>£481 charge for a landline call lasting 52 hours?!

[#1]

just went to make a phonecall on my landline and it wouldn't dial out. Got greeted by plusnet payments message. Tried again. Same message. Went to check account to see whether there was a service problem and was greeted with a bill of over £500 for this month due to a landline call to my husband's mother supposedly lasting over 52 hours!

This is not possible. Even if one person didn't put the receiver down properly we'd either get that alarm noise our end to put the receiver back on the hook or his mother would get the same her end. 

I am not paying for this. How does plusnet make up these charges anyway? Say someone did talk non-stop for even 3 hours, how can they justify the charge for a little electrical impulse going down a wire? How does a 52 hour LOCAL LANDLINE call come to a total of £481!!! he wasn't phoning The Maldives this was his elderly mother who lives 15 miles away!

Insane greed. Just ridiculous. I am NOT paying for this. 

[#2]

@tigzybear 

At 16p a minute this equates to about £10 per hour. This is not money grasping Plusnet ripping you off. It is simply that the phone has been registered as connected for this amount of time, which has been properly calculated to give this amount. The question is why? You only get the buzzer if one part leaves the phone off the hook. 
I hate suggesting it but maybe through a horrible coincidence both parties left the phone off the hook.

[#3]

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@Baldrick1 wrote:

I hate suggesting it but maybe through a horrible coincidence both parties left the phone off the hook.

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And neither party used the phone again for 2 whole days (?)

[#4]

exactly it's not possible, 2 separate houses with the phone off the hook for two days. 

I notice plusnet are silent so far. 

[#5]

@tigzybear 

To suggest that it's not possible without more information is simply illogical. It might be unlikely but it's statistically possible. As for a landline phone not being used for two days, it might be rare in your household but I would bet it not being unusual in a significant number.

Now if you have proof that other calls are recorded to have made by either party during this two day period then I will agree with you that it's impossible.

[#6]

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@Baldrick1 wrote:

As for a landline phone not being used for two days, it might be rare in your household but I would bet it not being unusual in a significant number.

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Absolutely. I'm a regular landline user, but two or three days between calls is not uncommon.

@tigzybear 

Are either of these phones cordless?

[#7]

@Baldrick1 with the OP giving a thumbs up to post no 3 it implies, to me at least, that neither phone was used in the intervening time. Having said that I thought the PN applied a credit limit accounts. If this is the case here and the bill is not the result of an accounting error then what is the point of the limit when it's evidently not enforced.

@198kHz I'd have thought not due to the length of the alleged call duration, I doubt the batteries would last.

[#8]

From what I remember (from a long time ago, so might be misremembering or it could have changed), the first Plusnet would know about it is when they receive the call log detailing all the calls and the cost code.  When that is processed and the cost has passed the credit limit would be when that would kick in.  Presumably, if the call was still in progress then it wouldn't be logged until it had finished.  Another possibility could be that even if Plusnet received details of the ongoing call and the cost hit the credit limit at that point is that they wouldn't be able to terminate the ongoing call.

This isn't a scenario that we hear of often (if at all), so might be something that wasn't considered in the system design, and even if it was it might not be something a CP could deal with themselves anyway.

[#9]

well I just got a call from someone who basically said yes we both left phones off the hook for 52 hours and the charge stands. 

So neither of us put the phone down for 52 hours, neither side heard an alarm from the receiver to put the handset back on the hook. 

My husband's mother is elderly but she is not deaf or blind and neither are we. 

Absolutely disgusted. I thought landline calls were inclusive like the internet. I thought that's WHAT WE SIGNED UP FOR!!! 

no one appears to have heard of this scenario occuring and yet Plusnet are going to LET THIS RIDICULOUS CHARGE STAND???

[#10]

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@tigzybear wrote:

So neither of us put the phone down for 52 hours, neither side heard an alarm from the receiver to put the handset back on the hook. 

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There is only an alarm or buzzer if the line is left 'off the hook' after one party has ended the call.

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Absolutely disgusted. I thought landline calls were inclusive like the internet. I thought that's WHAT WE SIGNED UP FOR!!! 

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The T's and C's clearly state that inclusive calls are only free for the first hour, after which it is chargeable.

no one appears to have heard of this scenario occuring and yet Plusnet are going to LET THIS RIDICULOUS CHARGE STAND???

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But presumably you agree that neither phone was used in this intervening period? You might not believe in probability analysis but it is real and this could happen.

Rather than being disgusted with Plusnet you may do better if you explain that the phone was not in continual use for this period and request that they make a goodwill gesture and waive at least part of this charge. You could politely explain the problem in the form of a complaint and see what happens.

[#11]

Hi @tigzybear,

Thank you for your time on the phone this afternoon. I've updated the open complaint ticket on your account following our call, which can be accessed here.

[#12]

There wouldn't be any alarms as there was an ongoing call.  The alarm is to alert you to the phone being off the hook whilst no call is in place.

Included calls are only free for the first 60 mins.  That's always been the case as far as I know with any provider and will be part of what you signed up to.

From what we've seen (in this thread at least) is that this 52 hour call did occur.  Plusnet will be charged for this call as well and wouldn't be able to dispute it with their suppliers, so I can see why they would let it stand.

Edit: @Baldrick1 beat me to it

[#13]

ps thank you everyone for taking the time to reply.

I do appreciate it. 

[#14]

right, but my mother in law received incoming calls. Call logs of relatives show this.

So how is it possible

My son phoned our landline during the 52 hour call period and says our landline rang and then went through to answerphone, we were out so did not pick up

so how is it possible

[#15]

My son phoned our landline during the 52 hour call period and says our landline rang and then went through to answerphone, we were out so did not pick up

Is that a phone based answerphone OR the PlusNet network answerphone ?

If its a phone answerphone then the call log from your sons bill should provide evidence that the line was not off-hook