118500 charged £4.12 for 1 sec call

salop

Horrified to see my latest BT bill charged £4.12 for call duration 0.01 ! Is that 1 second or 0.01 of a minute (0.6 sec)?
Whatever it is, how can BT justify the £3.90 they say is applied as soon as 118500 call is triggered plus another 22p for the 0.01 duration!
Phoned BT 150 to complain it was absolutely impossible to say any service had been provided in such a short time and that we have never phoned any 118 numbers. Operator called "Charlie" said we had definitely called 118500 and that BT would not consider a refund. Astounded by Charlie then saying "you need to contact the provider of that 118 directory service and complain to them!
Emailed my complaint to BT. Having no response, then a week later emailed BT CEO office and inside 24 hours they agreed a refund!
Reckon there must be a duration a lot higher than 0.01 where the customer can still insist it is impossible any service was conceivably provided at all! Time Ofcom got BT to set a minimum duration before imposing any charge!

fewgroats

All 118 calls are a waste of time, any number can be retrieved from the web.

forestwn6

Never used them. Therefore quids in.

cookie365

It took me about 15 seconds to google the cost of a call to that number.

Why should other BT customers subsidise your ignorance?

Mister_G

It always surprises me how aggressive some people can be on this forum.

The OP obviously made a genuine mistake, without realising the resulting exorbitant cost.

Hopefully, highlighting it here will enlighten others and prevent them from making a similar mistake.

Or perhaps I just see too much good in people.

LazyTyper

Mister_G wrote: »

The OP obviously made a genuine mistake, without realising the resulting exorbitant cost.

The cost of dialling 118 numbers must be clearly displayed where the number is advertised.

The number 118 500 is advertised on http://www.bt118500.com/ and the price is very clear.

The OP did knowingly dial the 118 500, so the charge is due, even if the call lasted only 1 second. BT refunding the customer is a goodwill gesture, and I am happy for the OP.


The call service set-up charge is charged and the service per-minute charge takes effect after 60 seconds. Plus the respective access charges.


The reason why a 1 second calls is due is because there are services which have genuine use for this, such as voting for TV shows (ie X Factor).

salop

Friendly_happy_LazyTyper wrote: »

I am happy for the OP

Only one happy. That's devastating!
Thought my post was on MSE forum?
Must've pressed the wrong button again and posted on BT fanclub website.
Guess this knocks my Thanked 7 Times for six!
Mr G Thanks for being the exception and not being either smug or aggressive.


As for smug Google remarks
Just Googled this
Premium rate number watchdog PhonepayPlus hit BT with a £225,000 fine after ruling BT’s 118500 failure as ‘very serious’