Unknown calls on BT phone bill

JanDoncom

Apologies in advance, this is a long story.

I live in a flat without a phone. I have a landline, but it is used only for my Internet, I do not have a phone connected to it and haven't for probably a good year (Owing to the amount of marketing calls I kept getting).

So you can imagine my surprise when my last phone bill arrived, and I found that I had been charged for several calls to 123, otherwise known as the speaking clock.

Phoned BT Billing Team, fully expecting the problem to be fixed quickly. BIG MISTAKE! They were about as helpful as a chocolate saucepan, and even accused me of lying because "We have proof that the calls are being made from your property". I found this mentally distressing, and even burst into tears on the phone (My mobile I might add. Remember, these calls are allegedly being made from a none existent phone), which prompted the "customer service" to start treating me in a patronizing manner.

Anyway. I hand everything over to a friend who is also an expert on Communications law. He told them exactly what laws he believed they were breaking, and how many years in prison it would earn, and they told him that it would be fixed. It wasn;t. The calls stopped for a couple of days, and then started again. BT are continue to be unhelpful, and won't block outgoing calls without charging me. The calls are still occurring, and since then I have also noticed other calls going to local numbers appearing on the list. When I tried calling one of these numbers, it was a "premium" business line available for sale.

This has been going on for nearly a month now, and my next bill will soon be taking with even more of these bogus calls on it. The obvious answer is to cancel the DD, but my concern is that this might also cancel my Internet. I work for YouTube as a content creator and am also a professional blogger, so the internet is a source of income for me.

I guess what I need to know is

1) If I cancel the DD, claim indemnity, and then just pay the line rental by CC, can BT still cut me off?

2) If I do the above, what effect is this likely to have on my credit rating? (I would like to still be able to get a mortgage at the end of this).

I will be contacting both the police (As by charging me for bogus calls, I believe that BT are stealing from me) and the Communication Ombudsman today.

irishjohn

You should only cancel the direct debit as a last resort as that will automatically increase your monthly bill by £1.50 which is the fee BT charges customers who do not pay by direct debit.

If you pay only the line rental and ignore any other items on your bill it will automatically leave the items on your account as arrears and you will be cut off for non payment.

Perhaps another way to tackle this would be to ring BT and ask for complaints - explain to them that you have previously reported this problem and as BT have failed to rectify it you intend to move to another provider. Ask for your MAC code and consider moving to another provider for Broadband and line rental, which may remove your problem.

They are likely to put you through to retentions who will do their best to keep you and if you continue to stress that you need them to resolve the bogus calls if they want to keep you. Impress upon them that you are intent on contacting Ofcom if they fail to help you.

System

Welcome. How much are we talking about here? Have you checked that the virus protection on your computer is up to date to make sure that you haven't got a virus which is causing the computer to dial out without you knowing it. Run a spyware checker as a double check.

PS This isn't really the correct forum for your question.

zaax

Move from BT they are a total shambles. Zen internet is best bit more expensive than the rest but...

alderpoint

Go and have a look at your local green box - should be one within a few hundred yards of you. Is it secure (i.e. locked). It is not unknown for people to break into these boxes, attach a phone to a convenient pair of wires and then make calls.

poppasmurf_bewdley

Many years ago, when we were just starting to connect our computers to the internet, there were many instances of viruses being downloaded onto computers and these viruses dialled telephone numbers and thereby incurred costs to the line owner.

Have you checked that you do not have a virus that is dialling the 123 number? What time are the calls made? If at the same time of day, that would suggest a virus.

Whether you have a virus or not, it's virtually certain a computer programme is making the calls.

duchy

The first thing to do is get a telephone handset -plug it in and call your mobile from it. See what number shows up on your mobile-if it is not your number the your line is crossed with someone elses and it needs to be sorted at the cabinet in the street by an OR engineer.

I'm amazed BT haven't asked you to do this (or maybe they did and you refused) as it is the most likely cause. Perhaps your friend who rings up BT and threatens the poor agent who they speak to with prison (this did make me laugh) can lend you a handset. As they are such an expert they will understand that your refusal to troubleshoot will mean OFCOM would reject any complaint if you haven't done so. Perhaps your self proclaimed "expert" isn't as knowledgeable as you hope !!

Rather than wasting the police's time - just get a phone handset and check your phone line out properly and sensibly !!

alderpoint

poppasmurf_bewdley wrote: »

Whether you have a virus or not, it's virtually certain a computer programme is making the calls.

Assuming that a modem is actually installed in the computer - which is very unusual these days.

kpearsoncj

block outgoing calls its got to be cheaper and less hassle!

vuvuzela

poppasmurf_bewdley wrote: »

Many years ago, when we were just starting to connect our computers to the internet, there were many instances of viruses being downloaded onto computers and these viruses dialled telephone numbers and thereby incurred costs to the line owner.

Have you checked that you do not have a virus that is dialling the 123 number? What time are the calls made? If at the same time of day, that would suggest a virus.

Whether you have a virus or not, it's virtually certain a computer programme is making the calls.

This might possibly have been the case 15 years ago, nowadays almost everyone is connected (particularly people who rely on the Internet for income) to their fibre or broadband modem via ethernet which a virus wouldn't be able to use to make a telephone call. So I'd definitely say it's virtually impossible for a computer programme to be making the calls.

lonestar1

Follow Ducy's advice hook up a phone and call your mobile from the landline. A couple of years ago our line got switched with someone elses despite us initially being told this can no longer happen. at the very least call your landline from your mobile at a similar time to when the outgoing calls were made