MSE News: Stop using costly 0845 numbers, Government departments told 27 December 2013 at 1:02PM in Phones & TV 11 replies 1.6K views

Former_MSE_Darryl

"Government departments have been told to stop using premium-rate phone lines for core public services...."

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Stop using costly 0845 numbers, Government departments told




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Oblivion

And about time too, although I agree it's a huge shame that no deadline has been set.


Some are ahead on this one. I was pleased to note that the DWP had an 0800 number (free to landlines) when I phoned to claim my state pension last week. I hope other governMINT departments make the switch as soon as possible.

Farway

Oh, just "guidance" then not a directive

Any bets on what will happen?

labman_3

This will save money for people calling from mobiles.

Unfortunately, it will result in phone calls from people on standard BT tariffs, calling during the day, paying 8p/min for 01/02/03 numbers instead of 2p/min for 0845 numbers.

When organisations make changes that could result in a 4 times increase in cost, more of a fuss is normally made. I think MSE could have written a more balanced article, rather than giving 0845 numbers a blanklet label of 'costly' and referring to them as 'premium rate'.

They are only costly for some people in some circumstances. For a great many people they are actually considerably cheaper.

The best option would be to ensure both 0845 or 0800 numbers and 01/02/03 numbers are offered.

1005922

Farway wrote: »

Oh, just "guidance" then not a directive

Any bets on what will happen?

DWP are moving over to them, more info coming in the New Year as to which Jobcentre lines will get a new number

Ypaymore

labman wrote: »

This will save money for people calling from mobiles.

Unfortunately, it will result in phone calls from people on standard BT tariffs, calling during the day, paying 8p/min for 01/02/03 numbers instead of 2p/min for 0845 numbers.

When organisations make changes that could result in a 4 times increase in cost, more of a fuss is normally made. I think MSE could have written a more balanced article, rather than giving 0845 numbers a blanklet label of 'costly' and referring to them as 'premium rate'.

They are only costly for some people in some circumstances. For a great many people they are actually considerably cheaper.

The best option would be to ensure both 0845 or 0800 numbers and 01/02/03 numbers are offered.

The 0845 numbers will be retained for a while as a secondary number.

See: http://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/showthread.php?t=4853816

OldGreyFox

Oblivion wrote: »

And about time too, although I agree it's a huge shame that no deadline has been set.

"We expect all national and local government departments to announce their plans for moving to compliance early in the New Year. [FONT=Calibri,Calibri][FONT=Calibri,Calibri]DWP [/FONT][/FONT]will be at the front of this, along with other notable services such as the [FONT=Calibri,Calibri][FONT=Calibri,Calibri]Environment Agency Floodline[/FONT][/FONT]. The guidance also covers services delivered by contractors, such as the [FONT=Calibri,Calibri][FONT=Calibri,Calibri]Citizens Advice Consumer Helpline and [/FONT][/FONT]the [FONT=Calibri,Calibri][FONT=Calibri,Calibri]Student Loans Company."[/FONT][/FONT]


http://www.fairtelecoms.org.uk/uploads/1/1/4/5/11456053/caguidance.pdf

Steve059

Firstly, calls to 01/02/03 numbers are only inclusive up to 1 hour. This still won't guarantee getting through a person, being transferred to the correct person and getting the problem sorted with the DVLA and HMRC.

Secondly, how are the government departments going to manage without their "cut" of the call revenue? And 01/02/03 numbers will cost them money.

DC: "All government departments should stop using premium rate telephone numbers".
DC's Personal Private Secretary: "Yes, Prime Minister".

Pincher

What about going IP, so I can call them on SkyPE for FREE.

Not that it matters, I probably call the council or the government departments about once a year. Changed the car this year, but didn't need to call the DVLA even once.

Ypaymore

Steve059 wrote: »

Firstly, calls to 01/02/03 numbers are only inclusive up to 1 hour. This still won't guarantee getting through a person, being transferred to the correct person and getting the problem sorted with the DVLA and HMRC.

www.weq4u.co.uk will come in handy then.

BobQ

You would think that considering how many calls the Government departments make themselves they would consider banning firms using them all together.

Each 0870/0845 number is mapped to a standard number already. So why should anyone have to pay extra for a superfluous service.

The original idea of these numbers was to save the public money by enabling anyone to make a local rate call (eg in Cornwall) but give the receiver of the call the option to locate the service in a call centre (eg in Birmingham). The reasoning was that it was unfair that you paid extra just because you lived far from the call centre. Now its just a rip off wherever you live.