Massive O2 call charge against a REJECTED telemarketing call

[Anonymous]

A friend of mine got a bit of a shock the other week to find a telemarketing call from a Vodafone affiliate (Aquira, Glasgow number 01414194380) which she rejected as she didn't recognise the number - and her Android phone log confirms she did - resulted in a massive bill to HER from O2. I forget the amount but I think it was over £100 and the call lasted many hours according to O2. 

I took a photo of the the log on her phone and sent it to O2, but they are adamant SHE made the call and are refusing to refund.  

I called the number myself and it cycles endlessly around Aquira's IVR without ever disconnecting - so if you WERE unfortunate enough to dial it back by mistake, I can understand how such a massive bill could rack up. But there is simply no evidence that happened.  I then found two more reports on the net relating to the SAME issue with calls from the SAME Glasgow number, and a third case which sounds similar.  

http://community.o2.co.uk/t5/Pay-Monthly-and-Pay-Go/311-bill-not-my-fault/td-p/685943
http://www.moneysupermarket.com/community/forums/t/charged-for-phone-calls-that-phoned-me-58418.aspx

http://www.thisismoney.co.uk/money/experts/article-2441376/Why-wont-BT-remove-89-charge-18-hour-phon...

So my question is, does anyone out there know under what technical circumstances or fault could this happen? In theory it doesn't seem possible but it obviously is. 

[MI5]

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@Anonymous wrote:
I would still Suggest your friend uses the complaint link I added to further the issue.

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Post 3 - complaint already raised....

[Anonymous]

Yes MI5 as the OP says "Thanks for your reply - it is already a complaint with O2. Next step is the Ombudsman I guess."



But that could also be assumed the complaint has been raised by a phone call to Customer services and not via the complaint link.

Which is why I reiterated.

No harm down I'm sure.

[MI5]

I read it differently but each to their own.

[Anonymous]

The current email dialogue is with their "Complaint Review Service"

[Anonymous]

That's cool.

Just thought I'd check that's all.

I hope at whatever stage your friend takes this to ~ it comes to an amicable resolution.

[MI5]

Good luck and keep us in the loop....

[Anonymous]

I had a bit of an off-the-wall thought a few minutes ago. What if the PHONE was somehow making the call back?  Imagine my surprise when I did a quick search and found this......

http://forums.androidcentral.com/android-4-4-kitkat/371401-possible-bug-phone-auto-dialing-new-call-...

Now it doesn't say if these random calls appear in logs - but if they don't (and if this IS a bug, that's feasible), it might just explain what we have seen here.

[Anonymous]

It's certainly another avenue to check out and I'm not sure if O2 would then consider the situation although they do have the Os firmwares to play with before general release ,and it would be interesting to know what stance the manufacturer would say.

[MI5]

If you could reliably demonstrate this bug to someone at O2 it would add credence to the claim.
I would still expect these calls to be logged though....

[Cleoriff]

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@Anonymous wrote:

I had a bit of an off-the-wall thought a few minutes ago. What if the PHONE was somehow making the call back?  Imagine my surprise when I did a quick search and found this......

http://forums.androidcentral.com/android-4-4-kitkat/371401-possible-bug-phone-auto-dialing-new-call-after-hanging-up-another-caller.html

Now it doesn't say if these random calls appear in logs - but if they don't (and if this IS a bug, that's feasible), it might just explain what we have seen here.

I think that is precisely what I was trying to suggest in my first post to you @Anonymous (or something similar)

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