ITV quiz phone line - heavy phone bills

[Mortie]

Has anyone been loaded on their telephone bills by calling 09016566000 - would much appreciate any feedback as I have - throughout the night when I know I did not make any calls just one to a prize quiz for Richard & Judy

[noxlumos]

Hi,yeah we've got a colossal bill and no-one's made the calls, all in the middle of the night to some game show. No-one in our house could or would have made the calls as very often I'm up all night in the room where the phone is. I've complained but nothing very positive happening yet nor do expect there will be, but depending on how many people affected we could complain en mass as it might possibly be some scam, but I bet we'll just have to pay it.

[Mortie]

Thanks for this: I am not going to let things rest here - my bill was for over �300. But I agree with you and I am going to register a complaint to ITV and also try Watchdog. The calls were made between 1 and 4 in the morning - no way! Hopefully we are not the only 2. Keep in touch!

[Denise S.]

If you are with BT - phone customer services and ask that your phone is blocked from calling 0900 numbers. Last year we were charged for many calls to Pop Idol (although I DID vote once) We cannot make any more premium calls. If I want to enter competitions I use my mobile.

[joko]

i had problem and was billed for a 9 hour overnight phonecall to a mobile! I refused outright to pay it - they quibbled etc but i just refused and as the number wasn't anywhere else in any of my records and no on answered when they called the number they accepted it and waived it. (because who makes a 9 hour call to a mobile over night?)

don't know about premium rate numbers though - people would be trying it on all the time it they could get away with it, (you husband lying to their wives, kids lying to their parents etc) so they may not be so amenable - you can put an auto block on them just to make sure it doesn't happen again, just ask your provider

it is possible you didn't put the phonedown properly afterwards and stayed connected

[Hammond Egg]

It's just possible you've got a rogue dialler programme on your computer, particularly if you're on dial-up.

Telewest will also block premium rate calls.

[helena adams]

ive just looked over my new fone bill and ive got about �100 worth of calls to that number. having spoken to vodafone(my mobile provider) they told me it looked to him like one continuous call lasting from about 1 am to about 4am. i know for a fact i wasnt making the call because i was unconcious in hospital at the time!!! vodafone also told me that bt own the number, so i called them to get more info and they refused to tell me anything. it sounds like some kind of scam to me and im gonna be complaining to anyone who'll listen. and i wont be paying the bill!!! I'd love to hear from anyone has anymore info bout them or has had any luck with it all. x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x

[helena adams]

Ive just recieved my latest mobile phone bill and this number is on there charging up about �100. Ive never even heard of this quiz show, so how could i have rung it!!! I spoke to vodafone and the guy there said it seems to him like on continous call lasting from about 1.30 am to 4 am. he told me that bt own the number, so i tried calling them to get some more info. They refused to help me, and wouldnt even tell me the name of the company!!! so now im going to complain to anyone who'll listen and refuse to pay for the call(s)!!! I'd love to hear from anyone about this. It's gotta be some kind of a scam!!! xxx

[rattyryan]

the show is on itv in the early hours of the morning. usually 1am-4am. calls are charged at 60p a time wether u are selected to answer a question or not. the calls wouldnt be on ur phone bill if you didnt make them so ask your kids etc before acting like an idiot and ringing up ur phone company being a beauty

[DaveK999]

Same problem, same number on my mobile.

T-Mobile say that the calls were definitely made from my phone but I'm not so sure.

Very coincidental that calls were made as soon as the Quizmania programme started on ITV1 on a variety of days and continued on a minute by minute basis until the programme ended.

Is it possible to take over a mobile remotely or route calls through one like on the internet?

Dave

[Mortie]

Dave - this is interesting. Just the same as my problem - I am looking into this and will post my findings. Thanks to you and everyone who has replied. Not funny and definitely needs following up which I am doing. All the best.

[Alphege]

My 90 year old mother has 57 of these calls charged on her Onetel bill for last month. They were all in the night and all charged at 66p minute after minute. She listens to radio in the night but does not phone TV. The company and the regulator say it is impossible for calls to be billed without them being made from the number. She lives alone and says she did not make the calls. The regulator said the only thing to do is ask Onetel to check the bill but when I spoke to them they said it was accurate. I am interested to hear of developments.

[Isa_belle]

I did try to phone this 09016566000 for over an hour, and never got through. Would join you if you wanna complain.

[Alphege]

If you tried for an hour you'd better check that somehow they have not charged you for the calls.

[jeccius]

Hi, I work in a faults dept for a well known telelphone company (not Onetel btw :p), and I've just spoken to a customer who was having exactly the same issues ie multiple calls showing up on the bill between 1-4am. Because it's not the telephone line provider's fault as it's happened to other people on other telephone networks; I'd have to say that the actual moderator of the premium rate number is to be held responcible.

This definately sounds like an ICSTIS issue (ICSTIS are the governing body for Premuim calls in the UK) and needs to be raised asap.

[justjono]

I have had a 300 pound bill come through.

It said that 130 calls were made to that late night ITV show. Thats �130.00

Absolute Joke, has anyone done anything about it or got any where yet??

Email me on Jonc@Comms-solve if you have any updates.

Thanks alot

Jonathan

[Alphege]

I asked Onetel to put premium call bar on my mother's phone after the bill in February mentioned elsewhere in this dialogue. They failed to do so and she has been charged for twice as many calls this month. They refuse to accept responsibilty. I originally reported it on ICSTIS website and got no response. I have now written to ICSTIS at length and sent it recorded delivery. This seems to be the only thing to do to get this scam investigated.

[Alphege]

In case anyone is still following this subject, I am happy to report that my mother has had letter of apology from Onetel and promise of refund for all the Premium calls that she has not made. Perhaps this shows that phone companies are beginning to take this problem seriously. However, we have had no response from ICSTIS in spite of 2 emails and a very long letter.

[pablomack]

Exactly the same problem has happened to me. I live in a university flat with 5 other guys, all of whom know not to use the phone as the only reason we have it is for the internet, and the bill comes from my account.

If anyone has any luck tackling this problem, please let me know.

[scifisam]

I've has this come up on my phone bill too: 230 calls in one night, all to the same TV quiz!

I don't even have a TV!

I really need that money back.

[gaz.lodge]

Hi everyone.... This exact same problem has just happened to one of our company mobiles with O2.

Being a corporate account I downloaded the info & analised the data - here are my findings.

418 calls to this number in 108 mins ending at 8 seconds before 3am. That's averaging exactly 3.87 calls per min. The average call length was 7.46 secs & the average gap between calls was 8.03 secs.

I have complained to O2 but they are saying we must have made the calls. The user swears he didn't make all the calls but did make 4-5 of them after a night on the town. I personally don't think it's possible to have done this in the time given. I will be taking my findings to O2 management & will report what happens here.

Has anyone had any luck with this yet? Can anyone provide me with their bill electronically?

Please get in touch via this board......

Best Regards....
Gareth
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