Say No to 0870!

Philhippos

I have found that 0870 and 0845 calls are included as free calls on my mobile phone running O2's crossnetwork 100 or 200 or whatever the current name of the service plan is named.
Philhippos

sergeant121

Hello,

I am new to the site so please bear with me.

Is there anyway that I can check out a 0870 number to see what they are chrging me?

Steve

It depends which company you mean when you refer to 'they'.

I am with OneTel (their free StanardUKTalk package) and their charges are detailed on their website.

Comparing that with the Tesco prices above, it seems Tesco have found a way to increase profits on some 08 numbers!

JohalaReewi

Interestingly, on the BT website they refer to 0870 numbers as premium rate !!!

"Calls to 0845 and 0870 premium rate services are charged at the following rates, shown in pence per minute, ( inc. VAT )"

clock24

Yes, Jo (may I call you this?), I noticed this too!
It must surely be good news, as if BT now designates them as 'Premium Rate' numbers then presumably they will need to conform to the 'standards' for such numbers :- No queueing allowed, clear costs must be shown.
A case for Ofcom? Or am I dreaming again??

gt94sss2

You're dreaming - it will be an error on BT's web site..

Its Ofcom who designate what number ranges are "Premium Rate" and which are not - not BT.

Regards
Sunil

clock24

Sunil, Here is a copy of the actual BT statement:-

Calls to 0845 and 0870 premium rate services are charged at the following rates, shown in pence per minute, ( inc. VAT )


Daytime Evening Weekend
0845 3.00 1.00 1.00
0870 7.51 3.75 1.50 (Sorry the 'table' has moved a bit out of true - not good at this, or the colour text!)

This is from
http://www.bt.com/btcom_redirectLink.jsp?action=redirectLink&targetLinkID=PIS_UK_Call_Prices&vStore=1314&obsPage=%2fPricing%2fpis_summary.jsp%3fshowsub%3dPIS_Residential&obsOID=30195&obsType=LINK

Still there, so it's not a dream!!

gt94sss2

The error may stay there for a while - even if someone points it out to them - BT have such a large and confusing number of sites - they are sometimes very slow to update/correct things.. in fact I sometimes doubt that they even have a full list of all the different BT websites/microsites they are responsible for (I know there are at least 600 different ones)

Their "official" BT price list (the one that counts) calls 0845/0870 numbers "Inland NTS Direct Dialled PPM Prices" and as I say, its Ofcom who designate which number ranges are "Preimum Rate" and not BT anyway..

Regards
Sunil

DonnyDave

I agree with drrdf about the 'Confusion Marketing' thing. The 0870 providers sell these numbers to businesses by telling them that the caller is charged the national rate...here we go again.

As for choice, in some cases yes you do, but in others you don't. I am currently corresponding with one particular company which uses 0870 numbers for each of its lines! I have had no choice about this. Fortunately, I have worked out what many of their geographical numbers are.

As for Oftel/Ofcom admitting that mistakes were made in allowing these numbers to be used and charged in this way, we have more chance of getting blood out of a stone!

The fact is that companies have to choose between geographical numbers and NGNs which cost the caller more. Are there any practical advantages to using NGNs? They can allow calls to be routed to various offices, so would it cost more for companies to route calls to other locations from a geographical number. Have I been taken in by the spin put out by NGN providers?

So if there are advantages to NGNs, I put the question to Ofcom: Why do we not have a NGN number range in this country which is charged at the same rate as calls to geographical numbers, being free when on an 'unlimited' package? If companies have to pay more for their telephone service, then so be it.

The costs of operating a call centre should be costed in. We shouldn't have a 'pay as you use' mentality which we seem to have. OK, so the revenue generated isn't enough to operate the call centre, but it sure is subsidising it.

The queuing aspect is the worst thing. They get paid to keep you on hold!

On the subject of revenue sharing on 07 numbers, I believe it was banned on 070 personal numbers a couple of years ago. However, Orange use their own mobile numbers for customer services! So they make who knows how much (probably more than when on 0870) and they can have queuing!

I know there's freephone numbers for Orange, but they publicise their 07973 numbers for things like lost and stolen reporting! They operate their own premium rate number and Ofcom doesn't bat an eyelid!

One of BT's MDs was on Working Lunch the other week and was reported to have said that these NGNs are premium rate numbers. I didn't see the programme, but whether it came out during some awkward questioning I don't know. Whether it was that that made them refer to 084x/087x as premium rate on their website, I don't know.

I am looking at getting my own 0870, any suggestions welcome. Some don't like low users, pay out thresholds vary, some are as high as £250.

clock24

Ofcom apparently now say that they believe that most companies using 0870 etc DO NOT realise that their customers are being charged MORE than non-geographic numbers!! Can you believe the gall of them?
Ofcom also say "...it is aware that an increasing number of services which do not require revenue are starting to use non-geo numbers, - and that "Ofcom itself is a case in point" !!
Will turkeys vote for Christmas? We have no chance of changing anything if our 'regulator' thinks in these terms and collects their 'pieces of silver'..

DonnyDave

What companies don't 'require' extra revenue?

Do these businesses who buy these 0870s think that an 0870 from a provider who doesn't provide revenue payments charges less to the customer for the call?

Is Ofcom suggesting that not only are customers confused about pricing, but the people within companies who buy these NGNs don't know either!!