International & UK CallChecker discussion

wrtwrds

BT informed me of the change in tariff on 26th July. In the meantime, I'd racked up over £300 of access charges from BT while dialling 0843 8390065 with Dial123 at 0.051p per minute! I am kicking myself for not checking my bill earlier and totally distressed as I have lost half of my earnings teaching English to French business people in France.

I am now signed up with 18185 - thank you.

malc77

I call Ireland landlines via a BT landline using an 0844*** number, the price has increased from about 1p/minute in June to about 11p/minute in July - an eleven fold increase.
My bills have soared.

freddy33

Hello malc77,
I've just read your post from earlier today: having received my latest broadband/ telephone bill the new and additional charge of 10p per minute now levied has increased the cost of calls I make to South Africa and the USA by about tenfold too.

MSE': your 'Callchecker' page needs to clearly show the new and 'steep' charges, methinks.

Must dash...off to check the pros and cons of telephone calls via the internet, using Skype, 'WhatsApp' etc.

malc77

The MSE Call Checker page needs to be used carefully.
For example calls cost, using BT to Ireland for example appear to be an almost reasonable 2.9p/minute (and 33.8p to mobiles).
However, this ONLY applies if you pay extra for BT's 'Friends and Family International' option ...which costs £1.20/month on top of your calling plan.
Without paying extra for this, the cost is 20p/min (and 50p/min to mobiles) plus the 'Set up fees'. Similar for other countries.
So not such a bargain perhaps.

buglawton

With 18185's recent unreliability I've been using my 3 mobile to make international calls. They have a long list of countries where a simple 3 digit prefix will give you calls to landlines and mobiles abroad starting at around 3p/min.

It's a solution for shortish calls. People who make bulk calls to certain countries should consider a monthly all you can eat deal with Skype.

corkgirl

scopus1 wrote: »

I have used the direct dial 0844 numbers a lot over the years via MSE International Call Checker.
I am with PlusNet, owned by BT and presumably having roughly the same charges as BT, and have noticed that the prices have gone up inexplicably over the months. For instance a call to the USA via 08442009090 on 26/6/2014 lasting 67 minutes cost me a total of 81p. Contrast this with a call via 0843360065 on 14/4/2015 lasting 78 minutes cost £2.16. These are just 2 examples of many. When I asked Plusnet they said that they made a 16p connection charge and the rest of the charge I should take up with the other firm, 123 directdial. They said the same, that they charged .5p per minute and that Plusnet was reponsible for the rest. I have tried repeatedly to get clarity from both firms but with no success.

Whatever the charges were before, things have drastically changed and I consider myself lucky to have been charged even the higher prices compared to the situation now. As others have mentioned, from July 1st PlusNet will charge about 10p PER MINUTE for this type of call and ofcourse the 0844 firms will add even more to the bill.
I hope MSE will update their site accurately and quickly. People chancing upon it over the last week may not realise what a totally misleading picture it now gives, as the situation has not merely been clarified, as least from the telecom provider's side, but prices have gone up so much that you might as well get an international call plan from your provider or otherwise just ring through directly and pay the full charge, which will now be very similar to the 0844 charge.
Has anyone got solutions to the problem of cheap international calls ?

I have just discovered the same problem, been with Plusnet quite happily for years and my last bill was quadruple the previous ones. My issue is that their tariffs page states "Calls to these numbers consist of an access charge set by Plusnet (9.58p) and a service charge set by the organisation you are calling. There is no setup fee for calls to these numbers." which I don't think makes clear that it is a per minute charge. I thought it was a one-off charge. I've complained to them, but to no avail so now I also am looking for alternative ways to call Ireland.

Ian011

Plusnet must make clear that call charges to 084, 087, 09 and 118 numbers consist of their Access Charge plus the Service Charge advertised by the organisation you are calling.

Plusnet must also make clear that their Access Charge is 9.58p per minute.

If they fail to do so, complain to Ofcom.

oldharryrocks

buglawton wrote: »

With 18185's recent unreliability I've been using my 3 mobile to make international calls. They have a long list of countries where a simple 3 digit prefix will give you calls to landlines and mobiles abroad starting at around 3p/min.

It's a solution for shortish calls. People who make bulk calls to certain countries should consider a monthly all you can eat deal with Skype.

https://www.dialacode.co.uk or similar allows you do that from most networks payg or contract. Your not restricted to using 3 mobiles short code service.
Plus its cheaper then using 3 to some destianations.

oldharryrocks

wrtwrds wrote: »

BT informed me of the change in tariff on 26th July. In the meantime, I'd racked up over £300 of access charges from BT while dialling 0843 8390065 with Dial123 at 0.051p per minute! I am kicking myself for not checking my bill earlier and totally distressed as I have lost half of my earnings teaching English to French business people in France.

I am now signed up with 18185 - thank you.

123 are misleading people by saying call costs 0.050p a minute as its actually a 2p a minute service charge to call that number plus your suppliers per minute access charge from 1/7/2015

http://www.dial123.co.uk/cheap-calls-to/france/

Ask them for a refund. Complain to ASA. Keep screen shots.

oldharryrocks

corkgirl wrote: »

I have just discovered the same problem, been with Plusnet quite happily for years and my last bill was quadruple the previous ones. My issue is that their tariffs page states "Calls to these numbers consist of an access charge set by Plusnet (9.58p) and a service charge set by the organisation you are calling. There is no setup fee for calls to these numbers." which I don't think makes clear that it is a per minute charge. I thought it was a one-off charge. I've complained to them, but to no avail so now I also am looking for alternative ways to call Ireland.

Yes they breach the guidelines by not making it clear its 9.58p a minute as Ian points out.

Keep screen shots.

Complain to them using Complaints procedure. http://www.plus.net/support/service/policies/complaints_code_of_practice.shtml

Complain to Ofcom.

If you have inclusive minutes. You could try this service.
https://www.localphone.com/call/ireland