118866 rip off

Glad

mike_paterson wrote:

God perhaps?

for supplying you with incompetent fingers

seriously though you can't really expect to be compensated for a mistake you made,
it's just bad luck that the number you wrongly rang is an expensive choice

bunking_off

I'd agree with Glad. The OP's learned a valuable lesson about dialling carefully. If I dial e.g. a London (020) number and hamfistedly type too many 0s in to get 00 20..., are BT ripping me off if they connect me to the number I've dialled, in Egypt? No. It's an unfortunate state of affairs if you misdial but the title of "rip off" is a bit unfair. Perhaps next time I'm at the petrol station I should put Optimax in and tell the attendant I really wanted standard unleaded but picked the wrong pump, so they're ripping me off by charging me the higher price.

Incidentally, I think 118866 predates 18866, or at least the mass usage of 18866. In the early days of DQ liberalisation, the then owners of 118866 (believe they've since sold the business) did advertise the number quite widely - cr*ppy TV adverts with dancers wearing large purple 1 1 8 8 6 6s reciting the number to the theme of 'ere we go - as such they've spent far more on the "brand" than 18866 have, given the latter has marketed via word of mouth. Any suggestion that Ofcom is at fault for issuing the number, or that the DQ provider is deliberately in business to defraud 18866 customers is way wide of the mark.

bbb_uk

bunking_off wrote:

....or that the DQ provider is deliberately in business to defraud 18866 customers is way wide of the mark.

If that's true then why has the cost of calling the DQ increased to what must be the UK's most expensive DQ provider?

• In June 2003 they charged 25p connection charge and a further 20ppm thereafter. (Average for the time).
• In January 2004 they charged 49p connection charge and 9ppm thereafter. (Again average for the time).
• Now though they charge £1.50 connection charge and 30ppm thereafter.

This price is probably (not sure though) the most they can charge under ICSTIS guidelines for DQ services!

I believe they were taken over sometime after January 2004 and hence before the latest and highest DQ cost.

It could be they are innocent in all this but you have to admit it doesn't appear that way!

I do agree though that dialling them can't be blamed on anything/anyone but a mistake by ourselves. OfCOM or anyone can't be blamed for our mistakes.

This was discussed (as mentioned in an earlier post by pricefighter) in this post and also on the SayNoTo0870 site here. The SayNoTo0870 link does also mention that the National Audit Office produced a critical report of Oftel/OfCOM (well just Oftel then) over the confusing numbers and wide range of prices, etc (view this post for more info on the report).

bunking_off wrote:

Perhaps next time I'm at the petrol station I should put Optimax in and tell the attendant I really wanted standard unleaded but picked the wrong pump, so they're ripping me off by charging me the higher price.

If this works would you let us know please. lol.

PS: I'm a bit made up I've worked out how to do bullet-points now. lol.

redhat

Any other users experienced increased 'mis-dials' to 118866 and their smug 'you've obviously misdialled' operators. Having recently been stung several times I am now ultra careful when dialling 18866 yet still get this 'misdial' such that I am seriously considering stopping using 18866. Also this is despite my BT Easycom 1000 screen showing the number dialled as prefixed 18866 and NOT 118866 AND even when I use the pre-programmed buttons I still get hi-jacked to 118866...What is going on? (Use BT as provider - are they laughing all the way to 118866's bank?). Maybe Orchid Router is the way to go - being tech illiterate they're currently offering a £15 version on ther website (-20% Martin deal?)which they program and which I'll soon be able to afford if I keep 'using' 118866 -ha ha (not).

rizla01

timandjo wrote:

I dialled this by mistake - easily done. Result £1.54 added to my bill for 7 secs before I cut off the call. Who can I complain to?

Exactly the same here.

Perhaps if enough people complained to dial18866.com suggesting that we are considering doing away with their services, they may act to get this stopped. Well I FOR ONE AM GOING TO - RIGHT NOW!!

It's downright disgusting.

Taken away at least a weeks 18866 saving.

Riz

pricefighter

You could always switch to 1899!!!

rizla01

Well Heres what i have sent to them.

Dear Sirs,

I have just received my phone bill and noticed that I have been charged an astronomical £1.07 by 118866.

This is obviously my fault and I realise that this company is nothing to do with yourselves but it is making me consider stopping using 18866 until something is done to stop this service.

It has obviously been set up to catch people out while using your services.

Is there anything that your company or B.T. can do about this scam?

Regards,

It'll be interesting to read the reply.

Riz

bbb_uk

As you pointed out its not their (call18866's fault) but your own and therefore be very surprised if they did anything even if they could (and I believe they can't). If Call18866 changed their access code then that would cause too much confusion and thats not taking into consideration the cost involved.

Therefore it is recommended to be more careful when dialling or purchasing the Orchid Dialler.

April2

Undoubtedly, the 'fat fingers' aspect causes some of these misdials but, as mentioned in THIS THREAD, noise on the line being interpreted as an additional digit '1' at the start of the call may well result in just as many.

A dialler would not prevent that.

bbb_uk

April2 wrote:

...noise on the line being interpreted as an additional digit '1' at the start of the call may well result in just as many.

A dialler would not prevent that.

That is true but it would reduce the misdials and any noise on the line can be sorted either by the landline provider or the internal wiring within the house being repaired/replaced.

I've just posted a test that can be done on that link you posted that the OP can determine if it is noise related or a possible faulty dialler.