118500 & bt

bmtney54

Yesterday, I checked my BT account online and noticed a 30 minutes call to a premium rate 'Directory' number (118500). This was at a time when I KNOW I was on the phone to a Leeds UK number. I use override provider (18185.co.uk) - spot the similarity in the number - but was blissfully unaware that I was apparently connected 'via this International DE number' (and being charge over £1 per minute). There was no indication that this was being done. Had I mis-keyed the number? - No the 18185 automated message told me 'zero p per minute' - as usual - and the first I became aware of this was when it appeared on my on-line bill - nearly £50 for a call I though would cost me 5p (connection fee).
Have spoken to BT and as a 'gesture of goodwill' when the next bill is issued I can call and have this charge reversed (no admission of a BT fault then) and they can't put a bar on this (118500) number so this doesn't happen again.
I only really noticed this because £50 items on my 'itemised bill' are rare as hens teeth. How many others are being incorrectly charged (smaller amounts they don't realise) for this and why don't BT do something about it?

System

bmtney54 wrote: »

Yesterday, I checked my BT account online and noticed a 30 minutes call to a premium rate 'Directory' number (118500). ... the 18185 automated message told me 'zero p per minute'

Does your list of recent calls on-line at 18185.co.uk include this call? If it does, that proves that you called 181850113... , and the call went via Finarea. If so, point this out to BT, and demand an immediate correction to your BT list of recent calls, before this mis-recorded call gets on your bill.
If you inadvertently called 118500... you would have been bound to notice that you were answered by someone asking you what name and address you wanted a number for. You would have been charged the minimum amount for a call to 118500, nearly £2.
If you have the 18185 prefix programmed in to your phone, or an Orchid device, programme it to prefix 18185 to calls to numbers starting 118. If you then mistakenly call 118... , you will get a free message from Finarea that you have called an incorrect number.

bmtney54

18185.co.uk do NOT have the call listed.
The call is listed on my online BT bill. But at NO TIME did I speak to any Directory Enquiry staff nor was I played any message to indicate I was using the 118500 service at premium rate. I knew the UK number I was calling and had no need of a DE service! I WAS played the 18185 'zero p per minute' message and fully expected this call to cost me 5p.
Forums indicate I am not the only person to have fallen foul of some deeper problem here. My concern is how many others (who maybe don't have itemised bills?) are being caught out by this and are totally unaware of it!
So I agree, this doesn't stack up or make sense - all the more reason for bt to investigate....but they're not interested. I'm only 'grateful' they've verbally agreed to waive this for me 'when my next bt bill is issued', but they wouldn't put anything in writing , nor despite my request do I sense will they escalate this and look into it. [I have to call back when the next quarterly bill is produced - they could not put a reverse charge against the call until then]
I asked BT to put a block on any future calls from my home phone to 118500 to avoid a recurrence of this (I will never use this service at all) but they wouldn't/couldn't. So what do I do if it happens again?
As an aside 18185.co.uk are impossible to contact. If anyone has succeeded please can they let me know.

Thanks

MrandMrsB

Thanks. I too use 18185 so am just about to check my previous BT bills because I must admit to not checking them properly. In theory I should not be paying any call changes to BT.

System

bmtney54 wrote: »

18185.co.uk do NOT have the call listed.
...
As an aside 18185.co.uk are impossible to contact. If anyone has succeeded please can they let me know.

Are other calls you made recently appearing normally on the 'calls yet to be invoiced' list at 18185.co.uk ?
If you keyed 18185... , it is unheard of for 18185 not to charge you. But if for some reason their charging system failed to pick up the call, I doubt if their techie can pick it up now.
If you inadvertently keyed 118500 ... , it is obviously unlikely that you would not have noticed someone asking you who you wanted, and it is impossible for the call to be routed directly to the number you wanted without human intervention.
I don't see what you can ask 18185 to do about this now, in practice. However, to contact them:
1. click on Contact in the headers at 18185.co.uk
2. On the page that then comes up, where it says
Contact customer services
Please click here
click on here
3. On the page that then comes up, click on the 'report a fault' radio button.
4. On the page that then comes up, fill in your account number and registered email address.
5. Fill in the form that then comes up with details of the time of the call etc.

lotto-dreamer

I've had a very similar problem (started new thread this evening as hadn't seen this!).

Was checking my BT bill and noticed a charge for £16.98 for 'Directory' and the number was 118501. I NEVER call any directory enquiries as I use the internet for finding telephone numbers.

I have checked against my 18185.co.uk bill and for the same time and date as the BT bill it shows a list of the actual numbers I called proving I was using 18185.

Since charges show up on both bills at the same time and on the same date either BT have an interest in 118501 or there is something extremely odd going on. Hardly the saving I was hoping to make using 18185.

Will watch this thread with interest.

System

If you are trying to call 1818501XXX, and you, or a technical fault, misses out the first 8, you will unwittingly call 118501. For obvious reasons, I am not going to test this number myself, but I suspect that the operators (Crosby directories) answer almost immediately. So, even if you clear down at once, you will be charged £1.50.
To run up £16 without noticing, there would have to be a further technical fault that the call did not clear down properly, and you went on being charged for about 10 minutes.
Complain to Crosby, on the lines that you might have miskeyed their number, but you can't possibly have hung on for 10 minutes, and want a refund.
http://www.phonepayplus.org.uk/Number-Checker/Check-a-Number-Results.aspx?ncn=118501

Heinz

That the operators at 118501 have standing instructions not to clear down on an immediate hang up for 10 minutes (because it earns the company money) is an unlikely possibility.

But only they can answer the question.

poppasmurf_bewdley

bmtney54 wrote: »

I asked BT to put a block on any future calls from my home phone to 118500 to avoid a recurrence of this (I will never use this service at all) but they wouldn't/couldn't. So what do I do if it happens again?
As an aside 18185.co.uk are impossible to contact. If anyone has succeeded please can they let me know.

Thanks

When Directory Enquiries went from 192 to 118*** numbers, they were originally classed by BT as Premium Rate Numbers, and anyone who had Premium Rate numbers barred could not dial 118*** numbers.

BT then reclassed 118*** as not Premium Rate numbers (how I don't know) and made it so they couldn't be barred under any circumstances. It was after this, and the long conversations I had with them about it, that I vowed NEVER to use BT for any paid for calls ever again.

As an aside, are there any phones which you can bar numbers such as this on each individual handset?

iniltous

poppasmurf_bewdley wrote: »

When Directory Enquiries went from 192 to 118*** numbers, they were originally classed by BT as Premium Rate Numbers, and anyone who had Premium Rate numbers barred could not dial 118*** numbers.

BT then reclassed 118*** as not Premium Rate numbers (how I don't know) and made it so they couldn't be barred under any circumstances. It was after this, and the long conversations I had with them about it, that I vowed NEVER to use BT for any paid for calls ever again.

As an aside, are there any phones which you can bar numbers such as this on each individual handset?

Your anger is at the wrong people, when BT had a monopoly on DQ it was 40p for 2 searches, via 192, it was the Regulator OFCOM/OFTEL that introduced 118*** numbers, and allowed companys who offered these services to charge whatever they liked, its the owners of these services ( and yes, BT is one of them) that do not want these numbers classed as premium rate, so they are not barred from lines that have PRCB on them, but again blaming BT is wrong, BT have to allow access to all these numbers, otherwise they would be seen as restricting a competitors business, the line about them being reclassified from premium rate to not premium rate is wrong , BT have always had to allow access to these services,at whatever 'price' the service provider charges, at least BT has to allow access to all 118*** numbers,so you can use whoever you like, some providers restrict you to their own 118 number only, so you dont even get the chance to use the cheapest,