I keep sending in email support requests on an issue I have with Vapi and getting no replies or confirmation of submission. Robo callers are calling my Vapi phone line which i s a call tree and racking up fees. They scraped what looks like my Google profile number (Vapi line) I have the model detect and hang up...but it listens to their automated message for 5-10 seconds then detects and hangs up. I still get charged .05 for the call I have no way of blocking these numbers? They are rotating a block of phone lines to call...and I'd like the option to block the numbers direct if possible. Vapi detects its a robo call but hangs up only after its listened to message and I get charged. I don't think that's right if I cant start blocking phone lines direct. Any help? 😩

Hey! Sorry to hear this has been frustrating, and also sorry your earlier emails didn't get through. You're in the right place now. You've correctly identified the problem: your assistant is picking up the call, listening for a few seconds, detecting the robocall, and then hanging up. The issue is that Vapi's billing starts the moment the call connects and your assistant begins processing audio. So even that 5-10 second window counts, hence the $0.05 charges. That's expected behavior on our end, and I want to be upfront about that. The bigger problem is that Vapi doesn't have a built-in number blocklist in the dashboard right now. So there's no one-click way to block a number directly. Here's the workaround that will help the most: 1. Instead of attaching your assistant directly to the phone number, set up a Server URL webhook on the number. When a call comes in, Vapi will ping your server with the caller's phone number BEFORE the assistant starts. Your server can check if it's a known spammer and respond with a hang-up instruction. This means the assistant never fires and you never get charged. If you're not comfortable setting up a webhook endpoint, a simpler short-term option is to bring your own Twilio number into Vapi. Twilio has spam/fraud guard features that block robocalls at the carrier level, before they even reach Vapi. A few quick questions to help further: 1. Are you currently using a Vapi-provisioned number or your own (Twilio/Telnyx)? 2. Do you have any web development resource available to set up a simple webhook, or would you prefer the Twilio route? I'll also flag the robocall blocking feature as customer demand to our product team, because you're right that having a native blocklist would be the proper fix here. Regards, Chiranjeet Vapi Support