MSE News: Calls to 084, 087, 09 and 118 to be clearer, but prices vary wildly

Ian011

zagfles wrote: »

You are obviously supposed to know off the top of you head what your phone company's access charge is. After all everyone knows that, surely?

Where things are going, you'll generally only need to remember two headline figures:
- the cost of calling landline (01 and 02), non-geographic 03 and mobile (071-075 and 077-079) numbers once your inclusive allowance has run out, and
- the Access Charge for calling 084, 087, 09 and 118 numbers.

Until we get there, you'll also need to be aware that Jersey, Guernsey and Isle of Man numbers are non-inclusive and charged at a different rate and that calls to 070 numbers cost a fortune.

oldharryrocks

Babbler wrote: »

So if you use one of those 1p a min services be warned. We have cancelled bt today and moved to talk talk.

Talk Talk will no doubt put up their access charge to very near BT,s at the earliest opportunity. Just like some mobile companies have done already when they see what competitors are charging.

Telesavers are not complying with new ofcom guidelines and mislead the customer by not pointing out the way they are charged now .Still talking about old method of charging.

zagfles

Ian011 wrote: »

Where things are going, you'll generally only need to remember two headline figures:
- the cost of calling landline (01 and 02), non-geographic 03 and mobile (071-075 and 077-079) numbers once your inclusive allowance has run out, and
- the Access Charge for calling 084, 087, 09 and 118 numbers.

Until we get there, you'll also need to be aware that Jersey, Guernsey and Isle of Man numbers are non-inclusive and charged at a different rate and that calls to 070 numbers cost a fortune.

What about international destinations, like we've just been discussing? Do you think they'll all be the same charge as well? Previously people just needed to look up the telestunt/telesavers callthrough number.

Now using 0844 telestunt etc numbers will be prohibitively expensive, so people will have to either use their telco direct or pay a callthrough in advance, hoping the callthrough works, and risking getting cut off because their credit runs out if they needed to talk for too long. And having to remember who they've got credit with, how much etc, or worse having to give some uncontactable company a CCA on a credit card.

Because the sensible, cheap and easy payment facility paid for by termination charges has just been killed.

And in the meantime, there'll be plenty more bill shock.

You keep trying to sell this mess as good for consumers.

zagfles

oldharryrocks wrote: »

Talk Talk will no doubt put up their access charge to very near BT,s at the earliest opportunity. Just like some mobile companies have done already when they see what competitors are charging.

Telesavers are not complying with new ofcom guidelines and mislead the customer by not pointing out the way they are charged now .Still talking about old method of charging.

In common with lots of other service providers and even telcos.

But they might as well pull their website. Their business model is dead.

Mistaken

On my mobile phone account with TMobile I have 1000 minutes which can be used for any number beginning 08. Pay just over £10 a month. I spend hours calling international numbers via 0843 and 0844.


All these numbers and calls are still free and included in my price plan. Very happy about this

zagfles

Mistaken wrote: »

On my mobile phone account with TMobile I have 1000 minutes which can be used for any number beginning 08. Pay just over £10 a month. I spend hours calling international numbers via 0843 and 0844.


All these numbers and calls are still free and included in my price plan. Very happy about this

Really?? You may be happy but I don't think Ofcom will be - in standing up for the interest of the consumer :rotfl:they want this sort of tariff banned, unless they also have zero access charge for 09 numbers! In treating 08 numbers differently from 09 numbers you are being "misled"!

Don't let the busybodies at Ofcom know - you may be happy, T-mobile may be happy, but that doesn't matter, Ofcom won't be.

Ian011

Ofcom originally designed the system so that all 084, 087, 09 and 118 calls would be handled in the same way. This also covered whether certain calls would be inclusive or not: all or nothing.

Under intense pressure from BT, and at the last minute, they relaxed this rule to allow each provider to decide which ranges they want to include, such as 0845 and 0870, or all 084, etc.

BT includes 0845 and 0870 numbers with a fair usage of one thousand minutes of calls per month. Each caller is allowed to make calls with Service Charges of up to £130 per month without paying for them. This is the payment that BT has to make to the joint benefit of the organisations being called and their telecoms provider. As the caller hasn't paid the Service Charge for the calls they made, this cost is added to everyone else's bill.

BT does not include 0843, 0844, 0871 and 0872 numbers even though they have the exact same level of Service Charges as 0845 and 0870 numbers.

T-Mobile includes both the 084 and 087 range of numbers. Two packages are available. One offers 300 minutes, the other offers 1000 minutes. Both allow the caller to run up Service Charges many times higher than the package price. That additional cost is borne by all other T-Mobile customers.

victor2

From Ofcom's own website:

We make sure that people in the UK get the best from their communications services and are protected from scams and sharp practices, while ensuring that competition can thrive.

Perhaps they should add to that... unless we are pressured by the companies we are supposed to regulate...

thewinelake

Ofcom's Machiavellian stunts are so, so tiresome. I can only presume that Ian011 actually works for them. I wonder what the UK's total 08 bill shock will be for this month? The more the better, I guess...

Heinz

zagfles wrote: »

Neither - it's Ofcom! It's their solution to a problem you didn't know you had - apparently you were being misled by them not charging you lots of money to connect your 0844 call.

What the message should have said is something like "service charge 1p per min plus your phone company's access charge".

You are obviously supposed to know of the top of you head what your phone company's per minute access charge is now that their previous per call connection charge has been banned. After all everyone knows that, surely?

(PS I'm being facetious, not getting at you, even some telcos don't know their access charge , or at least aren't telling their customers!)

I just had to add a few of words to emphasize the point.

An International call using what was a 1p/minute 0844 call-through number - to which you added your provider's SINGLE (say) 10p connection charge (30 minutes for 40p all in) suddenly became prohibitively expensive when the per minute access charge was added (that 30 minute call is now £3.30 if the access charge is 10p/minute).

Any sane man would say that Ofcom has not represented the citizen consumer at all but has done a wonderful job for the telcos' profits.

Hence, my Orchid has now been re-programmed and bars all 084, 087, 09 and 118 calls