Benefits and 0845 numbers

KimYeovil

NEH wrote: »

It is, I mean it's jsut ridiculous, especially when it's something they have done.



Local jobcentre is 5 miles away so it would cost me in petrol to get there unfortunately.



Tried that site as mentioned in my post, no luck....

But surely you can kill two birds with one stone - you could use one of the three times a week you are visiting the Job Centre to actively seek work to use their phones to contact the DWP. No additional trip necessary.

And why on earth in the first place are you wasting petrol and money driving to a Job Centre that is so close? Get off your rear end and save some money and maintain your health and walk.

Some people.

Tigsteroonie

I would agree that it's ridiculous that any government agency has a chargeable phone number, as opposed to a free number. Not everybody is on BT with their free calls, there are many other providers ... when you choose phone provider, you don't necessarily expect to be on benefits three months later and needing to make those kind of daytime calls.

And as for getting somebody to call you back - well, you're generally waiting in their automated queue for 10 minutes - all chargeable - before you manage to speak to a human being.

NEH

KimYeovil wrote: »

But surely you can kill two birds with one stone - you could use one of the three times a week you are visiting the Job Centre to actively seek work to use their phones to contact the DWP. No additional trip necessary.

And why on earth in the first place are you wasting petrol and money driving to a Job Centre that is so close? Get off your rear end and save some money and maintain your health and walk.

Some people.

Are you for real???

Where did I say that I was visiting the job centre 3 times a week???

and walk 5 miles I have a long term disability, I would hardly call myself lazy....

What kind of sicko are you????

DX2

samuelsmommy wrote: »

When you ring them, tell them as soon as you give your name that you are calling from a mobile and that you want them to ring you back, they will then take your number and ring you straight back.

you are still paying for some of the call but it does cut the cost quite a bit.

:rotfl::rotfl::rotfl:That's so funny, the JCP ringing you straight back that's a new one on me.

DX2

KimYeovil wrote: »

But surely you can kill two birds with one stone - you could use one of the three times a week you are visiting the Job Centre to actively seek work to use their phones to contact the DWP. No additional trip necessary.

And why on earth in the first place are you wasting petrol and money driving to a Job Centre that is so close? Get off your rear end and save some money and maintain your health and walk.

Some people.

Kim tell me once person who visits the JCP three times a week

redz

DX2 wrote: »

:rotfl::rotfl::rotfl:That's so funny, the JCP ringing you straight back that's a new one on me.

When I used to work for the DWP I used to do that on a regular basis when asked. I agree with the OP, I found it rather disgraceful that our customers had to pay to call our office to request we put right the mistakes we had made.

NASA_2

It might be !!!! having to ring but I dont see it changing any time soon.

It is DWP policy to ring people back if its requested but apparently some of the staff are not aware of that.

DX2

redz wrote: »

When I used to work for the DWP I used to do that on a regular basis when asked. I agree with the OP, I found it rather disgraceful that our customers had to pay to call our office to request we put right the mistakes we had made.

I think those days are long gone

redz

DX2 wrote: »

I think those days are long gone

The days that the DWP make mistakes? I think those days are here to stay.

If you're referring to the days that DWP staff treat their customers with respect, politeness and courtesy, well those days are yet to come.

briona

NEH wrote: »

Is anyone else finding that having to call an 0845 number so many times a month about your benefit is costing a fair bit?

I am spending at least £4 a month if not more, last month it was just over £6 all to get some errors ironed out with my benefit...It's driving me mad....I've just been sent a letter stating that they will pay me from the 16th December and yet my sick note specifically says the 14th so I need to query it but it's going to cost me....done a search on the 0870 site and nothings comes up.

Know it doesn't sound a lot but when you're on a limited income every bit counts....

If you use a call discounter such as 18185* you could call 0845 numbers for as little as 3p a minute. Signing up is free. You can register both a landline and a mobile. To use the service from a landline you simply dial 18185, followed immediately by the number you wish to call. To use the service from a mobile you dial 020 81 80 2828 and wait for the voice prompt, after which you dial the number you wish to call. You pay the bills by direct debit. http://www.18185.co.uk/index2.php

In the link below, Martin Lewis talks a bit more about call discounters. He mentions them in relation to cutting the cost of international calls but you can also use them to get cheap landline-to-landline, landline-to-mobile, or mobile-to-mobile calls: http://www.moneysavingexpert.com/phones/cheap-overseas-calls#landline

Briona

*There are other call discounters, but this is the one I use and therefore the only one I have any experience of.