18185 or 0808 1 703 703

allfrey

I use 18185 for UK phone calls and was checking their rates. I note 18185 is now 5p + 1.2 for UK landline calls but[FONT=&quot] 0808 1 703 703 (freephone)
is 5p + 1p. This seems to be the wrong way round as the 0808 number always used to be slightly more than 18185. There seems to be no way of contacting them to check. Does anyone know what is going on?
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brewerdave

Its been like this since the last 18185 increase as far as I'm aware. I still use the 18185 prefix because the difference in cost isn't wor5th changing all my preset numbers. As a matter of interest I only get a 4p connection charge checking the bills on 18185:):)

Ian011

You would expect that calls made via the 0808 number would cost slightly more because 18185 has to compensate the caller's phone provider for the fact that the caller has paid nothing to that phone provider for the call.

I guess this will change when they eventually realise their error.

SpanishBlue

It's definitely worth checking both for calls abroad.

I often make long calls (over an hour) to Spain. It's only 1p a minute if I use the 0808 number but double that, 2p a minute if I dial 18185.

Ian011

If you used another dial-through provider, one with an 03 number inclusive in your allowance, the cost to call landlines in Spain would be zero pence per minute.

redux

I gave up using 18185 a bit over a year ago, on their first increase from zero pence a minute.

Instead a secondhand Gigaset IP base and cordless phone for VoIP. Calls spend in 16 months about £9, compared to about £2.50 a month on 18185 even before the increase.

Or without that hardware you can use a choice of VoIP apps on a smartphone, on home wifi or mobile data.