virgin connection charges when engaged?

bexyboo1312

Hi, (posted in consumer section but here prob better)
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

Mark_In_Hampshire

That is correct, yes. You are "connected" when the line and call are connected to the other end, whether it is engaged or not.

bexyboo1312

great!! Thanks for your help

aaj123

Mark_In_Hampshire wrote: »

That is correct, yes. You are "connected" when the line and call are connected to the other end, whether it is engaged or not.

Is this really true for all providers? If that is so, what is the point of people on this forum who say that the 1571 facility should not be used to avoid higher charges for friends and family. If you are going to be charged even if the phone is engaged, then how does having or not having 1571 on your line affect the charges incurred by people calling you when your line is busy?

glenderg

aaj123 wrote: »

Is this really true for all providers? If that is so, what is the point of people on this forum who say that the 1571 facility should not be used to avoid higher charges for friends and family. If you are going to be charged even if the phone is engaged, then how does having or not having 1571 on your line affect the charges incurred by people calling you when your line is busy?

I'm thinking the same!

Heinz

I never get charged for calls when I hit an engaged tone. None of my providers (BT, Primus and 18185) make such a charge.

Peharps it's just a Virgin thing. They are, after all, the country's most expensive voice telephony provider.

bexyboo1312

I am going to contact ofcom on Monday as I am getting conflicting advice and when I asked Virgin, where it states in their t&c's that connection starts from the minute you dial a number, they said it wouldn't appear there. I'll let you know how i get on. Thanks

iniltous

As this is posted in the home phones section then I presume you are not talking about virgin mobiles, but its my understanding that landline operators cannot charge for calls that are not answered/connected, thats why (in part) most offer a free answer service (so the call is connected and can be charged for), in your case calling a 0844 number, even though you didnt get 'through' to anyone or anything, the chances are the call was 'answered' by the company you were calling, after all these numbers are revenue sharing, its in their interest to answer the call (and start the metering process) even if they are not in a position to deal with the call, it always makes me smile when calling one of these numbers the automated voice says, 'we are very busy, but please hold..we will deal with your call soon, but doesnt say 'the longer we have you listening to this message the more money we make out of you' and even though you didnt get this type of response (you say you only got 'tones'), its my guess these tones were not from Virgin but from whatever system the people who you called use, and Virgin would argue they did there bit in connecting you to these people and are not responsible for the fact that they didnt 'deal' with your connected call, but 'charged' for it anyway

Mark_In_Hampshire

This has come up on here before and it is clearly stated in the terms and conditions (I found it easily by downloading the PDF and just searching through it)

Virgin don't need to be especially competitive for phone calls, as they're the only one with a next-gen broadband network with which nobody can compete.

The charges apply when you are technically, not vocally, connected, if that makes sense.

bexyboo1312

Mark, I have looked through the t&c's and cannot find anything that states the charges apply when technically connected - not vocally. Please can you point me in the direct of where to find that pdf, because I cannot see it on mine...page number will do thanks.
So basically, even if I had been ringing a normal landline local number- the engaged tone would have come from the other line and I would be charged for it? (Assuming I don't have unltd package?!)

Mark_In_Hampshire

I did a quick search for the thread on here but can't locate it.

Believe the line in the Ts and Cs says something like

"Charges apply from the moment you are connected to the network"

not

"Charges apply only when the call is connected"