Say No to 0870!

It is obvious that we have hit an industry nerve ending when you start to get postings from the likes of Mr Anderson. Is the perceived aggression in the tone of his postings also of the industry, I wonder?
He belittles the fact that the public, the customers, are being ripped off by companies introducing these "premium" numbers.  What does he say in defence of the fact that to call the local Carphone Warehouse branch, which is not more than five miles away., I have to call an 0870 number to speak to them. What does Mr Anderson say when you learn that to contact British Arways in this country, you again pay for an 0870 number? Does this happen in the USA, where customer is King and service is a priority? Not on your nelly - they just wouldn't put up with it, unlike us who just roll over and believe every little word that Mr Anderson and his colleagues tell us about providing the excellant back up and services provided by these companies!
Oh and a PS, just tried to call Leicester City Tourist bureau this afternoon for information prior to visiting their city. Guess what? an 09XX number charged out at 25p a minute!

Ok, firstly I'll come clean. I spent a few years working for a company that relied on the public calling and buying things and played a big part in moving over to 0870 numbers. I also worked hard to ensure these new numbers were advertised over regional numbers so sorry. In my defence at first I did think they were a better deal for us, allowed us to offer better services all without really affecting our customers wallets.

What Mr Anderson says about the technological benefits these numbers bring to a company are all true but he fails to see that what has happened with 0870 and the other related numbers is that they have not kept up with the times. When we started using them the price was pretty much in line with the standard national call rate and in some instances was cheaper - unless someone lived within 50 miles of our call centre of course. We got all the useful technical advances, we didn’t appear to be ripping anyone off and we earned money. What a GREAT deal.

HOWEVER competition has moved the market on since then and while the cost of 0870 has reduced slightly in some cases (it was about 10p when the company I worked for started using it) they now stand out as being much higher than national call rates, add that they are not included in packaged minute deals and that customers have found out that companies earn money from the call it is clear why they are tagged as being part of rip-off Britain and I do believe they are.

Competition did do something for us though, it increased profits on the calls. As more companies entered the market selling the numbers and services so the rebates we were being offered went up meaning greater profits but less margin to cut form the call to bring prices down. At first we earned something like 1p a call when I left I think it was nearer 4p.

Many companies now rely on this income to balance their books so I doubt we wil see a quick change here….

Watching this thread with interest, and would be intrigued to see if anyone could match this ... my doctor's surgery has introduced an 0870 number! It's about a mile away, and we now have to dial national rate to get an appointment AND the delays in answering are still there!!

I don't suppose there is a way to establish the non 0870 number for a small set-up like this is there?

I know it sounds like an excuse but the number of people who now only give a mobile no to their GP is rapidly increasing. In that light at least a 0870 is not that bad

Oh Dear Oh Dear, As far as I can see (yet again) people are totally missing the point.

Firstly the thread is related to the fact that the cost of the calls are more than normal landline calls.

However lets look at the facts.

1) Can us moaning on here or in fact every single member on here moaning to all the people in the worls make a change. Of course we cant, at the end of the day business is business.

2) Will boycotting the use of the numbers change anything? Not on your nelly, even if you find the backdoor number if a company realises that there revenue is decreasing but calls are the same numbers then all they have to do is change the landline destination.

3) Is it right that these companies should make a few extra quid? Well lets be honest yes. If a company offers a service in todays market they have to be competative so they lower the price of the service or product. In doing so they cut there profits so this cut in profits could mean a cut in support and in return a loss in custom

There are many reasons for them using the numbers lets say for instance Airlines. You can ring up and get flight info etc etc. Why should they provide this service for free they have already spent thousands on depature boards etc at the airport.

One guy has mentioned that he lives 5 miles from a CPW so why should he call them on 0870, the answer dont get of your backside and walk.

I am all for saving money but at the end of the day if you dont like paying for things dont use them.

Next people will be complaining that they have to call a real premium rate number to enter for "Who wants to be a millionaire"........

At the end of the day things such as telecoms etc do not have any human rights what so ever, you either pay for it or dont get it, simple as that.

Sure sometimes it can be annoying when something goes wrong with a product that you have to call an 0870 number, but what do you expect in todays penny pinching market. I mean a comapny makes very little profit margin these days compared to previous times. And then on top of that you get consumers that beleive nothing should ever go wrong and therefore why should they pay for support when it does. Well tuff, who has to pay for that support agent to answer you call?

I can pretty much guess that every person here that works has assosiation with these numbers, sure lets boycott them and put ourselves out of jobs.

Sorry to rant but surely things like tabacco prices and petrol prices are better things to complain about. And before any says we should all give up smoking, I will say kiss my !!!!!! because if we did everyone would suffer in tax rises etc.

Complain about things that are pure greed, and if you dont want to call SKY tv on 0870 because its a little more expensive then:

a) Dont
b) Why have you got sky ya money pincher we have 5 perfectly good channels on normal tv?