101 call charges

37eeyore

Just got my phone bill from Virgin and noticed a 50p charge for dialling 101 which is the non emergency police number. I was surprised this wasn't included in free minutes so I looked it up on line and discovered that calls to 101 should only cost 15p no matter how long the call is or if it is dialled from a land line or mobile. I rang Virgin who checked and confirmed I was right. They have refunded the extra 35p but it must be happening to lots of people. The girl said she was going to flag it up and get it changed but I doubt they will automatically refund people. I don't know what other networks are charging but if you call 101 it is worth checking your bill afterwards

OneADay

Costs 15p per call for 101 calls

http://www.police.uk/101/

Buzby

Interestingly, VM would have to have explicitly opened up this number and its charging rate, so it is not a 'historical' charge that is being attributed to the number. Someone at Virgin, at some time has set the 50p charge, but irrespective of what other companies charge, the bottom line is Virgin's Telephone price list.

http://store.virginmedia.com/content/dam/eSales/Downloads/280812-Residential-Cable-V1.pdf

Finally, this number can ONLY be used in England & Wales.

37eeyore

Using the Virgin call list, 101 is call band FF31, which strangely enough is charged at 15p. They still charged me 50p. Of course, they could just be on the ball and have altered it since I rang them :rotfl:

Buzby

I found this, which the paper notes the increase in cost of calling 101 (from 10p to 15p), and the differing rates from other networks - including Virgin's 50p!

http://www.oxfordmail.co.uk/news/yourtown/oxford/9428390.BT_customers_face_price_hike_to_use_a_new_police_hotline/

diamonds

It still amazes me Ofcom have never enforced 999 calls from any mobile roaming on any network.

Ofcon, all you are doing is costing our emergency services more money searching for people when a simple call could save the bother.

Why is there no failsafe system that 999 can call a mobile number & it is the reverse, the network sees 999 and authorises ANY network to handle the call to the mobile ?

Common sense, Ofcom - common as muck !

NFH

It's a disgrace that calling 101 should cost more than a basic rate call. Perhaps this unfair practice by various public sector organisations should be outlawed when Article 21 of the Consumer Rights Directive becomes law. It would be odd that when the private sector will not be allowed to charge more than the basic rate, the public sector will be able to continue doing so.

dduk

diamonds wrote: »

It still amazes me Ofcom have never enforced 999 calls from any mobile roaming on any network.

Ofcon, all you are doing is costing our emergency services more money searching for people when a simple call could save the bother.

Why is there no failsafe system that 999 can call a mobile number & it is the reverse, the network sees 999 and authorises ANY network to handle the call to the mobile ?

Common sense, Ofcom - common as muck !

Quit your whinging, mobile users have been able to roam to another network to make an emergency call since 2009, providing their phone has a sim and their own network has no signal.

http://www.grough.co.uk/magazine/2009/10/16/999-roaming-will-mean-easier-calls-for-rescue

diamonds

dduk wrote: »

Quit your whinging, mobile users have been able to roam to another network to make an emergency call since 2009, providing their phone has a sim and their own network has no signal.

http://www.grough.co.uk/magazine/2009/10/16/999-roaming-will-mean-easier-calls-for-rescue

Oh please shut up refraining throwing insults like a drama queen, a sim card does not have to be present for EMERGENGY call access - but in UK it does !

A sim could easily short itself or suffer damage/stop working at any point & the above is a good move forward but its still a long shot in the dark in reality.

Incoming EMERGENCY SERVICES calls still require you be on your own network, frankly both situations are absurd and defeat the purpose of EMERGENCY, but then it is Ofcom - funded mainly by fines handed out to those it licences. Ofcom - judge, jury & executioner.

Buzby

A phone without a SIM has no IMSI, and as such could originate spurious calls, as the UK system requires this to identify the inbound call. That isn't going to fly anytime soon.

As for the cost of the call, the recipient service receives no income from the 15p - this is retained by the originating network.

NFH

Buzby wrote: »

As for the cost of the call, the recipient service receives no income from the 15p - this is retained by the originating network.

Are you sure? In that case, why is it not charged at the basic (geographic) rate?