Tesco Mobile "premium rate" text that isn't

fb1969

I've been with Tesco Mobile for over 20 years and always been happy with them, but the current situation is ridiculous. I am on a Pay Monthly contract and calls and texts to 01, 02, 03 number are inclusive.

I recently sent a text to a UK landline 01420 which is the dialling code for Alton in Hampshire. I was surprised to see that I was charged 15p for doing so as the number was a premium rate. I rang customer services and was repeatedly told that it was a premium rate text. I then contacted them via Facebook and was again told it is a premium rate, though the charge was refunded as "goodwill". I then completed their online complaints form and have received a very patronising reply explaining to me about premium rate numbers. It is not a premium rate!

I am now worried that I will be charged at premium rate if I was to ring the number (it is a friend's home phone number). My only other means to contact Tesco seems to be to write a letter, which is ironic given it being about a mobile phone!

Does anyone have any way to contact someone at Tesco mobile, ideally in the UK so they would know what an 01420 number is and would listen to me rather than repeat irrelevant information.

la531983

Make a complaint

https://www.tescomobile.com/contact-us/pay-monthly/pay-monthly-complaints

01420 is clearly a landline so should be no doubt here assuming you are a monthly customer with a text allowance.

But if you have already done the above maybe you will have to bite the bullet and actually write a letter.

Rodders53

What was the text message?

I've been caught out in the past by a text with pics sent via MMS which is chargeable… Emoticons are pictures and can get sent as MMS rather than SMS.

MMS sending can be disabled on the phone. Accidental MMS Sending and How to Avoid it. - O2 Community

fb1969

Thanks for confirming what I thought. It is only 15p but the principle is there and who knows if other people have had the same problem.

p00hsticks

From my experience if a text is sent to a landline, then a BT service jumps in to ring the land line and attempt to robotically read the text out when the phone is answered - could there be a charge for this service ?

mta999

It may be worth sending a text to another land line and see if you are charged - then you would know it is land line related and not that specific number

fb1969

Thanks for the replies.

It is definitely showing as an SMS.

I've had a long chat by email with their customer "service" reps and none of them can grasp the issues. One even telling me 01 numbers are charagable and sending a weblink that showed they are not chargeable! I don't really want to risk being charged again, their emails are extremely patronising and their best advice is that I set a £0 spending cap.

PHK

I think the answer to this is a discrepancy between the website blurb and the terms and conditions.

When you look on the website it says that your inclusive texts,your allowance, can be used to text any standard UK number (which implies mobiles and landlines.)

BUT when you look at the actual terms and conditions, your allowance can be used for texts to UK mobiles (and Home from Home if you have that and are overseas)

So texting a landline would be out of allowance and cost the standard rate of one text message (between 10p and 20p depending which tariff you are on).

fb1969

In two of the emails I received, the "assistant" directed me to their charges on their website. It clearly shows that texts are included unless you go over your allowance, given that my contract is unlimited texts, it still shows that I am right and they are wrong. It specifies 01, 02, 03 numbers and later clarifies that numbers to Guernsey, Jersey and IoM are not included and that is fair enough. I haven't even be charged the standard rate, I have been charged a premium rate.

These things are included in your monthly allowance but if you use them outside of your allowances, it’ll cost you:

Calls – anytime (to any UK mobile or standard UK fixed line number 01, 02, 03 and between Home From Home destinations)	25p/min
Texts – anytime (to any UK mobile or standard UK fixed line number 01, 02, 03 and between Home From Home destinations)	10p/message

https://www.tescomobile.com/help/pricing-and-charges/pay-monthly-call-charges

It is now an official complaint because no one was able to tell me why I had been charged and that I wouldn't be charged again. All they did was repeatedly tell me that their system had decided it was premium rate.

PHK

Yes, there's a definite discrepancy between the website and the terms.

fb1969

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/81958437#Comment_81958437

Finally heard back and p00hsiticks was correct. Because the text message was converted into a voice message, it became a chargeable message. I know that some home phones can/could send and receive texts, but how you are supposed to know what type of phone you are messaging I have no idea. It is certainly a grey area when it comes to charges, and it took an official complaint to actually get an answer. All of the emails from Tesco reps just repeated that their "system" had deemed it a premium rate - no one was able to tell me the reason why until the complaint was escalated.

I have again been advised that to avoid such charges in the future I should set a spending cap of £0.00, if that is their best suggestion it indicates to me that even their staff don't know how to avoid the charge. The text in question was sent very soon after a relative had died, so even thinking that a charge would be raised wasn't a high priority. The best method for me to avoid any charge would be to never text a landline.