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GENERAL STUFF => GENERAL DISCUSSIONS => Random Chit Chat => Topic started by: AlanHo on November 20, 2017, 20:01:15

Title: I Need an Android Phone Expert - Desperately
Post by: AlanHo on November 20, 2017, 20:01:15
Are there any android experts here.

My wife Libby has a costly problem. Neither of us are mobile phone experts – far from it – perhaps why we can’t understand it.

Today she received an Email and separately a text from her mobile phone provider stating that she had spent £197 on calls yesterday and that they had blocked her phone until it was paid.

She has a contract giving her 450 free calls and 250MB of data for £10 per month paid by direct debit from her bank account.

She assumed it was a scam – but I insisted she opened her account from the O2 web site – and not by the link in the Email – to check it out. Her account did indeed show a phone call made at 1459 on the 19th November lasting 9.5 hours to a mobile. The number of which was a friend of hers. The cost was £197.  She admitted phoning her friend yesterday – but to his landline and not his mobile.

I checked her mobile, opened the phone log and found that the last number listed was to that friend’s landline (not the mobile) at 1441 on the 19th lasting 18 minutes. Hence the phantom 9.5 hour call started at the time she closed the call made to the landline.  I then checked whether it could still make phone calls but it was barred.

I asked her to ring her friend (using my phone)  to discover whether he had received a call from Libby’s mobile at 1459 yesterday – he confirmed he thought it strange that when yesterday’s landline call ended, his mobile was ringing. The screen showed the call was from Libby’s mobile but when he opened the call there was silence and no-one there. He therefore assumed she had dialled in error and he switched his phone off.  He used his mobile a couple of hours later and didn’t see anything strange.

Libby had not used her mobile since yesterday until she received the Email on her laptop today from O2 with the bad news. When she tested her phone and found it barred for outgoing calls.

By now she was in a panic and called the O2 customer services who looked at her account and told her it was a scam and to ignore it. She had her smile back.

I insisted that it could not be a scam – her phone was barred and her web account, accessed safely, showed the rogue call - but she wanted to believe all was well.
 
I was not at all happy with this situation and took her off to the O2 shop to get some help. The guy looked at her phone and confirmed that the last call made was to her friend’s landline.
I told him that her friend confirmed he had received a call from her mobile but it was a silent call and he had ended the call immediately. So how does he explain that her phone had been barred for a call she did not deliberately make which was not recorded in the phone log. Furthermore, why did customer services confirm it was a scam.

He rang customer services himself – spoke to another assistant who found that the account had indeed been charged with the call costing £197 – but that they would not take the payment until her next direct debit on December 10th.
However – they were not able to clarify why the call was not logged on the phone and would refer the matter to their investigating team who would check the network traffic. This would take 5 days, meanwhile they would clear the bar on the phone as a goodwill gesture.

I then asked the guy in the phone shop how it was possible for a phone to make the call without Libby instigating it – but he said it was impossible. He said that if her thumb had slid from the red close call button (unlikely) onto her friend’s green phone icon in the address book (very unlikely) to make another call – it would have gone to the landline which is the default and definitely not the mobile.
He called a second assistant over and they discussed the problem with much head scratching and trying various things on the phone but could see no way that Libby could possibly have instigated the call. Furthermore – even if was assumed the phone somehow made the call without her knowledge and her friend had not closed the call properly – the fact that he used his phone later would have meant the total time would have been 2 hours and not 9.5 hours.

Since getting home I have played with her phone and mine trying to find a way to make a call by accident when I close a call, without success. Neither can I see how a call made does not appear in the log.

Someone, somewhere might be able to throw light on the problem.  If I don’t get to the bottom of it we will both be nervous wrecks every time we use our mobiles.

HELP

Title: Re: I Need an Android Phone Expert - Desperately
Post by: Dazzler on November 20, 2017, 22:44:28
Oh wow! Something like that would drive me crazy too!

Have you tried googling for similar occurrences?

You can't be the only one that this has happened to, although if it were common you would think the phone company would be aware of it. 

This came up with a quick search...

 :link: Here's proof that phantom calls CAN be added to your phone bill - Telegraph (http://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/personalfinance/household-bills/11720945/Heres-proof-that-phantom-calls-CAN-be-added-to-your-phone-bill.html)

and this..

 :link: Phone getting ghost calls? - Phones - Cell Phone General Discussion (http://www.tomsguide.com/forum/id-1728609/phone-ghost-calls.html)

This sounds a bit similar? Maybe not (I just read it!)

 :link: Phantom calls from my mobile phone - Community home (https://forum.vodafone.co.uk/t5/Archive/Phantom-calls-from-my-mobile-phone/td-p/1868498)

and now for something completely different..

 :link: Phone calls people by itself - Android Forums at AndroidCentral.com (https://forums.androidcentral.com/t-galaxy-s-iii/200205-phone-calls-people-itself.html)

Title: Re: I Need an Android Phone Expert - Desperately
Post by: AlanHo on November 20, 2017, 23:28:04
Dazz - thanks for you efforts. I have also spent a lot of time googling. You found 3 links that I didn't but the solution to Libby's problem still evades me. Your help is appreciated.

I don't know whether it is significant or not but the 9 hours 30 minutes and 34 seconds duration of the call means it was ended at exactly midnight. At which time both Libby and her friend were in bed (not together - 48 miles apart  :rofl:) so there is no chance that either of the phones physically ended the call.

It is my bedtime now so I will resume the quest tomorrow. I have a horrible feeling that the mobile network provider will insist she made the call and suggest that she deleted it from her log to hide the evidence - but that is definitely not the case.

During my quest I have discovered today that there is software available for providers to restore deleted log records - so if they suggest that we have been up to any funny business I will insist they have the phone and check it themselves.
Title: Re: I Need an Android Phone Expert - Desperately
Post by: Dazzler on November 21, 2017, 01:46:55
At which time both Libby and her friend were in bed (not together - 48 miles apart  :rofl:)

Was that as the crow flies or by road? If by road did you factor in the odometer error?  A surprising lack of detail compared to your normal reports!  :whistler:

One of my friends (who is not a member) monitors the site regularly  :eek:  He supplied this link should all else fail.  :goodjob:

I did tell him you would be "all over it" ..  :cool:

 :link: How to complain to the ombudsman about a mobile phone provider (https://www.which.co.uk/consumer-rights/advice/how-to-complain-to-the-ombudsman-about-a-mobile-phone-provider)

Title: Re: I Need an Android Phone Expert - Desperately
Post by: The Gonz on November 21, 2017, 04:05:38
I don't think this is a matter of you needing an Android expert at all. You have done all anybody else would need to do and now the telco should respond with the reasonable conclusion that Libby did not make that call. Stick to your guns, Alan. I have documentary evidence that you are capable of such things. :lol:
Title: Re: I Need an Android Phone Expert - Desperately
Post by: beerman on November 21, 2017, 04:23:28
Seems like a billing error to me.... Can't say I have had the issue in many years of Android use, but my calls are unlimited, so it wouldn't matter if I did.

Title: Re: I Need an Android Phone Expert - Desperately
Post by: Surferdude on November 21, 2017, 05:54:21
This is a scary story. Hope it is resolved successfully for you both.

Many years ago, before mobile phones some colleagues and I were somewhere in regional NSW and on checkout, the motel presented one of our number with a phone bill for several hundred dollars.
They insisted he must have not hung the phone up properly after his last call. No doubt their equipment was faulty but it sure cost a battle and a half to resolve.
No doubt in part because they would have had to have the same blue with Telstra when it came time to pay their bill.

But this story makes me glad our phones are on pre-paid.
Title: Re: I Need an Android Phone Expert - Desperately
Post by: beerman on November 23, 2017, 05:20:11
When my daughter was sick one day my wife gave my daughter her phone to use while my daughter was resting in bed. At some point it switched from wifi to data. That bill was a bit of a shock.

Short story we got a 'goodwill credit'. Now both phones are prepaid, so worst case she would have used the data for a month.
Title: Re: I Need an Android Phone Expert - Desperately
Post by: AlanHo on December 04, 2017, 12:59:15
An update on the problem

O2 contacted Libby last week and reported that after investigation, their server showed that a call was indeed registered in their system and could only have been made by her phone. Consequently she would have to pay the charge of £231 including VAT.  She was not a happy bunny.

I then drafted a letter for her to send - it listed the chronology of events which took a first page and ended with the following text on the second page

{Quote}

I am extremely upset by this series of events and the conflicting information I have received from O2 so far. I have absolutely nothing to hide and I would welcome your experts examining my Samsung Galaxy A3 2016 phone to see if they can throw light on the matter. Two of your staff at the O2 shop spent 20 minutes trying various things on my phone and were totally mystified by the events.

My concern is not just the £197 that you claim I owe – but the worry that it could happen again if there is a fault on the phone or an undocumented circumstance (not known to your own O2 shop staff) that can cause the problem.

For me to agree with this charge you need to prove to me :-

•   How my phone can make a call that is not recorded in its call log
•   How my phone can somehow call a mobile number at the time I close a landline call when it is in a clamshell rigid cover
•   How my phone somehow managed to make the phantom call and then close it down without human intervention after 9.5 hours when me and my friend were both asleep in beds (48 miles apart)

I have been advised that you have forensic software which enables you to restore lost and deleted information from a phone’s call log.  Which is why I invite you to have my phone examined and the problem properly diagnosed.

I would appreciate your response before my next payment date of December 10th falls due.

{Unquote]

Today she received a phone call from O2 to advise her that their experts had not been able to replicate the problem on Samsung A3 2016 or answer any of the 3 questions at the foot of the letter  - they are as mystified as Libby. Hence they are writing off the charge and will be liaising with Samsung to see if they can explain how it might have occurred.  She has now got her smile back.

Between you and I, as an engineer with total faith in electronics in general and smartphones in particular,  :whistler: I still think she managed to do something unwittingly on the screen at the instant she closed the landline call. But I don't want to spoil her current mood, or she might get on a line.

Title: Re: I Need an Android Phone Expert - Desperately
Post by: CraigB on December 04, 2017, 13:36:30
Another job well done :goodjob: you're on a roll lately Alan, don't stop now :)
Title: Re: I Need an Android Phone Expert - Desperately
Post by: asathorny on December 04, 2017, 14:17:54
Great news Alan..  Don't be tempted to ever tell her that it was her fault Alan, remember, you will have to fall asleep sooner or later  :crazy1: :crazy1: :crazy1: :crazy1: :crazy1:
Title: Re: I Need an Android Phone Expert - Desperately
Post by: AlanHo on December 04, 2017, 14:23:35
'CraigB - between us the God luck is even.

I have had a run of three instances of good luck - unfortunately you have hogged all the bad ones (please don't keep it up)
Title: Re: I Need an Android Phone Expert - Desperately
Post by: CraigB on December 04, 2017, 14:38:09
'CraigB - between us the God luck is even.

I have had a run of three instances of good luck - unfortunately you have hogged all the bad ones (please don't keep it up)
I'm trying my best :fingers: I'll have to do a chant and rain dance out on the back lawn tonight to spook off the bad karma.
Title: Re: I Need an Android Phone Expert - Desperately
Post by: neptune on December 04, 2017, 14:45:40
'CraigB - between us the God luck is even.

I have had a run of three instances of good luck - unfortunately you have hogged all the bad ones (please don't keep it up)
I'm trying my best :fingers: I'll have to do a chant and rain dance out on the back lawn tonight to spook off the bad karma.

Don't forget a chant to the moon tonight, Craig....there is a Supermoon rising....
Title: Re: I Need an Android Phone Expert - Desperately
Post by: CraigB on December 04, 2017, 15:18:59
'CraigB - between us the God luck is even.

I have had a run of three instances of good luck - unfortunately you have hogged all the bad ones (please don't keep it up)
I'm trying my best :fingers: I'll have to do a chant and rain dance out on the back lawn tonight to spook off the bad karma.

Don't forget a chant to the moon tonight, Craig....there is a Supermoon rising....
I noticed that in between all the cloud, getting a little rain too...if you dance like this below you get rain :D
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tPzlYsaJyKI (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tPzlYsaJyKI)
Title: Re: I Need an Android Phone Expert - Desperately
Post by: eye30 on December 04, 2017, 18:06:34
Breaking news....
just had text from o2 saying my call fees increasing to offset a new initiative called ho2
Title: Re: I Need an Android Phone Expert - Desperately
Post by: Dazzler on December 04, 2017, 18:55:43
Breaking news....
just had text from o2 saying my call fees increasing to offset a new initiative called ho2

Very good Lester (that's not like you!)  :snigger:

Did the good doctor increase you fish oil tablets dosage? :idea:
Title: Re: I Need an Android Phone Expert - Desperately
Post by: Surferdude on December 04, 2017, 18:57:17
Breaking news....
just had text from o2 saying my call fees increasing to offset a new initiative called ho2
:rofl:
Title: Re: I Need an Android Phone Expert - Desperately
Post by: AlanHo on December 04, 2017, 19:32:28
Breaking news....
just had text from o2 saying my call fees increasing to offset a new initiative called ho2

I'm with hEE  hEE  hEE

You are wasted here Lestar - you should be on the stage (perhaps sweeping it)   :rofl: :rofl: :rofl:
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