Wow I'm screwed. Mum's o2 phone bill comes up to £220.

NFH

Deleted_User wrote: »

Eh yes VERY sure I work for them ;-)

Fair enough then! But where is this explained? From what I've read on O2's web site, International Favourites just gives you a bundle of minutes to nominated numbers, and the only local number provided is a local number in another country for incoming calls to your O2 phone.

[Deleted User]

The way that it works is you would add it to your account before making the calls.

Ie your billing cycle runs from 1st Dec till 31st Dec so you add the bolt on to cover for your calls in this month.

You add 3 international numbers which are then converted to an 0203 number - you then dial the 0203 number which connects you to your chosen international number.

You can't be billed for something then say oh well there is a bolt on which meant I could have had this cheaper so can I just pay for the bolt on instead - doenst work that way.

Dxxx

NFH

Deleted_User wrote: »

You add 3 international numbers which are then converted to an 0203 number - you then dial the 0203 number which connects you to your chosen international number.

That's quite a convoluted way of operating it. Why doesn't O2 just allow 3 numbers to be nominated and dialled in the normal way? Having a separate 020-3 number to dial is cumbersome as it means that different types of communication (e.g. calls, SMS, iMessage etc) have to be made via different numbers to communicate with the same person. Given that O2 is not a third party call provider in this context, I don't see why it has to be done this way.

[Deleted User]

Dont know the answer to that - its the way it is because O2 have decided to make it this way.

NFH

Deleted_User wrote: »

its the way it is because O2 have decided to make it this way.

Not a helpful answer. It was obvious that my question is why O2 have decided to make it this way.

[Deleted User]

I would love to give you a better answer but I dont make up the rules hence why I am on moneysavingexpert!

Dxxx

Notmyrealname

im-lost wrote: »

Really? Just for not having a direct debit setup? I think you
are telling porkies again, having a direct debit setup or not will
have no bearing on her credit file.

Really twice in the same thread, come on people, stop with the lies.
Cancelling a direct debit wont do anything, what will do something #
is not coming to an alternative arrangement to pay...

Company will try to take the next months payment by the method indicated on the account which unless she phones them and tells them she is changing it will still be DD despite the fact she has cancelled it with her bank. Payment will fail as the DD has been cancelled. It will go down as a late or missed payment on the credit file as it has not been paid by the due date.

Wintermute

Deleted_User wrote: »

Dont know the answer to that - its the way it is because O2 have decided to make it this way.

NFH wrote: »

Not a helpful answer. It was obvious that my question is why O2 have decided to make it this way.

International Favourites isn't true international calling, it routes the calls over the internet (VoIP) so you're really dialling into a gateway into a UK based gateway that then routes your call over the internet which then goes through another gateway at the other end.

That's why countries like Pakistan aren't included in IF despite there being a massive amount of potential customers on it, as Pakistan has a ban on VoIP to support their state run telecom company monopoly.

To actively intercept the calls and reroute the calls to the forwarding number/gateway would require a massive infrastructure change on O2s part which is why it's done via the 0203 forwarding numbers.

Edit: As for the idea of asking to pay for the bolt-on to waive the charges this is highly unlikely as it's still leaving O2 extremely out of pocket as the call charges are valid and they will have incurred a cost to route the calls to HK. Yes, they will be making a profit on them, but I'd say you're unlikely to get more than a tenner or so knocked off it as a goodwill gesture, but I wouldn't hold my breath even at that as they're not at fault here.

[Deleted User]

Wintermute wrote: »

International Favourites isn't true international calling, it routes the calls over the internet (VoIP) so you're really dialling into a gateway into a UK based gateway that then routes your call over the internet which then goes through another gateway at the other end.

That's why countries like Pakistan aren't included in IF despite there being a massive amount of potential customers on it, as Pakistan has a ban on VoIP to support their state run telecom company monopoly.

To actively intercept the calls and reroute the calls to the forwarding number/gateway would require a massive infrastructure change on O2s part which is why it's done via the 0203 forwarding numbers.

Edit: As for the idea of asking to pay for the bolt-on to waive the charges this is highly unlikely as it's still leaving O2 extremely out of pocket as the call charges are valid and they will have incurred a cost to route the calls to HK. Yes, they will be making a profit on them, but I'd say you're unlikely to get more than a tenner or so knocked off it as a goodwill gesture, but I wouldn't hold my breath even at that as they're not at fault here.

well that certainly beat my answer!

Dxxx