Calls to BT landlines

[sturmason02]

Anyone making calls from their Virgin landline phone to BT landlines may find their calls being diverted to the recipient's BT mobile phone. This is of significance if the calls are made at weekends when calls to 01, 02, 03 numbers should be free while in fact, without the caller's knowledge, they are chargeable.

This is a new policy recently introduced by BT in an attempt to "phase out" the use of landlines.

[nodrogd]

Do you have any evidence?

Charging like that is not legal under OFCOM rules.

Just as for normal call diverting, if the calling party is not aware the call is being diverted they must not be charged for the diverted part of the call.

Also landlines are not being phased out. They are being converted to VoIP digital servcies, just as Virgin & all other providers will be doing.

VoIP providers like Vonage already allow you to divert incoming "landline" calls to any mobiles with their app installed free of charge. It does not cost the calling party either due to the rule stated above.

[sturmason02]

Illegal or not it seems to be happening.  I understand that BT are pausing their change to fibre because of complaints by customers.

[sturmason02]

If our  calls were diverted to a mobile by Vonage in the circumstances outlined then why were we still charged wrongly for the call. We have a BT Callminder phone with an electronic phone book. The only telephone number we have for this person is their landline number. We did not know their mobile number until after their number appeared on our Virgin bill.

[Chris_W1]

Hi sturmason02, thanks for the message. It sounds like they have a call divert in place and you would be charged the standard connection fee. How many times have you called this number? What is the charge? ^Chris

[sturmason02]

Called five times. Here is the breakdown: Sat 11/12/21   0.53   14.07

                                                                   Sat  11/12/21  0.69   13.01

                                                                   Sun 05/12/21   0.53   19.25

                                                                   Sun 13/03/22   0.69   19.28

                                                                   Sun  27/02/22  0.85   19.19  Total: £3.29

[nodrogd]

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@sturmason02 wrote:

If our  calls were diverted to a mobile by Vonage in the circumstances outlined then why were we still charged wrongly for the call. We have a BT Callminder phone with an electronic phone book. The only telephone number we have for this person is their landline number. We did not know their mobile number until after their number appeared on our Virgin bill.

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If the call was was diverted you would not see the number it was diverted too. This happens beyond the switch in the exchange of the original number you dialled. You will only see the number you dialled to make that connection, which will be the number on your bill if you are charged for the call. If your call was inclusive of your package it will not show at all even if the call was diverted.

I would say either you dialled a different number, which was chargeable, or you have a crossed line issue. If you have a crossed line your phone will not ring if you call it from your mobile. The only other possibility is that your call package has changed or been altered.

[Ayisha_B]

Have you had issues with any other numbers @sturmason02 ? 

[sturmason02]

At the time the call was made we assumed from the display on our phone that it was the landline number we had been dialling, and it was answered by the person we had been calling. As the call was diverted without our knowledge we only became aware that the call had been diverted to a mobile phone when we received our invoice which stated the number of the mobile phone, which also belonged to the person we were phoning. The call was made to a landline, to our knowledge, and should have been free, but as it was made to a mobile phone, it wasn't.

We did not dial a different number as the person who answered was the person we were phoning and at the time we only knew her landline number. It is very unlikely to be a crossed line issue and our call package has not been changed or altered.

[sturmason02]

No issue with any other numbers, only this one. We have taken this matter up with the person we had been phoning. There is some intimation from her that there is some form of diversion on her landline, although she is unable to be more specific.