Cheapest override provider for 0870 and 0845

yebaws

I currently use 1899 as an overide provider for national calls, but they charge 7p per minute for 0870 calls. As I seem to spend most of my life (moneysaving has its downside) on hold to call centres, these calls make up the bulk of my bill. There's a lot on MSE about cheapest national / local mobile providers but I can't find anything about best rates for 0845 and 0870 nos, which is strange as I don't think I'm alone in spending a lot of time on hold to call centres. Any advice on the chepest providers appreciated...

Broke_Student

For anyone reading this thread who doesn't already use it:

http://www.saynoto0870.com/

mobilegossip

If you cant find an alternative geographical number at the say no to 0870 site.A list of the cheapest suppliers to ngn 0845/0870 numbers can be found here.

http://callchecker.moneysavingexpert.com/ukcallchecker/

bbb_uk

In most cases, Call18185.co.uk are generally cheaper than your current landline supplier except for maybe at weekends (but that depends on who your landline supplier is) and more importingly you don't pay for any failed connections.

yebaws

Broke_Student wrote:

For anyone reading this thread who doesn't already use it:

http://www.saynoto0870.com/

Thanks, I do but the geographical numbers are a problem with busy call centres - you just get an engaged tone and can never get through.

mobilegossip

bbb_uk wrote:

In most cases, Call18185.co.uk are generally cheaper than your current landline supplier except for maybe at weekends (but that depends on who your landline supplier is) and more importingly you don't pay for any failed connections.

The Cheapest Supplier of calls to 0845/0870 at evenings/weekends is BT.

So if you have CPS your calls to another supplier use the BT ovveride service 1280 to place them back through BT.

18185 is the the cheapest supplier at peak rate to 0870.

https://www.dialaround.co.uk is cheapest for 0845 calls at peak rate 2p a minute via 0844 62 34 34. 18185 charge the same as BT 3p a minute.

yebaws

mobilegossip wrote:

The Cheapest Supplier of calls to 0845/0870 at evenings/weekends is BT.

So if you have CPS your calls to another supplier use the BT ovveride service 1280 to place them back through BT.

18185 is the the cheapest supplier at peak rate to 0870.

https://www.dialaround.co.uk is cheapest for 0845 calls at peak rate 2p a minute via 0844 62 34 34. 18185 charge the same as BT 3p a minute.

Thanks,

I have an orchid dialer and am already signed up to 18185 so I can easily put that in. I use Primustel as a CPS provider. From what you're saying I can program my dialer to prefix 1280 to put these calls through BT? For the sake of 1p per minute on the 0845 I'll probably just stick with BT / Primus rather than have *another* account and direct debit with a mysterious name coming out of my account.

One more question though. Is it correct that BT are now charging an extra 3p "setup charge" on each call which is on top of the per minute charge? This would put 18185 ahead of them as I don't think they have this charge - just a minimum 3p charge.

yebaws

yebaws wrote:

Thanks,

I have an orchid dialer and am already signed up to 18185 so I can easily put that in. I use Primustel as a CPS provider. From what you're saying I can program my dialer to prefix 1280 to put these calls through BT? For the sake of 1p per minute on the 0845 I'll probably just stick with BT / Primus rather than have *another* account and direct debit with a mysterious name coming out of my account.

One more question though. Is it correct that BT are now charging an extra 3p "setup charge" on each call which is on top of the per minute charge? This would put 18185 ahead of them as I don't think they have this charge - just a minimum 3p charge.

Just looked at the dialaroud website and now realise that it should be straightforward to use - as long as it works with primustel....

Heinz

yebaws wrote:

Just looked at the dialaroud website and now realise that it should be straightforward to use - as long as it works with primustel....

Don't dial any 084 or 087 numbers via Primus CPS (they charge more than BT).

Always add a 1280 prefix (to your Orchid programming if appropriate).

I know it sounds strange but, if you're using an 0844 dial-through provider to reduce the cost of making an 0845 call, dial 12800844XXXxxxx and, when prompted, then dial the 0845 number!

Frankly, with the exception of using 18185 for weekday peak 0870 calls, I just dial the 084 or 087 number with a 1280 prefix now (although it's only a question of checking on the MSE UK Callchecker each time, IMHO it's not worth the hassle for the small saving).

yebaws

Heinz wrote:

I know it sounds strange but, if you're using an 0844 dial-through provider to reduce the cost of making an 0845 call, dial 12800844XXXxxxx and, when prompted, then dial the 0845 number!

Should work with the orchid dialer (maybe with a pause after the 0844 number). I'll give it a go and just use the 1280 override if it doesn't work. Incidentally, with Primus I don't need to dial 1280 before the 0844 number.

Now, a service the checks weekly for all the cheapest providers and updates customers dialers accordingly would be the business....

Heinz

yebaws wrote:

Incidentally, with Primus I don't need to dial 1280 before the 0844 number.

Yes you do - Primus charges BT undiscounted 0845 rates for ALL 0844 numbers (see HERE and HERE).

With 0844 rates varying between ½p and 5p/minute (depending upon the 5th, 6th and 7th digits), dialling some of them via Primus would be cheaper - but most would be more expensive.

yebaws wrote:

Now, a service the checks weekly for all the cheapest providers and updates customers dialers accordingly would be the business....

Auto-updating diallers is a pipe-dream but, for up-to-date rates, I'd use the MSE UK Callchecker - it updates nightly.