chargd international rate by my provider when I used a prefix number

mussgrove

I have been calling a mobile in Kenya via my home phone for years .I always check the call, checker and have never had a problem until now. I discovered imhad been charged £43 for one call...my entire months bill was only £82!!!.I challenged aol my provider but they were adamant tnat I must have dialled despite seeing weekly calls where I had used an access number.The bill shows 3 connections to the access number prior to the international call which was charged.Has anyone had this problem and if so what if anything can you do? It actuallynseems to me that I was connected via the access number but somehow got disconnected then connected directly to the direct kine...is that possible?.

Buzby

Not really - there is no seamless call transferral over different providers - it has to terminate and be redialled. What you need to do is check the itemisation for both of your suppliers.

Find the start time (including seconds) for the call you believe was somehow dual billed, if the duration is shown great, if not the charge made should allow you to work out what this is.

redux

I hadn't heard of this happening with landlines, but when there were more access numbers being called from mobiles, an occasional problem was that someone pressed the dial key after composing the international number, thus putting the first call on hold and starting another separate (and direct-dialled) call. The billing would show these two concurrent calls, with both being hung up simultaneously.

mussgrove

The call to the prefix number 08444392121 was at 15.13 .38 and lasted 06.00 minutes the charged call was at 15.19.57.what can I prove from this?

redux

The time doesn't overlap, so those are probably separate calls.

Did you make one call, hang up, then redial what you thought was the same access number, but the international one was on the screen?

mussgrove

I dont believe I could hang up then get a dial tone and dial a 14 digit number and get an immediate response in 19 seconds! Also I am so used to using these access numbers that I know you always get a welcome greeting explaining how to use the service so I would have realised I was not connected via the access number

redux

Well, maybe it's the other way round - just accidentally dialling the international number on the screen and as this is a landline rather than a mobile and thus probably doesn't support simultaneous calls (my mistake) that hangs up the first call

mussgrove

Thanks for all your thoughts but I am adamant that I never dialled the international number directly and it does not stay on the screen id have to have scrolled thriugh previous numbers and it is not even in the address book!
My only other thought is that around that time the junction box which is in our garden was changed if that was done on that day at that time could that have caused it?