I'm being charged for phone calls that I didnt make.

[#1]

I've been charged about 200£ that I didn't make. I've been looking through the call logs listed on my billing and it was 4 numbers that kept being called during 72hour period, and they were all about 1 minute long calls or under. 

Problem is, we dont have any landline phones in our property. I just only bought one this afternoon 'cause I called customer support and they told me the best way to diagnose the problem without any home visit was to call 1070 and check for the phone number that it read back. 

So I bought a 25£ landline phone from Argos and dialled 1070, it gave me the number that's listed on my account. I called CS and an engineer is coming in on 28th to further check the line. 

I just need help. 

[#2]

Welcome to the forums @Nobita 

This might be due to a crossed line, which can happen from time to time. This means another person could be dialing out in their home and making these calls but sadly they get charged to you.

Do you have a mobile phone? You could try ringing your landline number (but don't pick it up if your landline phone rings) and leave it ringing to see if someone answers the call. It might be worth trying this some time tomorrow now as if it is a crossed line the other person could be asleep in bed and thus may not answer it.

You could ask Plusnet to block all outgoing calls too, being as you don't normally use a phone anyway. Again if it was a crossed line I'm sure the other person would soon realise something is wrong too, but wait for anyone else offereing advice before going down the blocking route.

A crossed line would be with any user in the same exchange or cabinet. If the number called is something like 123, then this could be an Openreach engineer making test calls, they shouldn't be dialing that number but some do.

[#3]

Moderators Note
This topic has been moved from Fibre Broadband to Accounts and Billing for visibility.

[#4]

Hi there.

I'm sorry to hear you're seeing a lot of call charges on your bill that you don't recognise.

Although your telephone number may be correct when you dial 17070 your line may still be crossed in a way that the phone number doesn't change, it's possible that your line is touching another line somewhere along the way.

I'd agree with the steps we've taken in arranging an engineer to investigate this further. If they confirm a crossed line we'll then be happy to raise this with our billing team to further review the charges we've added.

Could you let us know how it goes once they've been? 

[#5]

Thank. I'm hoping it's just an easily diagnosed and fixed issue.

[#6]

I'm sure they'll sort this out.

Let us know how it goes on the 28th

[#7]

Thanks for getting back to us @Nobita.

We certainly hope that's the case as well but please do let us know if it isn't resolved on the 28th as expected.

[#8]

Hi,

Sorry, was a bit busy this week. So the engineer came and checked the line. Took about 2 hours. Told me someone was using the line besides us, but it was kind of hard to believe because I don't think people are that trashy and not a lot would have the know how to do it.

So anyway, engineer confirmed that there is a problem with the line. Fixed the issue. Called Customer Service, and they said they'll refund the call charges back.

Thank you everyone. You made the whole ordeal easier to navigate through.

[#9]

We're really glad to head that it's all sorted @Nobita.

If there is anything else we may assist you with, please feel free to give us a shout as we're more than happy to help!

Kind Regards

[#10]

I knew they'd sort this out

[#11]

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@Nobita wrote:
Told me someone was using the line besides us, but it was kind of hard to believe because I don't think people are that trashy and not a lot would have the know how to do it.

---

Unlikely to be deliberate or malicious. During the course of normal work in exchanges or cabinets, double connections or crosses sometimes occur.

[#12]

Hi, Ollie

How long does it take customer service to process a refund?

[#13]

Hi @Nobita, I'm sorry for the delays in your refund being processed. I have chased this up for you and provided an update on the ticket here.

Please get back to us if we can assist further.

[#14]

@JonoH

This is refreshingly different to how cases such as this were handled. In times not so distant the stance would have been “Someone in your household must have made these calls ... you need to pay the bill.”. The consideration of a crossed line only being explored after weeks of arguing.

I recall such cases (calls to Holland - which you picked up) all too well. The change in approach is refreshing. I believe we have you to thank for driving this difference into the business - thank you!!