o2 home phone and 0844, 0871 international call charging and override providers

silps

Hi,

I already have broadband and mobile with o2 and I am thinking of taking out their home phone line. I often use 0844 0871 numbers to call international destinations e.g. Kenya 5p per min. and I also somtimes use override providers like 1899.

I called o2 and they said they will only charge me the advertised rate for the 0844 numbers and not add on any surcharge and I can still use override providers. Can someone who has got o2 home phone confirm that is what they do in practice?

Also, I tried to ask for a good deal but all they were offering was 3 months free broadband if I took the home phone line, did anyone else get a good offer from them?

Thanks.

Heinz

I'd be very suspicious of the assertion that you will still be able to use override providers like 1899.

utilitybroker

In practice they charge you their advertised rates to call 0844/0871 numbers but their advertised rates are a lot higher then what BT/Talk Talk etc charge.

See: https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/2417939

They must have got the idea from Virgin Media.:D

silps

Okay I got offered a very good deal with o2 so I have gone for the switch as overall I will be saving money. Will post back on what I get charged with on the 0844/0871 numbers once I get a bill.

Heinz

silps wrote: »

Okay I got offered a very good deal with o2 so I have gone for the switch as overall I will be saving money. Will post back on what I get charged with on the 0844/0871 numbers once I get a bill.

I think you may regret not checking out that link before signing up with O2.

A quick check reveals O2 charges an astonishing 19p/minute for calls to g7 rate 0871/2/3 numbers (for which BT charges 10p/minute).

Similarly, O2 charges 1.9p/minute for calls to g8 rate 0843/4 numbers (for which BT charges 1p/minute) and 9½p/minute for calls to g6 rate 0843/4 numbers (for which BT charges 5p/minute).

I make that 90% extra in each case!

silps

Hi, I did check out the link and o2 pricing tables that can be downloaded. Yes, apparently it will cost me about double for using the 0844 type numbers but I don't make that many calls with these and overall I am still saving about £10 a month.

pardal51

you may want to consider a VOIP provider. My line is still with BT but I may switch to O2 (£7.50 mth). All my calls are routed via the Voip provider 10EUR every 120days which gives free calls to loads of countries. If you ring 0870 0844 etc you use the balance on your VOIP account.

aaj123

utilitybroker wrote: »

In practice they charge you their advertised rates to call 0844/0871 numbers but their advertised rates are a lot higher then what BT/Talk Talk etc charge.

See: https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/2417939

They must have got the idea from Virgin Media.:D

Their charges for Non-geographic calls in general are indeed higher but with one exception.

Calls to the G22 band (i.e 0844 numbers that are charged 0.5 p per min on Sky and BT) have a charge of 0 (yes zero) p per min on O2, albeit with a minimum charge of 10.9p.

The MSE call checker will tell you that there are G22 access numbers avaialble for calling many countries as well as UK landlines. Thus this means you should be able to use O2 homephone for calling UK landlines as well as many countries internationally (includes India landlines and mobile) for a flat charge of 10.9 per call.

Ypaymore

aaj123 wrote: »

Their charges for Non-geographic calls in general are indeed higher but with one exception.

Calls to the G22 band (i.e 0844 numbers that are charged 0.5 p per min on Sky and BT) have a charge of 0 (yes zero) p per min on O2, albeit with a minimum charge of 10.9p.

The MSE call checker will tell you that there are G22 access numbers avaialble for calling many countries as well as UK landlines. Thus this means you should be able to use O2 homephone for calling UK landlines as well as many countries internationally (includes India landlines and mobile) for a flat charge of 10.9 per call.

Are you sure that its not a typo .

Or are the actually charging zilch for these calls apart from connection charge.

aaj123

Ypaymore wrote: »

Are you sure that its not a typo .

Or are the actually charging zilch for these calls apart from connection charge.

Well page 33 of this document explicitly says that G22 calls are 0 p per min with min charge 10.9p.

http://broadband.o2.co.uk/downloads/O2_Home_Phone_Price_List.pdf

However, I should add here that is in addition to connection charge. So calls to G22 band numbers is actually a flat 19.9 p (including connection charge). Still not a bad deal if one regularly uses these numbers to make international calls.

silps

Would be great if someone who is on o2 home phone and has made these types of calls i.e. 0844 etc can actually confirm what they have been charged on their bill.

My line is going active on the 1st Oct so will report back after then.