Forum Discussion

MrUnhappy3's avatar
MrUnhappy3
Joining in
2 days ago

Call usage charges when I don’t even have a landline phone plugged in!

I have noticed other people have had this same problem I am experiencing. I have call usage charges every month since January which I only noticed last month. They are small amounts but are increasing monthly now. I have been on the phone multiple times to virgin media to try and resolve and it’s very frustrating. I don’t have time to be spending on this. They offered a £10 goodwill and said it will not happen any further. So this month I got my bill and they credited £10 which is less than what has been taking over the year anyway, then deducted £10 saying it was owed from my previous bill which it wasn’t as I had paid in full by DD as I always do. So so far no refund or solution, as this month I have been charged again for call usage! How frustrating not being able to contact someone who understands what I’m saying and can help. What am I supposed to do next? I am waiting on a call back from a complaint I raised on the online chat but I’m not optimistic. Anyone else resolved this? 

I have a few numbers that I have supposedly called

0123 [REMOVED]

0161 3[REMOVED]

0161 2[REMOVED]

all calls are exactly a minute duration I think. Someone is making money out of this scam, but they couldn’t understand what I was getting at over the phone. They could be making millions 

Mod Edit : Personal information removed 

home phone
phantom calls
Phantom_charges

5 Replies

  • goslow's avatar
    goslow
    Alessandro Volta
    2 days ago

    As you have already recognised, this is a fault on your line which is generating phantom calls costs.

    The 0123 number has been regularly mentioned on here in similar circumstances along with multiple calls of very short duration (often at all times of day and night).

    Does your phone plug into a regular telephone wall socket or into the back of the VM hub?

    A 'crossed line' is often the cause for a conventional telephone connection although we have also seen similar faults/charges via a hub connection although much less frequently.

    Have you plugged in a phone to the line to see if it is actually operational, or not (borrow a phone from a friend, family member, neighbour etc. just for the purposes of testing if you don't have one)?

  • Steven_L's avatar
    Steven_L
    Icon for Forum Team rankForum Team
    2 days ago

    Hey MrUnhappy3,

    Welcome to the Community, and thanks for taking the time to post here on the forums. I’m sorry to hear of the issues that you’re experiencing with your billing at the moment, and a phantom landline. As goslow has stated that a crossed line is often the cause of such issues. I'd be happy to take a further look into this for you; however, I would need to confirm a few details via private message. Please look out for my message, and we can get started.
    Kind Regards,
    Steven_L

  • Adduxi's avatar
    Adduxi
    Very Insightful Person
    2 days ago

    Had this same problem a few years ago, old phone line socket btw.  Despite 3 engineers visiting, it was never fixed.  In the end I dumped the phone line altogether as I couldn't be bothered fighting every month over these calls.

  • coenoby's avatar
    coenoby
    Very Insightful Person
    2 days ago

    MrUnhappy3​ 

    The Phantom / Ghost  call phenomena is definitely not limited to VM customers.

    There are regular reports of them from customers of many of the major telecoms. Here are a couple of recent ones reported on other telecom provider's Community Forums

    https://community.talktalk.co.uk/t5/Billing/Ghost-calls-from-my-landline/m-p/3091212 

    https://helpforum.sky.com/t5/Talk/phantom-calls/td-p/5120837 

    There never seems to be a definitive answer or resolution to them as far as I can remember but a possible 'crossed line' is often mentioned.

    Coenoby

     

  • Roger_Gooner's avatar
    Roger_Gooner
    Alessandro Volta
    2 days ago

    VM should have migrated most users to VoIP by now and this will fix these legacy PSTN problems as the line is no longer a physical copper circuit. You should push for the migration to VoIP.