Help Needed Please

coolsteel

Help please, my father-in-law has recently gone into hospital for MAJOR surgery and wont be at his house for some considerable time, 2 to three months at the earliest, the problem is his son my brother-in-law has a key to the house and is staying there now and using my father-in-laws phone and increasing his bill. This guy is a drunk and has been ostracised by my wife for his behaviour in the past. She has taken all phones out of the house with permission form her father, obviously he could go out get another phone and start dialling again but would like to know if there is any options open to stop the line being used free of charge as her father a pensioner and unable to pay for the call barring service from BT currently £1-75 per month I think.
Thanks in advance
Coolsteel :cool:

Fran

£1.75 per month sounds cheap for peace of mind and compared to what the phone bill could be if brother-in-law decides to get another phone in.

barbie_babe

tell bt he is not going to be living there ask them to put phone on incoming calls only .tell them why intill father in law comes back.

Rikki

Maybe you could pay this for him. It would be better than a big bill and better for his peace of mind.

coolsteel

Fran wrote:

£1.75 per month sounds cheap for peace of mind and compared to what the phone bill could be if brother-in-law decides to get another phone in.

Take your point fran but i suppose the main bug bare is not the cost so much as why should my father -in-Law be out of pocket AT ALL to this drunk, had a thought about actually cutting the line outside the property then no charge will be incurred for an eventual repair.
I will be keeping track of all calls from the property via BT's website and maybe just present him wilth a bill at the end. but getting this money might prove difficult.
Coolsteel :cool:

coolsteel

Think we have the answer, only taking incoming calls is an one off fee of £26 so thats a no, so its call barring @£5-25 a quarter, but we wont do this until we find out if he has accquired another phone and using the line again.
Thanks for your suggestions

Coolsteel :cool:

Rikki

I would probably do the call baring as a matter of course.
As how do you know if he is making calls without first getting a bill.

Something you could maybe do (I have done this for my Mum) is to register his account on line and then you can check if any calls are being made. If there is you can take action straight away.

Heinz

Rikki wrote:

Something you could maybe do (I have done this for my Mum) is to register his account on line and then you can check if any calls are being made. If there is you can take action straight away.

coolsteel is already going to do that:

I will be keeping track of all calls from the property via BT's website

sad_gills_fan

coolsteel wrote:

had a thought about actually cutting the line outside the property then no charge will be incurred for an eventual repair.

As a matter of fact, there will be a very large bill if you decide to just 'cut the wire'. BT is not a charity and will not send out engineers to mend phone lines because people think they're doing others a favour by cutting their lines.

The engineer will go out, see that it's been cut, mend it and charge him .. £115 minimum plus another £60 for every hour or part thereof after that .. it's all in the small print I'm afraid.

Why don't you just put a stop on his line? Phone 150, tell them that he wishes to stop the line (or get him to do it), they will put a stop order on the line. When he comes out, phone again, give them the old details, they will link to the new one, a start order will be put on and hey presto his line is working again. No worries, no money, no bills.
If you have his account number and he is able to speak to the advisor, it will be done instantly, if you don't, it will take 7 days.

Any info you want on those charges, just PM me ok.

Sad Gills Fan

p.s. Just remembered ... if you want to know if calls have been made at any time (this is for anyone) .. just call 150. The advisors can see if calls have been made since the last bill .. they won't tell you numbers but it will give you an idea of the amount. You'd need the account number of course.

coolsteel

sad_gills_fan wrote:

As a matter of fact, there will be a very large bill if you decide to just 'cut the wire'. BT is not a charity and will not send out engineers to mend phone lines because people think they're doing others a favour by cutting their lines.

The engineer will go out, see that it's been cut, mend it and charge him .. £115 minimum plus another £60 for every hour or part thereof after that .. it's all in the small print I'm afraid.

Why don't you just put a stop on his line? Phone 150, tell them that he wishes to stop the line (or get him to do it), they will put a stop order on the line. When he comes out, phone again, give them the old details, they will link to the new one, a start order will be put on and hey presto his line is working again. No worries, no money, no bills.
If you have his account number and he is able to speak to the advisor, it will be done instantly, if you don't, it will take 7 days.

Any info you want on those charges, just PM me ok.

Sad Gills Fan

Thanks Gills so much did as you suggested and hey presto had the line stopped and also he is not going to pay line rental too! also no charge to reconnect great result :T :T
Coolsteel :cool:

sad_gills_fan

Cool, really pleased that you sorted it out. Glad I've eventually been of use to someone !!! ha ha.

Best wishes for his recovery too.

Sad Gills Fan

p.s. Just make sure that when you call up to restart it that he is with you and able to speak to the advisor (even if it's to say you can do it for him). You will need the old account number/address .. they will then link them together making it easier for everyone. You'll get a different account number but that shouldn't matter. Should be able to be done same day if everything has stayed the same (number especially).