Virgin Media > Mobile Calls

Buzby

Just noticed a sneaky charge from Virgin on my phone bill - it was hard to track down (as they don't itemise calls under 50p) but it appears that irrespective of the time of day, if you call a mobile number you are charged a 'connection fee' instantly the call is passed over the gateway to the distant network (ie, BEFORE the call is answered).

I tracked down 2 call attempts that were used to ring a mobile for 12 and 15 seconds respectively - they were neither answered or forwarded to voicemail, yet Virgin have taken payment for it.

Watch out!

DaveAA

How much were you charged for each such attempt?

Buzby

12 and 15 seconds respectively. Each only rung the mobile (it was not answered or intercepted by VM). It appears the fee was the same for each and was the 'connection' charge.

DaveAA

How much were you charged for each such attempt?

DonnyDave

Virgin Media publish call pricing literature at virginmedia.com/callcosts

It is unfortunately the way these days that invariably landline providers charge "connection" or "call set-up" fees, these being "per call", on top of the per minute charges. This was something that started with the cable operators which have now amalgamated and formed Virgin Media.

This should not apply where the call never got beyond ringing.

Another thing that the regulator has allowed to happen is whole minute billing. That is where call durations are rounded up to the next whole minute for charging purposes.

So the minimum charge for a chargeable call is often the connection fee plus the first minute.

The usual call connection charge with Virgin Media is 14.94 pence and this applies to calls to mobile phones (unless they are included).

The cost of calling a mobile number whose prefix is allocated to O2, Orange, T-Mobile or Vodafone is 19.35 pence per minute during Daytime periods and 14.25 pence per minute during Evening periods. There is no separate weekend period, so these two periods apply seven days a week.

The minimum charge to ring one of these mobile numbers, which applies for calls of less than one minute, is therefore 35 pence during Daytime periods. (Despite the fact that the call connection fee and per minute elements aren't integers, the total cost of each call is rounded up to the next whole penny.)

Calls to Three number blocks are 31.61 pence per minute during Daytimes and 24.46 pence per minute during Evenings.

The only exception to the above is with ringing Virgin Mobile users, which are included in packages.