TIO Annual Report 2003/04

Case Studies

Long Duration Calls

The Complaint:

A complainant contacted the TIO about a bill for a mobile call that went for 2 hours and 50 minutes. She said she would never speak for so long. The Member told her the call was valid and the charges accurate.

TIO Response:

The matter remained unresolved despite the complainant calling the carrier, so the TIO asked her to make a formal complaint. The carrier proposed that as it was apparent that the call was made in error only wholesale costs be charged. The complainant did not feel this was satisfactory as she was adamant that she did not make the call. The TIO requested technical data to substantiate how the call was initiated and terminated.

The Outcome:

The carrier made a business decision that due to the time invested in attempting to resolve this complaint, it would waive the charges. The TIO has a position statement about long duration calls which states that where all parties agree that the most likely cause of the call was an error (that is, both parties failed to hang up the phone correctly) the Member should negotiate a fair and reasonable outcome with the consumer. This would usually include some sort of reduction in the bill.

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