasons I have joined this forum is to find out ways of reducing my phone bill. I have already found out about saynoto0870

bexyboo1312

i didn't have a funky little tune (as in music from the company)..The tune I heard was the " do do doo"--number you have dialled is busy...and that was twice all other times it was engaged tone!