Beware of cheap calls abroad - Telestunt etc

Schnozzle

I recently used one of the services that get you to dial an 0844 number to make cheap foreign calls. Their price lists say that they are based on BT's price list. The price for the country I was calling was listed as 1p per minute. I was chared considerably more - approx 22p per minute - as these calls are charged as per all 0844 numbers. This was via Telestunt, but would affect all such services.

The price list is misleading and I will, in future, use those services where one has to dial an access number.

All the services that I have talked about are all owned by the same company, Finarea SA.

My apologies if this has been posted before.

esuhl

These companies used to be a great idea for cheap calls.

A while back, it was decided that call charges should be split into an "access charge" (levied by your phone company) and a "service charge".

The idea was that this would make pricing more transparent to consumers. Instead of premium numbers being advertised as "50p a minute from a BT line; other operators may charge more", they can now say, "40p per minute plus your operators access fee".

I think this is the reason why companies like Telestunt suddenly became expensive -- you now have to pay your phone company a fixed access fee, which negates the benefits of super-cheap calls.

To be honest, I've no idea how much my access charges are, or how to work out how much a call will cost. So much for "transparency" for consumers... :-/

Schnozzle

The issue is that they HAVE become expensive, but their price lists still give the "old" prices so are seriously misleading. They are now an expensive way to call abroad and their reason for existing has now gone.

Cheers

Ian011

The call price must be stated immediately adjacent to the number and must be worded as "Calls cost Xp per minute plus your phone provider's Access Charge" or similar.

This applies for all 084 and 087 numbers and these Ofcom regulations have been in place since 1 July 2015. If this is not the case, you should submit a complaint to ASA