Nokia Call block - being charged for airtime

[CellularMan]

I use Nokia call block as I get spammed by robo calls every once a while.

I noticed that when I am roaming I have received charges for incoming phone calls where my phone never rang. My carrier (Bell Canada) only charges for calls answered while roaming (not just ringing).

It appears I am getting billed for calls that are being blocked by the call block utility. I am charged 1 minute for each call. Any one else notice this behaviour with the nokia call blocker?

 

[ratsttam]

It could be that instead of terminating the call (and sending the call to voicemail), that it's actually very quickly picking up the call, then hanging up, all in the background.
I would ask your carrier how long the call has to be connected before they treat it as a connected call. Sprint would not charge minutes for calls that were extremely short (1-2 seconds), they counted those as "dropped" and therefore didn't count against minutes. Your carrier may feel differently, especially when you're roaming as you say.

 

[aikidaves]

Haven't seen this, but it makes sense - the call is being blocked at your phone, not at your carrier, so the call is actually coming through. In fact, when I tested it, it just put the caller straight through to voice mail, rather than blocking it completely like the carrier would.

If you're in the US and mainly concerned with robo calls, a way around this might be to use NoMoRobo - sign up for free at Stop robocalls and telemarketers with Nomorobo. They'll intercept the call after one ring and handle the block and hangup for you, without the call ever hitting your voicemail. I haven't needed it on my cell phone, but I use it on my land line and it works pretty well. Good luck if you try it.