Say No to 0870!

colin_tomlinson · 23 February 2005 at 5:05PM

sergeant121 wrote:

That url should be thenumbercompany.co.uk (which auto-diverrts to http://www.twplc.co.uk/)

Thanks sergeant!

colin_tomlinson · 23 February 2005 at 5:11PM

Smartasss wrote:

Hypocrite is a word that comes to mind regarding the BBC and 0870 numbers.

J Vine and Sally (the traffic Lady) were horrified last time Martin explained the whole 0870 scandal.

Then Sally read out the traffic news and implored drivers to ring her with details of traffic problems. How many calls to that number I wonder? (Needless to say it's an 0870 one!)

If you ever call the number its a one-stop-shop for all listener response. (I think it's just a case of one that's v easy to remember, although theere are the revenue implications.)

When you press the option for traffic, the voicemail recording actually tells you the direct number (020 7765 5488) before taking your message. I think they're aware 0870 nos are more expensive, but up to 40p/min from a mobile!

derrick · 23 February 2005 at 5:34PM

theloft wrote:

Natelle. The BBC have done away with their 0800 free numbers, I believe. I noticed on the radio (Fivelive) the other day that they were asking for people to phone in with traffic reports and that used to be free, now its an 0870. Lets all write to the BBC for a start.

Not all BBC progs have done away with freephone numbers i.e. Radio 5 Live (0500) there are local stations that use 0800 for traffic reports, but AFAIK there is only Orange on certain contracts that allow these numbers free, so to call from a mobile which most people who would call these numbers would as they will be in a car, they will be charged for these calls so why not a geo number for traffic reports?

colin_tomlinson · 23 February 2005 at 10:04PM

On PhONEday in 1995 (all numbers were changed to 01) and later changes in 2000 and 2002, meant all but 0500 non-geo numbers ended up in the 08 band. The 05 band was reserved for future business use. It's now 2005, so what's going on?

Wouldn't it be great to have a prefix that gave all the flexiblility of NGNs, such as the logic to divert to different numbers depening on critera, but without any revenue issues? This prefix could be charged at the same rate as "normal" 01/02 calls, meaning it would be included in "free minutes" etc.

AFAIK, our only issues with 0845/0870 numbers is the matter of revenue sharing and their being charged differently than normal calls without warning.

(Hope the industry is listening.)

andy88_2 · 23 February 2005 at 10:19PM

I like it Colin, 03 and 04 numbers maybe. Or 04+ where the + could indicate the price per minute for the cheaper end of the range, like the 0844 numbers from 1p to 5p, but their price is not discernable without great lookup tables.

Some of the old 05 numbers were converted to 0870, eg 0541, and some have been allocated for internet eg voip 056 I think

colin_tomlinson · 23 February 2005 at 11:34PM

Well, the 03 and 04 numbers have yet to be assigned a use, and I'm hesitant at the number being the price, because when the price changes, it means companies changing their telephone numbers - to say nothing of price variation between networks!

However, 05 was specifically labelled as "reserved for business use", with the idea of giving companies a nationwide number - rather like 0870 numbers being the same in Plymouth and Glasgow. I'm not sure if I read or just interpreted that this would mean connecting to the nearest open office with the shortest queue/etc.

mike_paterson · 28 February 2005 at 7:34PM

I apologise if this has been mentioned, but I have trawled through 18 of the pages and gave up. I had to make a conference call whilst away from home on Friday via an 0870 number on my vodafone. I thought I would check and see how much it had cost me so I phoned vodafone up. I expected that they would hit me for 35p per minute as if I was calling another network rather than using it as part of my inclusibve minutes. Imagine my suprise, when the lasy told me that 0870 numbers are premium numbers and as such are not counted as part of the inclusive minutes. I asked her what that meant to me in monetary terms and she said " it depends on who the call is going to - it could be from 80p - £1.60 per minute "

This is outrageous. 0870 is meant to cost the same as a national call. How can Vodafone say it is a premium number, and how on earth can they justify up to £1.60 per minute when it seems that some of their competition allow these calls in the inclusive minutes ?

I am shocked.

Regards
Mike

sergeant121 · 28 February 2005 at 9:23PM

mike_paterson wrote:

I apologise if this has been mentioned, but I have trawled through 18 of the pages and gave up. I had to make a conference call whilst away from home on Friday via an 0870 number on my vodafone. I thought I would check and see how much it had cost me so I phoned vodafone up. I expected that they would hit me for 35p per minute as if I was calling another network rather than using it as part of my inclusibve minutes. Imagine my suprise, when the lasy told me that 0870 numbers are premium numbers and as such are not counted as part of the inclusive minutes. I asked her what that meant to me in monetary terms and she said " it depends on who the call is going to - it could be from 80p - £1.60 per minute "

This is outrageous. 0870 is meant to cost the same as a national call. How can Vodafone say it is a premium number, and how on earth can they justify up to £1.60 per minute when it seems that some of their competition allow these calls in the inclusive minutes ?

I am shocked.

Regards
Mike

Only BT are required to stick to those 'rules'.

The chocolate fireguard that is Ofcom, has said it is content to allow 'market forces' to set the rates other providers charge.

Cellular companies take that weak (non-existent) enforcement regime to be a licence to print money. And they do (as you now know).

andy88_2 · 28 February 2005 at 10:08PM

Mike it certainly is shocking that some Vodafone staff either don't know the price of these calls or didn't listen carefully to what you said

0870 calls cost 12p per minute and are specified as not in the included minutes

colin_tomlinson · 28 February 2005 at 10:26PM

andy88 wrote:

0870 calls cost 12p per minute

I think that rather depends on your tariff. I know in this instance the customer is not pre-pay, but those who are at Vodafone pay 40p/minute for all NGN numbers - even freephone!

I've argued with them that "Companies buy these numbers to make it easier, in some cases cheaper, to contact them - and you're throwing all of that out of the window by making it 8x more expensive than a normal number."

I went on "My firend doesn't ever pay for any of the call when I ring her. I can understand companies with freephone might not want to absorb the cost of a call from a mobile, but even if they take on nothing - as is the case with my friend's home number - why does it cost me more to ring than a normal landline?"

Usual call-centre type response ... ("It's just how the tariff has been set up" - read "I haven't got a clue, I'm not remotely interested, you're getting on my nerves, I just work here.")

Say No to 0870!

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