Saga Telphone, 1280 and BT

BarkingMad

My father-in-law has been using the Saga Telephony service (calls only, no rental) for many years. It is CPS based. Last September, Saga passed the service to the Phone Coop. Since then the 1280 CPS override has not been working.

We have only discovered this when his latest BT bill arrived and he was charged for caller display and 1571 because he didn't make the correct number of calls vis BT.

The Phone Coop say the 1280 override is BT's problem. They won't offer refund for BT services that have been charged.

Any info on what we should do? The 1280 override was working before the switch by Saga to the Phone Coop and therefore it must be connected.

Any ideas / suggestions?

Thanks

poppasmurf_bewdley

Drop this company, go back to BT for calls and then use 18185 for all your phone calls.

Heinz

Sounds like the service is no longer true CPS but is being provided using BT Wholesale's WCLI (Wholesale Calls, Line Independent) - which routes calls via the BT network.

Hence, the 1280 override prefix cannot divert calls onto the BT network, they're already on it.

Time to move on - please see the HERE link in my signature below.

BarkingMad

Heinz wrote: »

Sounds like the service is no longer true CPS but is being provided using BT Wholesale's WCLI (Wholesale Calls, Line Independent) - which routes calls via the BT network.

Hence, the 1280 override prefix cannot divert calls onto the BT network, they're already on it.

Time to move on - please see the HERE link in my signature below.

Thanks Heinz, but the calls were definitely being being routed off the BT network to the Phone Coop network becsuse we see them on the Coop bill.

The problem is we cannot force the calls onto the BT network using 1280 - and so my father-in-law has been charged around £12 for 1571, Call Display etc.

I want to know whose responsibility it is to provide the 1280 service? BT provides the means to divert the calls, but this doesn't seem to be working since Saga passed the telephony service to the Phone Coop

Heinz

The calls are not being routed off the BT network. The Co-op, as the calls provider, now uses WCLI and that means their customers' calls are carried on the BT network but using a different (non-CPS) product.

A reply I received from BT back in 2008 about Sky's use of WCLI explained it thus:

CPS and WCLI are different products, and work in a completely different way (CPS routes the calls off the BT network, whereas calls made via WCLI route across the BT network - the former is a "switch" product and the latter is a "billing" product.

The code 1280, when dialled before a number by a CPS user, re-routes the call across the BT network (overrides the default [CPS] routing) and it is then billed by BT.

In the case of WCLI, re-routing can't take place as the call is already on the BT network.

Hence, BT Wholesale is not preventing calls being made using 1280 or permitting Sky to ignore the prefix - the WCLI product is simply not compatible with the 1280 code due to it being a "billing" product.

So, it's not down to BT being able to state whether a communications provider supports 1280 or not, it's down to how the communications provider has chosen to provide calls to their end customer (if that is by CPS, the 1280 prefix will work, if it's by WCLI, the 1280 prefix will not work).

In your FIL's case, using the 1280 prefix can have no effect anyway because the introduction of WCLI removes CPS (see the last paragraph of 3.4 on Page 19 HERE).

This has been happening with other former 'true CPS' calls providers since the introduction of WCLI in late 2008. In fact, BT sent a letter to customers in August 2008 'explaining' (in very incomplete terms for 'commercial in-confidence' reasons) what might happen. Essentially, it repeated the details they'd published on their website (see HERE).

I and others tried to encourage Martin to get involved about that time but, unfortunately, we failed. In fact, it never got beyond the "we're looking into that" stage.

Others who used to have 'true CPS' arrangements with Virgin, AOL, Talk Talk, Orange and Sky (and probably some others too by now), have also been affected.

BarkingMad

Thanks Heinz. I now understand the difference between CPS and WCLI.

So, I will get all the documentation from my father-in-law from last Spetember when the switch occurred to see if it spelt out that the service was changing from CPS to WCLI.

I also find it strange that the customer service people at the Phone Coop http://www.thephone.coop/ do not know what service they are providing. I say this because I mentioned to them that 1280 was not working and they said they would fix it. They also called my f-in-law to say it has been fixed. They also said many people had been complaining that it was not working.

Thanks again.

G_M

In parallel to arguing over the £12 (which may may not be worth the effort to you), follow Poppa...'s advice. Switch.

Either back to BT and use 18185 for all chargeable calls, or Primus for line + calls.

BarkingMad

He's on his way back to BT. He had received some larger than normal bills and BT had been sending unlimited calls for £3 per month - reduced price. Analysis of his calls showed he'd be better off moving back to BT. Plus I told him about the line rentalsaver £120 - £10 per month - and no VAT increase.

I've told him about 18185 but they don't make that many calls to numbers outside the BT unilimited plan (01,02,03,0845,0870).

Plus the good news is that he won't have to remember to make 8 or so calls to me using the 1280 prefix every quarter.

He's got a good deal on BT Broadband and that's why we didn't consider moving his BT line rental.

£12 is not much - but it is the principle. I dislike being ripped off!