0300 numbers Bt rip off

5555tt

jus cheked my bill & 0300 numbers Bt rip off are about 3 times more expensive than 0844 ,0845 for me on standard package

l though these were free There Not

thatguy1

why post it on grabbit........? Try here http://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/forumdisplay.php?f=82

Bougainvillea

BT may be willing to discuss the unexpected costs if you try their complaints section - see website

BT pricing is almost impossible to understand but they say that 03 calls are free if they are geographical but its not easy to know if the call is geographical or not.

http://www.localphone.com/ is sometimes very good for these sort of numbers and sometimes Quidco or Topcashback have signing up offers.

ic

0300 numbers are not free, and they are none-geographic. They do however get treated the same as 01 and 02 numbers, so if you ring an 0300 number during the day, but normally only get free calls at the weekend, you'll be charged for the call - made up of a connection fee and per-minute rate.

JimmyTheWig

And yes, 0845 with BT is cheaper than a regular 01, 02 or 03 call.

Heinz

Should be using 18185 - 03 calls are 5p each, regardless of duration.

Paul_Varjak

5555tt wrote: »

jus cheked my bill & 0300 numbers Bt rip off are about 3 times more expensive than 0844 ,0845 for me on standard package

l though these were free There Not

03xx numbers are charged at exactly the same rate as 01/02 geographic numbers; it is an OFCOM requirement...

http://consumers.ofcom.org.uk/2009/09/what-are-03-numbers/


What we should be complaining about is is the exorbitant cost of calling 01/02 numbers! This has risen steeply over the past 2-3 years for those who call these numbers outside of any calling plan, whereas those with calling plans have not seen much rise in the cost of those plans, despite the inclusion of free 0845/0870 calls in BT's and Talk Talk's calling plans a couple of years back.

TalkTalk customers can now pay 1 year line rental in advance and save £60/year; that saving more than pays for their unlimited calling plan! People, such as myself, who make up to 200 calls/day can make huge savings whilst those without calling plans pay, in effect, for the calls I make!

matchmade

My new BT line charges 10 pence per minute plus VAT for a daytime 0300 call to a government department. Utterly outrageous.


The sheer diversity of number types nowadays has become incredibly confusing and the phone companies and organisations using these numbers are exploiting the situation. I bet barely one person in a thousand knows what they are really paying for 0845, 0870, 0800, 01, 02, 07, 03 (and all the variants from 0300 onwards) on both their mobile and their landline.

oldharryrocks

matchmade wrote: »

My new BT line charges 10 pence per minute plus VAT for a daytime 0300 call to a government department. Utterly outrageous.

Were you not aware of charges when you signed up then ? Its not as if they hide them http://www.productsandservices.bt.com/products/landline/packages

They charge 9p a minute to call anybody using a 01/02/03 number plus a 15p call set up fee.

Invest in inclusive minutes,or use someone like https://www.18185.co.uk who only charge 5p for the whole call irrespective of length.

Heinz

matchmade wrote: »

My new BT line charges 10 pence per minute plus VAT for a daytime 0300 call to a government department. Utterly outrageous.

To me, such rants nearly always indicate a simple lack of research has caused the anguish to the poster. As has been said, you were charged 15p connection + 9p/minute for that call - that's BT's standard charge for most calls on a residential landline (i.e. to any 01x, 02x or 03x number).

However, as it's still possible to use Indirect Access providers via a simple 4 or 5 digit prefix on a BT line, I strongly recommend you open a www.18185.co.uk account as soon as possible.

As has been said, that will reduce the cost of any 01x, 02x or 03x call to 5p, regardless of duration.

BTW, never assume that a phone code ending in 00 means a free call. 0200, 0300, 0700 and 0900 numbers are not (0400 & 0600 are unused number ranges).

Similarly, 01200 (Clitheroe), 01300 (Cerne Abbas), 01400 (Honington), 01600 (Monmouth), 01700 (Rothesay), 01900 (Workington) numbers are standard geographical numbers.

JimmyTheWig

Heinz wrote: »

BTW, never assume that a phone code ending in 00 means a free call. 0200, 0300, 0700 and 0900 numbers are not. Similarly, 01200 (Clitheroe), 01300 (Cerne Abbas), 01400 (Honington), 01600 (Monmouth), 01700 (Rothesay), 01900 (Workington) numbers are standard geographical numbers.

Did you know that, or did you look it up?