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Can I block calls to certain numbers on my Virgin phone line?

Can I block calls to certain numbers on my Virgin phone line?

Dear Simon, I’m with Virgin Media for my line rental and calls, and have just received my latest phone bill. My children appear to have made a lot of calls to their friends’ mobiles, and it has pushed up the bill to over £100.

Is there a way that I can get Virgin Media to block outgoing calls to particular numbers, so that my children can’t make calls to expensive mobile or landline numbers?

Anna Richards, Hassocks, via email, Updated: Monday 16 January, 2012

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Our expert says...

Hello Anna, blocking outgoing calls to certain numbers from your landline will definitely help lower your bills - especially if you’ve been stung by chatterbox children bumping up your bills with calls.

Virgin Media (www.virginmedia.com) offers a call barring service for £2.05 a month. You pay it as an extra on top of your line rental, but it means you’ll be able to stop calls to mobile numbers that are costing you a fortune. Other people may find it useful for barring calls to premium rate numbers or international destinations.

Call barring is simple to set-up. First, you need to find out which Virgin Media “zone” you live in - Virgin Media splits its customers into green, red, blue, yellow and pink zones depending on where they live in the UK. To find out which colour zone you are in, just dial 1795 from your Virgin Media cable landline.

Once you’ve found out, you need to decide which type of number you want to block. Choose from:

  • Block all calls except free and emergency (999) calls
  • Block all calls to mobiles, pagers and personal (07) numbers
  • Block all international calls
  • Block all fixed rate and premium rate (09) calls
  • Block all calls to directory enquiries (118) numbers

Then, to set-up the service, you will need to key in a series of numbers that correspond to the type of number you want to block and the colour zone you live in. Just follow the simple instructions in this users’ manual on the Virgin Media website:

Virgin Media phone user guide

Once you’ve set-up the call barring service on the type of calls you want to stop being made from your home phone, you’ll need to enter a PIN number to make calls to any of these. Just remember to keep the PIN safe, so you’re the only family member who can access it.

Other ways to save money on your home phone bills

If you want to cut the cost of your landline service further, you can make a substantial saving on Virgin Media’s calling features by bundling them. Call barring costs £2.05 a month, but if you take two or more calling features from Virgin Media, it will only cost you £3.60 a month.

Blocking calls to certain numbers will definitely help lower your bills

Other calling features you can choose from include call divert, three-way calling and anonymous caller reject - just follow the steps in the Virgin Media phone user guide to get the activated.

If you’re having difficulties setting up the call barring service, you can also call the Virgin Media customer services team by dialling 150 on your cable landline, or 0845 650 4545 from any other landline.

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If you have a general switching or provider query please email us at ourexpert@homephonechoices.co.uk

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