Free 0845 (local rate) number for life?!

astep70uk

Have just checked this out. see what you think.

http://www.g0845.co.uk/

They are offering you a personal 0845 number which is local rate (i believe) so if you have friends or relatives around the country, they can call you on a local rate using this 0845 number which is directed to your regular phone number. But - They only asked me for a telephone number, so maybe I could have put my mobile - they didn't state landline??

The price for this is normally £9.99 paid as a one off, but when I placed my order and entered promotional code 3733, it bypassed the payment screen, and said thanks for your order etc.
They also said that i'd get an email with my number in it shortly.
Anyone have any views on this or experience of owning an 0845 number?
I'll let you know when my email arrives. Maybe they'll invoice me?  ???

Update:
Just found this in the FAQs of their site
Can I have my G0845 pointing to a mobile number?
No. Your G0845 receiving number must be an existing UK land line number.

astep70uk

Just received my confirmation email with my new number as shown below, so it looks like everything has gone through.

GREAT NEWS!
Your application has now been processed and your new allocated G0845 number is:


0845xxxxxxx


This number will be fully activated in 24 hours and will direct calls to 01xxxxxxxxx.

Your new G0845 number will work alongside your existing land line number although we suggest you tell as many people of your new G0845 number as soon as possible. This will ensure that if you move in the future there will be no need to spend hours telling everyone of your new number.

MarkyMarkD

This might sound a good idea, but it's not.

0845 numbers are not geographic numbers so they are excluded from things like BT's/Talk Talk's "5.5p for 60 mins/5p for 70 mins" deals and from package deals where all your calls are included in the price of the rental.

And 0845 calls are NOT local rate for most telephone companies either - so they are not necessarily cheaper than normal national rate.

E.g. (Talk Talk rates because I'm with them):

National landline 2.7p/min day, 5p for 70 mins eve/weekend

0845 4.5p/min day, 1.5p/min eve/weekend but minimum call charge 5p (same applies to BT).

No wonder the supplier wants to sell you this deal - you pay them £9.99 up front and they skim off a few pence from each call. And your friends/family WON'T save money.

Mr_Gordon_2

I've had one of these for a few months now, and find it quite handy.

Say you are selling something on eBay, or want to give someone a contact number not a mobile or your own landline, this is perfect.

So the company makes some money from the calls, I'm happy enough with that. As said it's not the best deal for hour long calls to family and friends, but for other purposes it's fine.

George_Bray

MarkyMarkD is quite right in my opinion.

I fear the rest of you appear to have fallen for the 0845 / 0870 scam.

zcaprd7

What about getting an 0845 but forwarding it onto a national number you call alot e.g. family

Then (on talktalk) nominate it to get the 33% off (rather than the 10% normal discount in your calling circle) - does that work out cheaper?

EDIT: I don't think it does?

loafer_2

Good tip - Should keep some of the indian marketeers away as 0845's can be a pain in the a$$ internationaly speaking

astep70uk

I'm with you Mr Gordon. The reason I got this number is I fill in loads of online forms, which inevitably lead to sales calls from companies which you really don't want. I think this will probably filter them out. And in reply to MarkyMarkD, I didn't pay for this, it was free with a coupon code, so I'm not really losing out.

robbies_gal

good idea if u dont want you real number being given out but wouldnt save much money for me or my family as they have landline phone calls included in their tariff which excludes non geo numbers

cuffy_2

If you really wanna discourage companies from calling you - why not get a 0871 number?

Thet free to have and you EARN:

3.5p per peak minute - 4p per off-peak minute - 5p per weekend minute!

So when you complete those online forms give them a 0871 number !

Link: http://www.theuknumbershop.co.uk/index.php?page=ng_0871

MarkyMarkD

What about getting an 0845 but forwarding it onto a national number you call alot e.g. family

Then (on talktalk) nominate it to get the 33% off (rather than the 10% normal discount in your calling circle) - does that work out cheaper?

EDIT: I don't think it does?

I'm glad you've come to that realisation. 33% off 4.5p per minute is 3p per minute which is more than the standard national call rate. AND you don't get the 70 minutes for 5p deal either.