Calling the RBS Royalties call centre

micktheknife

Hi all,
Just had a nasty surprise today. I called the Royalties travel centre to book a holiday last week. I was on the phone to 0870562555 for an hour and twenty mins, my wife was using house phone so I used my mobile from T-Mobile SCHOOLBOY ERROR!!!! the call cost £28.

There is no mention of potential astronomic call costs when ringing this number, so I rang to complain - after 1/2hr of pillar to post I was offered £24 credit as a gesture of goodwill. I accepted this of course and said thank you, however it was not the only reason for the call. I wanted them to mention (before the menus) that the "cost from mobiles may be considerably higher" - I was told (I'm paraphrasing here) that they do not agree with me, and that its my job to find out in advance what the call will cost.

Well done RBS a great step forward in customer service....

These 08705 numbers used to be a good source of money for the banks, but they are not really that profitable any more, why cant they just have an ordinary number?

Hooloovoo

micktheknife wrote: »

its my job to find out in advance what the call will cost.

It's your job to find out in advance what a number will cost to call from your choice of telephone.

why cant they just have an ordinary number?

I agree. It's annoying. In the mean time, try saynoto0870.com.

It looks like you could have called 01536 536002.

dalesrider

You should have complaining to T-Mobile as they set the call costs...

Where have you been, as its a well know fact anything other than a 01/02 etc number is going to cost more from a mobile... Even 0800 is not free.....
It's clearly stated in the info you get with your phone.

jalexa

dalesrider wrote: »

You should have complaining to T-Mobile as they set the call costs...

Why? The poster is complaining about the Royalties travel service, the SLA of which is signed-off by RBS.

What I do find remarkable is the contempt for the RBS fee-paying customer of whoever designed and signed-off the Royalties service package.

agrinnall

micktheknife wrote: »

These 08705 numbers used to be a good source of money for the banks, but they are not really that profitable any more, why cant they just have an ordinary number?

I'd say you've done pretty well to get £24 back when it was entirely your own fault that the charge was made in the first place. And it was certainly profitable to them in your case, until they caved in and gave you some money back.

What sort of number would you like them to have? As Hooloovoo has pointed out, there is already a geographic number available, and any other sort of number (0800, 0845, etc.) will also cost from a mobile unless you make a special effort to find a way round it.

Hooloovoo

agrinnall wrote: »

What sort of number would you like them to have? As Hooloovoo has pointed out, there is already a geographic number available, and any other sort of number (0800, 0845, etc.) will also cost from a mobile unless you make a special effort to find a way round it.

To be fair to the OP, I think it is a legitimate complaint that most companies don't have an alternative geographic number clearly published anywhere.

Sometimes (mostly for emergency numbers) there will be a "from the UK call 0870" and a "from abroad call +44 1..." where you can simply call the "abroad" number. But that's certainly not always the case.

It wouldn't be too outrageous to ask all companies to always publish an alternative geographic number wherever they publish an 03 or 08 number.

Fair enough you can usually get an alternative number from saynoto0870 but I'm always weary of phishing attempts. You shouldn't have to rely on a third party just to get a phone number.

callum9999

Hooloovoo wrote: »

It's your job to find out in advance what a number will cost to call from your choice of telephone.

I agree. It's annoying. In the mean time, try saynoto0870.com.

It looks like you could have called 01536 536002.

What!? People should take responsibility for their own actions and stop making stupid decisions because they are too lazy to think about it? Whatever next...

It is common knowledge that 08 anything is expensive from a mobile. You also agreed to these call costs when you started the contract (yes, you specifically ticked a box saying you had read the conditions and agreed to them) - I don't think the "I lied and you should have known I'd lie" excuse should ever be one to hold any weight!

(Just for the record - I don't know the OP and am not saying that they themselves are stupid or lazy - just that this one thing they did was. Everyone makes the odd mistake here or there)