Options
Can we restrict the numbers that can be dialled from a landline?
My MIL is housebound and has some level of dementia. She lives alone and has carers visiting 4 times a day and Mr Cat spends 3 days a week with her while I'm at work. In the last few months she's started making phone calls all day and a lot of the night too. Her bill is colossal and there isn't enough in her account to pay it.
We don't want the phone cut off as she needs to be able to contact Mr Cat in emergencies if nothing else. Our only income is my wage so we can't keep on paying bills for her - the last one was for almost £300.
We thought keeping her little phone book away from her would help but it made things worse because she rings directory enquiries now.
Does anyone have any creative suggestions?
We don't want the phone cut off as she needs to be able to contact Mr Cat in emergencies if nothing else. Our only income is my wage so we can't keep on paying bills for her - the last one was for almost £300.
We thought keeping her little phone book away from her would help but it made things worse because she rings directory enquiries now.
Does anyone have any creative suggestions?
0
Comments
http://bt.custhelp.com/app/answers/detail/a_id/8474/~/all-about-call-barring%3F
We'll have another try at asking people to cut the calls as short as possible but if she rings us and we say we're busy, she rings back in seconds. She'll probably do the same to other people - we've already lost her back-up carers because she was ringing them in the middle of the night asking them to do stuff for her (like getting her a biscuit from the kitchen at 2am in the case of the one who gave us her access key back last week).
This is scrambling my brain - I'm still working at 64 so we can afford to stay in Birmingham so Mr Cat can be part of her care package, my own dad died in a horrific accident last week so I'm trying to deal with the funeral later this week, an inquest and a possible court case to follow it and on top of it we've lost our respite carers for MIL and she rings on average every 30 minutes every evening and weekend. I'm at breaking point and can't take much more of this, especially now her bills seem to be becoming my responsibility.
have you thought about getting something like BT broadband?
BT Broadband comes with an option for unlimited phone calls for about £2.50 extra.
So given you're already paying for line rental, for less than £30 or so you'd have broadband and unlimited calls for the MiL.
All except calls to mobiles included and they're 6p/minute
http://www.productsandservices.bt.com/products/landline/packages
We might have to try that but we're having huge problems with her current provider - she's with Virgin and they won't let us close the account or change anything on it without the password, which she set years ago and can't remember. (We can't even report faults on the line on her behalf without having to jump through hoops and speak to at least 4 people first). If we went to BT could they 'force' Virgin to close the account with them or would we just end up with her having double line rental?
I think that's Virgin probably playing silly buggers (not intentionall). Passwords are not the only way of identifcation. To be frank if you ask to speak to a supervisor or email the query and the background, you should be able to get it resolved, given enough time.
BT or another supplier should be able to get the MAC Code transferred across by themselves. That's now been a process set by regulation.
Are there other relatives who could help out with HER bills...why should it all fall on you?
TBH as long as someone goes on paying the bill her phone provider wouldn't give a monkeys what the problems are...maybe if it went unpaid/threatened with cut off they would decide to get a bit more helpful...and maybe it would make her think too...since you say she has "some level of dementia" suggests she's not totally incapable of reasoned thought all the time?
you need to speak to a supervisor at Virgin and explain that you have forgotten your password. They should be able to reset it with additional information from the bill.
I don't think there's any need to lie to Virgin about forgetting the password but I agree that you should escalate the problem to a higher managerial level for resolution. Note if your MIL is under contract to Virgin they may insist that it is honoured up to the full term if you attempt to switch.
I would suggest you contact Age UK and the Alzheimer's Society, both of which provide support to carers of people with dementia. Your MIL can't be the only person with dementia who does this type of thing. Maybe ask them for advice before speaking to Virgin again.
Obtaining Lasting Power of Attorney also seems to me to be a route you should consider for the future. The aforementioned Alzheimer's Society can help you here.
Not the solutions you're possibly looking for, but certainly one way of capping costs!