As far as I was aware 03 numbers are included in call packages and are only chargeable if the allocated minutes are used. With this in mind I have been charged by Virgin Mobile for 03 numbers that are included in my call package. How can Virgin Mobile charge for 03 calls when they are part of the inclusive call package? I have been on the Ofcom web site and this states that 03 numbers are included in call packages. I have also been in contact with both Virgin Mobile and Virgin Media and both companies stated that not all 03 numbers are charged at the same rate. I have never heard anything so ridiculous how can a 03 number be charged at different rates. If anybody knows anything in regard to different charges for 03 numbers can you contact me please? I have pasted the virgin mobile info for your information

15 Aug 13:58      Text to another network      078602xxxxx      Yes      1      £0.00
15 Aug 13:58      Text to another network      078602xxxxx      Yes      1      £0.00
15 Aug 13:31      Picture message      075994xxxxx      No      1      £0.40
15 Aug 12:57      Text to another network      077515xxxxx      Yes      1      £0.00
15 Aug 12:50      Using the internet            Yes      38KB      £0.00
14 Aug 15:35      Call      03002003507      No      30m:34s      £12.23
14 Aug 15:32      Call      03002003507      No      2m:31s            £1.01
14 Aug 14:50      Call      03456060265      No      12m:53s      £1.71            14.95
14 Aug 14:28      Call      03458503322      Yes      19m:40s      £0.00
14 Aug 14:26      Call      03458503322      Yes      10m:15s      £0.00
14 Aug 14:12      Call      03453000168      Yes      11m:54s      £0.00
13 Aug 08:25      Text to another network      077889xxxxx      Yes      1      £0.00
13 Aug 08:22      Text to another network      077889xxxxx      Yes      1      £0.00
13 Aug 08:22      Text to another network      077889xxxxx      Yes      1      £0.00
13 Aug 08:18      Text to another network      079096xxxxx      Yes      1      £0.00
13 Aug 08:12      Text to another network      079096xxxxx      Yes      1      £0.00
13 Aug 08:12      Text to another network      079096xxxxx      Yes      1      £0.00
12 Aug 08:15      Text to another network      075994xxxxx      Yes      1      £0.00
12 Aug 08:15      Text to another network      075994xxxxx      Yes      1      £0.00
12 Aug 08:15      Text to another network      075994xxxxx      Yes      1      £0.00

I would like feedback on this please. :) :)


~Edited by bbb_uk: x full mobile number

14 Aug 15:35      Call      03002003507      No      30m:34s      £12.23
14 Aug 15:32      Call      03002003507      No      2m:31s      £1.01
14 Aug 14:50      Call      03456060265      No      12m:53s      £1.71

Have they given you a reason why they charged for these calls? They need to explain what, in their opinion, makes these 03 numbers different from other 03 numbers. As they are non-geographic numbers, there can be no geographic determination affecting either the inclusivity in allowances or the pricing.

These are non-geographic numbers and Ofcom's general conditions make no distinction between various 03 number ranges other than the fact that some are reserved for public services, charities and healthcare organisations while others are reserved for migration from the matching 084 or 087 numbers.

Hi That is my thinking to, I cannot understand why Virgin have instructed VirginMobile and VirginMedia staff to give out information that is in beach of Ofcom legislation.

What can they be thinking!

Virgin Mobile clearly say they are included in inclusive minutes.  No suggestion that some are chargeable and some are not. Which would in any case be in breach of Ofcom Regulations.

" Included in your tariff (subject to the allowance specified): UK calls to UK landlines (beginning 01, 02, 03) & UK mobile networks."

As do Virgin Media Homephone who say they are included in the  first 60 minutes of any  inclusive call bundle.

Call them back ask for a Manager to ring you. If they dont resolve it to your satisfaction ask them to activate complaints procedure.

http://www.virginmobile.com/vm/media/pdf/Complaint_code_Jan_11.pdf

cheers bigjohn, I have been in contact with 2 managers and they still insisted that "SOME" 03 numbers were charged at different rates, they are bonkers.

It is more than a little disturbing to think that both VirginMobile and VirginMedia have both given false information and as we know they are in breach of OFCOM regs.

HOW MANY OTHER CUSTOMERS HAVE BEEN CHARGED!

Looking at the charge for the call made at 14:50 on the 14 August, one wonders if perhaps the inclusive allowance was used up during this call.

The rate of 40p per minute, which is applied to the later calls, could have been applied to 4m:16s of this call, after the final 8m:37s of the allowance had been used up.

That does not explain why agents of Virgin Media and Virgin Mobile gave out false information. What is most alarming is that Virgin Mobile confirmed that whilst 0300 200 3507 is simply not included, 0345 606 0265 is charged at the special rate of 13p per minute.

Given that the inclusive allowance was not exceeded, an obvious question to ask Virgin Mobile is "which other 03 numbers are charged at 40p/13p per minute, or indeed at other special rates, and why is there no reference to this in the published pricing information?".

I have a suspicion that the answers received from Virgin Mobile and Virgin Media (two separate companies) call centre staff was simply ill-informed, defensive nonsense. Front line call centre agents are generally not fully acquainted with all the relevant information and will always give the "safest" answer they can in response to an enquiry. Sadly, this principle extends well beyond these two companies and the telecoms sector in general.

I've amended the OP to 'x' out some mobile numbers for privacy reasons :)

I've just telephoned the 03456060265 number mentioned here and call lasted about 20 secs.

I shall check my virgin mobile bill in about 30/60mins to see if it's chargable or not.

I have sent a PM

bbb_uk wrote on Aug 16^th, 2015 at 10:17am:

I've just telephoned the 03456060265 number mentioned here and call lasted about 20 secs. I shall check my virgin mobile bill in about 30/60mins to see if it's chargable or not.

Well that 20sec call didn't cost me anything and was therefore taken out of my inclusive allowance.

this seems very odd,

All 3 calls where made after other calls to 03 numbers that were not charged.. therefore could you have used up your inclusive allowance?  If not then I would suggest contacting them via the website here there is an option for mobile and then you are required to sign in or register.  You should then be able to use a contact form to "e-mail" them and you can then request it to be looked into in more detail. 

bazzerfewi wrote on Aug 15^th, 2015 at 10:35pm:

cheers bigjohn, I have been in contact with 2 managers and they still insisted that "SOME" 03 numbers were charged at different rates, they are bonkers. It is more than a little disturbing to think that both VirginMobile and VirginMedia have both given false information and as we know they are in breach of OFCOM regs. HOW MANY OTHER CUSTOMERS HAVE BEEN CHARGED!

Could it be you have run out of Inclusive Minutes as suggested by SCV. Have you managed to make an inclusive 01/02/03 or UK Mobile call since 14 Aug 15:35 ?

no I haven't run out of inclusive minutes but thanks for the  :) suggestion ;) :)

bazzerfewi wrote on Aug 16^th, 2015 at 4:14pm:

no I haven't run out of inclusive minutes but thanks for the  :) suggestion ;) :)

SilentCallsVictim wrote on Aug 16^th, 2015 at 1:55am:

… What is most alarming is that Virgin Mobile confirmed that whilst 0300 200 3507 is simply not included, 0345 606 0265 is charged at the special rate of 13p per minute. … an obvious question to ask Virgin Mobile is "which other 03 numbers are charged at 40p/13p per minute, or indeed at other special rates, and why is there no reference to this in the published pricing information?".

When we have formal confirmation of these charges and the answers to these questions, to counter any suspicion that the inclusive allowance had been exceeded in this case, then we will have a major issue to address.

Have you managed to make an inclusive 01/02 or UK Mobile call since 14 Aug 15:35 ? If you have not made a call try a short test one and report back .

SilentCallsVictim wrote on Aug 16^th, 2015 at 4:42pm:

...When we have formal confirmation of these charges and the answers to these questions, to counter any suspicion that the inclusive allowance had been exceeded in this case, then we will have a major issue to address.

I made a 20sec call on my virgin mobile to one of these numbers and didn't get charged.  So I would therefore put it down to a tariff setting on virgin's side.

My tariff is one of the new ones but maybe an old tariff charges for some of these numbers from outset rather than include them in any inclusive allowance.

I admit though that this isn't likely I would say and it's more a case of allowance has been exceeded (maybe a daily allowance for these numbers?!?) but it is possible.

bbb_uk wrote on Aug 16^th, 2015 at 9:59pm:

SilentCallsVictim wrote on Aug 16th, 2015 at 4:42pm: ...When we have formal confirmation of these charges and the answers to these questions, to counter any suspicion that the inclusive allowance had been exceeded in this case, then we will have a major issue to address. I made a 20sec call on my virgin mobile to one of these numbers and didn't get charged.  So I would therefore put it down to a tariff setting on virgin's side. My tariff is one of the new ones but maybe an old tariff charges for some of these numbers from outset rather than include them in any inclusive allowance. I admit though that this isn't likely I would say and it's more a case of allowance has been exceeded (maybe a daily allowance for these numbers?!?) but it is possible.

We know that things do go wrong and have done so with Virgin Media in the past, and also currently with Virgin Mobile's MNO. Until we know that the charges raised on the OP's bill in this case have been formerly justified, and for improper reasons, all we can do is speculate.

First line call centre agents should not make ill-informed general remarks, but they count for nothing.

I have just been in contact with VM and I asked for the 03 tariff and this is the information I received

0300  and 0345 numbers are charged at different rates

0300 numbers were charged differently as they are for calling the bank or utility company for example
0345 numbers are included in call packages

I have received 3 different versions

Maybe VM needs taking to task but I do not have the expertise for such an undertaking.

Can other members contact VM and ask for an explanation in regard to charges for 0300/0345 numbers.

Good grief, where are they getting this twaddle from? Not only is there no difference in charging, but their description of what 0300 is for is completely wrong. And what about the other 03 ranges, like 0330, 0333, 0344, 0370, 0371, ...? It's 03, they're all charged the same way, end of story.

For this conversation to go somewhere we need to separate two separate issues.

Many organisations allow, or encourage, call centre agents to try to help customers by spouting their poor understanding of issues. We have read many examples of this here. This is a serious problem, as it serves neither the customer nor the organisation being misrepresented. The point has been well made.

Three cases of alleged incorrect billing were given at the start of this thread. These seem to contradict the published tariff. We want to know the true terms of the tariff, as this is allegedly in breach of the Ofcom General Conditions. Can we please sort this out.

I have been in contact with VM over the weekend via E Mail explaining the situation. I received a call this morning and they have agreed to refund all call charges. I pointed out that  the staff did not fully understand the 03 call tariff and they were going to address the issue.

I usually demand compensation but in the instance I didn't because over the weekend I have received 1gig internet usage - 100 FREE talk minutes and a £5 refund for my inconvenience.

It definitely pays to complain :) :)

We still haven't got to the bottom of WHY you were charged for these calls, what rates were applied and which other 03 numbers they might be applying these erroneous rates to.

While you have been refunded for your calls this month, there's the real possibility that if other people  have been hit with this they won't be refunded unless they each individually complain.

Additionally, if the underlying issue hasn't been fixed this will happen all over again next month. Educating call centre staff has to be secondary to fixing any inherent issues within the billing system.

@bazzerfewi, could you, if you don't mind, make a call to one of those numbers you got charged for but this time only for about 20/30 secs and see if you got charged.

If you don't then it's just likely a one-off billing system problem but if you do then this would indicate that anyone else on the same tariff as yourself will get charged for these calls which should be included within any inclusive minutes.

This is really the only way to proceed I believe, if need to.

I have made 2 calls and I will contact you when they are registered on the system

bazzerfewi wrote on Aug 17^th, 2015 at 7:18pm:

I have made 2 calls and I will contact you when they are registered on the system

If you're registered for online billing then it only took about an hour for my test call to show.

Hi the call has been counted as inclusive minutes as it should be it was an error on VMs part but.
It does not excuse the fact that agents are giving out the wrong information in regard to 03 numbers. One agent even told me that a 0300 number was used differently to a 0345 number.

Thank you for your help

The agent is correct. Different 03 numbers are used for different things. However, all 03 numbers should be charged at the same rate irrespective of their use.

030 - reserved for public services, charities and healthcare organisations
033 - for any business or organisation
034 - reserved for migration from the matching 084 number
037 - reserved for migration from the matching 087 number.

Numbers starting 03 are used for sales and enquiry lines, customer service lines and many other things. Most government departments and local authorities now use 03 numbers.

Yes I appreciate that the 0300 range is allocated to specific sectors but the agent has given incorrect information in regard to call charges. It concerns me because other VM customers do not keep track of their bills and would have been charged incorrectly, it took me 3 days to rectify this problem.

What day of the month does your inclusive allowance restart?

I receive it on 18th day of the month, I will check my statement in a few days, Virgin contacted me yesterday and they insisted that I would not be charged but I will be checking once the bill is generated.

Hi Everybody, all issues with Virgin and 03 numbers have been resolved and I have been been refunded for the 03 calls in question.

Still not happy with Virgin Media and Virgin Mobile staff though because they gave me the wrong info and if it wasn't for the great assistance from this site over the years I would not have had the info to deal with it.  :) :)

While your issue with Virgin has been resolved this month, the issue as a whole is far from being resolved.

There is still no indication as to WHY you were charged, no details of the actual rates and which numbers they apply to and no indication that it won't happen again and isn't happening to other people.

In my opinion it is the inexperience of the call centre staff as they seemed to believe that their is a difference between 0345 and 0300 numbers in regard to the charging structure. VM have admitted there was an error and I am happy because I have received a full refund but they still need to educate their call centre staff.  :)