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Phoning Australia

Hi,
My Mum wants to phone Australia at the weekend (probably Saturday morning), last time she tried to use a couple of 0.5p a min Simply Dial 0844 numbers a message said to phone another number and it would cost 2p a minute !!! This happened twice and it was the exact same voice on the recording from different companies!!?? :rolleyes:

Is this normal? Can you recommend a cheap number that doesn't play games like this?

I also noticed that the cheapest charges didn't appear on the International Checker until later in the day, when the Aussies would be in bed! Is that normal too?

It would be good to find the cheapest number as once Mum gets on the phone to my Aunt, Dad starts squirming at the cost!! :rotfl:

At least it won't be at BT's prices anymore though!! :eek:

Thanks, Speedee :D

Comments

  • billsavings
    billsavings Posts: 2,015 Forumite
    http://www.18185.co.uk

    5p connection. 1p a minute and you dont pay if not connected unlike 0844 dial through numbers.

    PS. Buy a PO phone card for £5 and in December 2008 your get 200 minutes to OZ and unlimited Sunday Calls.
    http://www.postoffice.co.uk/portal/po/jump2?catId=catId=63700719&mediaId=19300221&campaignid=HBPML3
  • Post Office Home Phone offer FREE phone calls to Australia from 6pm on a Friday and all weekend. Redial before the hour is up and you will not be charged.

    Covers the worlds top 20 destinations abroad, which includes OZ.

    Calls to UK mobiles at weekends are also FREE.
  • jhp
    jhp Posts: 2,342 Forumite
    NPowerUser wrote: »
    Post Office Home Phone offer FREE phone calls to Australia from 6pm on a Friday and all weekend. Redial before the hour is up and you will not be charged.

    Covers the worlds top 20 destinations abroad, which includes OZ.

    Calls to UK mobiles at weekends are also FREE.

    The calls are not free their inclusive.
    http://www.postoffice.co.uk/portal/po/jump1?catId=58000695&mediaId=19300217
    and to get them the OP family would have to move their line rental to the PO.
  • JoolzS
    JoolzS Posts: 824 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture Combo Breaker
    If your mum and the person she wants to call both have PCs you should look into getting Skype set up on both of them. It may mean that all calls between them are completely free.

    Julie
  • Speedee
    Speedee Posts: 115 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture Combo Breaker
    Thanks for the replies.
    My folks are on BT Weekend and Evenings, so can't switch for some months, but they still want to pay BT for their line rental (well they'd rather not pay at all!!but!!) for the reasons of not being blocked access to numbers by another provider, which can happen! I will have to sign them up to 18185 and set them up with a Orchid Dialer.

    My mum, use a computer, :rotfl: , she never got the hang of video recorder timers, although my aunt in Australia did and has a DVD player too :D

    Thanks though, I needed a laugh right now, I "used to have" investments!!!
  • AndysDad
    AndysDad Posts: 694 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture Combo Breaker
    We have used 'DiscountDial' in the past and think it was a 5p connection charge and 0.5p/min.All charges go onto your BT bill.Always found them very good when we used them.
  • Heinz
    Heinz Posts: 11,191 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture Combo Breaker Car Insurance Carver!
    AndysDad wrote: »
    We have used 'DiscountDial' in the past and think it was a 5p connection charge and 0.5p/min.All charges go onto your BT bill.
    From a BT landline, that'll now be 7p call set-up fee + ½p per minute.
    Time has moved on (much quicker than it used to - or so it seems at my age) and my previous advice on residential telephony has been or is now gradually being overtaken by changes in the retail market. Hence, I have now deleted links to my previous 'pearls of wisdom'. I sincerely hope they helped save some of you money.
  • Speedee
    Speedee Posts: 115 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture Combo Breaker
    Thanks for the info'.

    Mum used Budgetcom's 0844 number and she never complained, and talked for over an hour; also 0.5p / min. And 7p connection charge!! thanks Heinz!

    5p to 7p doesn't sound much, but that is a 40% increase (I think!!), well above the rate of inflation - even these days!!
  • kiwifruit_2
    kiwifruit_2 Posts: 4,760 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture Combo Breaker
    Ive used www.alphatelecom.co.uk many many times - 3p a minute from a landline UK to landline Australia. It is a prepaid service so you sign up, put some money in your account and dial as per the instructions......easy to use and in the 3 years I regularly used it to ring NZ once or twice a week, I never had a problem.....hope that helps
    'Normal' is a dryer setting.
  • Depending on how often you are calling Oz and how much you are spending per month it might be worth checking out BT's International Freedom package. It costs £5 per month and will give you free calls (up to 60 mins) plus calls to 35 other countries for £0.

    http://www.productsandservices.bt.com/consumerProducts/displayTopic.do?topicId=23704&s_cid=con_FURL_calls_international
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