Please note I had initially posted this on the Virgin Media forum but they have modified one of my links where one other Virgin Media customer had expressed same problem to their own link where they have asked to call them privately and before they delete my post or modify any more. , I am copying it here for everyone to see

Post 1

Call Disconnect​s after 1-2 rings on calling 0845 or 0800 numbers.

I got virgin media phone installed recently. But since then I cannot make outgoing calls to 0845 or 0800 numbers. I can ring 150 number successfully but calling any 0845 number , the call disconnects after one or two rings. Technical support said my phone is working fine and there are no bars on my line and i should be able to call 0845 numbers from my virgin landline. But whenever i try to call 0845 it always breaks the call after first ring and my phone screen shows 'call cleared;'. I am very unhappy with this . My phone was working fine on my BT landline and it seems Virgin are blocking my 0845 calls without any reason. To add insult to injury Virgin Technical Support says everything is working fine on my phone line.
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Post 2

Re: Call Disconnect​s after 1-2 rings on calling 0845 or 0800 numbers.Options
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.on 26-06-2012 18:55

I got a call today on mobile from 01792610460 & later from 08000522312 where a woman from virgin media said she had fixed the fault with my phone and it should be working fine and she was closing the call. On coming home and checking my landline again I found nothing but lies , I still cannot call any 0800 or 0845 numbers. Can anyone suggest what should I do next ?
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Post 3

Re: Call Disconnect​s after 1-2 rings on calling 0845 or 0800 numbers
[ Edited ] .Options
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.on 15-07-2012 13:16 - last edited on 15-07-2012 13:17

It seems, I was wrong when I said virgin closed the call. I had a visit by a virgin technician who showed me his test phone worked fine to call 0800 & 0845 numbers. It was my BT Diverse 6450 phone which was at fault and I needed to buy a new phone and keep the receipt till i know it is working. When I asked if there was any phone he could suggest which was compatible , he could not reccomend any.



Further searching the internet I found that BT Diverse phones have always had problem with the former NTL phone lines.

http://community.virginmedia.com/t5/...ssage-id/50443

http://community.virginmedia.com/t5/...ssage-id/50443

Unable To Make Outgoing Calls With Bt Dect Phone - InterHell

http://interhell.co.uk/forums/topic/...bt-dect-phone/



If I was in a Telewest area , it would have been fine. Also NTL did a list of compatible phones with their network which Virgin does not. Virgin would have certainly known about this issue but choses to remain silent and expresses no knowledge of it. Also since I only had problem with 0800 and 0845 and not mobile phone calls , it seems the ntl faulty/incompatible switching is not used for mobile phone calls. Also I found that switching to pulse from tone on my phone I can call 0845/0800 numbers but I cannot select any options later on if I dial into customer service numbers of banks etc. I wish if OFCOM made a uniform telecom switching standard in uk and virgin was more forthcoming about incompatibility of BT manufactured handsets with their legacy NTL telephone network.
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Last edited by samwatford : 18-07-2012 at 20:36

I have the same problem for many many years first with NTL and now with Virgin, I have just finally got it sorted by a Virgin Engineer,
it was some thing major on their network that did this and a small problem at the street cabinet

I am glad it has finally been solved and sorted

I have tried three other DECT phones on my virgin phone line. None of them worked correctly and the problem remains as before. One Virgin phone engineer who called me said their lines in my area had compability problems and he will send me the compability list of phones which work correctly but never came back. Second one said Virgin use legacy equipment from five different companies out of which Virgin media was formed and so have problems and he will change the card in the exchange and the phone will work correctly. When I said it has been so long and my landline has never worked correctly since I moved to Virgin Media from BT he said that i could write an email to them if it does not work correctly in future and they will allow me to leave Virgin Media without any penalty.

Since my problem did not go away after changing phones or calling technical support , I wrote the email to Virgin Media complaints team as suggested by their engineer. I got phone call back from a man who said he was a Senior Manager in Virgin Media Complaints Department and his boss was Richard Branson. He was very rude and abusive to me when I asked him to release me from my contract and started shouting to me on phone telling me he is not going to release me from the contract and I can take them to court if I wanted.

I have suffered so much at the hands of Virgin Media employees and will advise anyone to avoid Virgin Media Phone Line like plague even if they offer it for free. It does not work and BT phone line is billion times better than Virgin. I never had a technical problem with BT and they were always honest and truthful. Richard Branson can spend billions on false marketing and advertisements and in political donations to become more rich at the hands of the taxpayer and employ more rude and abusive staff.