Landline calls being charged after 60 minutes - are there any that don't?

antrouser

Hello, I'm trying to find a landline phone contract for my father-in-law.  He's 95 with failing eyesight, but still lives at home on his own.  He's on an 'inclusive calls' package for his landline (doesn't use a mobile) but has been getting some hefty monthly bills, and we've realised this is due to him not ending calls correctly - so they can last for hours and he gets hit with the bill.  He struggles with modern phones, even those designed for the visually-impaired, and rather than end a call properly he presses the wrong key and leaves the call connected.  (An old corded phone which had to be replaced on the cradle would be better in this case!).  Are there any suppliers who do not enforce charges after the first hour?  (Please don't say "Just hang up before the hour and re-dial.  He can't do that reliably, that's the problem.)

lr1277

I don't have any experience of your situation, but I google 'unlimited landline minutes'.

Got a result from BT. I don't know if your FIL is a current BT customer or uses another service.

I pretended I was a new customer and got to this page:

https://www.bt.com/help/landline/manage-service/i-want-to-change-or-cancel-my-services/what-are-the-bt-calling-plans-and-how-can-i-change-to-a-new-one- 

On this page it lists unlimited minutes as a call package option. Caveat: I couldn't investigate any further as I didn't see a link. Nor do I know if the unlimited minutes includes hanging up before 60 minutes and re-dialling. 

Perhaps you could investigate that?

unforeseen

Unlimited is limited to an hour at a time so you'll need to hang up and redial

p00hsticks

antrouser said:

 (An old corded phone which had to be replaced on the cradle would be better in this case!). 

So why not get him one ? They are still around - for example this , £30 from Argos, designed for the visually impaired
Buy BT 200 Big Button Corded Telephone - Single | Telephones | Argos 

Veteransaver

I was under the impression that modern phone networks disconnect if the other party hangs up. In the old days yes the caller not hanging up would mean the call would stay connected for days, and also mean the receiver was unable to dial out, I remember how annoying this could be if you needed to phone someone else and grandpa hadn't put the phone down properly!
But now I think the calls disconnect within a few minutes. So are you sure he just isn't making really long calls? 
I do think this is one for OFCOM to rule on though, ie give a warning over the line at 59 minutes, as it is one of those underhand things that stitch people up.

antrouser

lr1277 said:

I don't have any experience of your situation, but I google 'unlimited landline minutes'.

Got a result from BT. I don't know if your FIL is a current BT customer or uses another service.

I pretended I was a new customer and got to this page:

https://www.bt.com/help/landline/manage-service/i-want-to-change-or-cancel-my-services/what-are-the-bt-calling-plans-and-how-can-i-change-to-a-new-one- 

On this page it lists unlimited minutes as a call package option. Caveat: I couldn't investigate any further as I didn't see a link. Nor do I know if the unlimited minutes includes hanging up before 60 minutes and re-dialling. 

Perhaps you could investigate that?

Yes, this is the package he's on.  The central point here is that 'unlimited minutes' call packages don't always mean what they say; it's often limited to an hour, as with BT.  I need to find one that isn't.

antrouser

unforeseen said:

Unlimited is limited to an hour at a time so you'll need to hang up and redial

The problem here is that he can't hang up reliably, owing to age and infirmity, see my first post.

GrumpyDil

Veteransaver said:

I do think this is one for OFCOM to rule on though, ie give a warning over the line at 59 minutes, as it is one of those underhand things that stitch people up.

That doesn't help if he is no longer on the phone though. 

antrouser

p00hsticks said:

antrouser said:

 (An old corded phone which had to be replaced on the cradle would be better in this case!). 

So why not get him one ? They are still around - for example this , £30 from Argos, designed for the visually impaired
Buy BT 200 Big Button Corded Telephone - Single | Telephones | Argos 

That's interesting, thank you.  I'll have to see whether I can fit an extension socket near his chair!

iniltous

There is no 60 minute call limit on BT Unlimited calls plan , the old Anytime  plan ( previously the plans  available were Weekends, Evenings and Weekends and Anytime ) did have the 60 min limit, but the current plans are PAYG , 700 mins and Unlimited , the Unlimited doesn’t have the need to hang up and redial after 60 mins.

antrouser

Veteransaver said:

I was under the impression that modern phone networks disconnect if the other party hangs up. In the old days yes the caller not hanging up would mean the call would stay connected for days, and also mean the receiver was unable to dial out, I remember how annoying this could be if you needed to phone someone else and grandpa hadn't put the phone down properly!
But now I think the calls disconnect within a few minutes. So are you sure he just isn't making really long calls? 
I do think this is one for OFCOM to rule on though, ie give a warning over the line at 59 minutes, as it is one of those underhand things that stitch people up.

The BT phone network (at least in his exchange) is behaving the way you describe as 'the old days', i.e. the caller doesn't hang up and the phone stays connected.  I know that he isn't making calls that last for several hours.  It is exactly the 'grandpa problem' that you described!