Signing up for call1899/18866/18185

Blue_Max

I signed up with 18866.co.uk on 1 June 09
They charged 10p/min instead of 3p/min advertised.
Cost me loads cos I did not notice their overcharging till I got the CC statement at the end of the month.

Name of the company is Finarea SA trading as Call18866.
They are part of the Finerea Group based in in Geneva Switzerland. TopUpNow, 18185, 1899, etc are part of the same group.
http://www.finarea.ch

I contacted their various offices many times but did not get a single reply.
As they are outside our jurisdiction very little one can do except complain to the credit card company.

AVOID !

rodeline

The names Finarea and Betamax keep popping up when it comes to poor quality and non existent customer support....but there is hope!

If you've had problems with any of their multiple front companies that require top ups via 090 numbers, you can call 0800500212 and complain.

I'm having an uphill struggle with the regulator now because mine is the only complaint they have, but if he all stop taking it on the chin, then they'll open a formal complaint process.

I bet I'm not the only one they ripped off!

hansi

Anyone having problems connecting via the 08081703703 this morning, I just tried and it's dead.

nkt

hansi wrote: »

Anyone having problems connecting via the 08081703703 this morning, I just tried and it's dead.

Same here. Most annoying.

nkt

nkt wrote: »

Same here. Most annoying.

It seemed to work there but it routed my call to a wrong number :-s

patchwork_cat

I am a Sky customer and they charge me 18p to ohone a mobile number even if it is not answered or the answerphone doesn't kick in. Reading 18185 they don't charge a fee unless the phone is answered.

Can someone confirm that they have found this to be the case, please? Or does anyone have a contact email or phone number so that I can confirm this before signing up? Thank you

Heinz

They have no contact number (that's why they're so cheap).

However, I can confirm that they do not charge unless you get through (ring tone, no reply is not charged unless you hang on until voicemail kicks in). However, some of the mobile networks flag "the mobile you are calling is switched off" and the like as answered calls.

I use the 18185 prefix during the week (5p connection + 6p/minute) and the 08081703703 freephone gateway number at weekends (5p connection + 4p/minute).

Gray-Fox

Just in case anyone has missed this, 18185 now charge 7p per minute for mobile calls during weekdays.

The Call checker should be updated to reflect this.

Heinz

Gray-Fox wrote: »

Just in case anyone has missed this, 18185 now charge 7p per minute for mobile calls during weekdays.

No they don't. It's still 6p on the website (and a physical check confirms that).

However, bizarrely, the website shows they now charge 7p/minute at weekends using the 18185 prefix (or 6p/minute using the 08081703703 freephone gateway number).

Victor_Delta

Heinz wrote: »

However, bizarrely, the website shows they now charge 7p/minute at weekends using the 18185 prefix (or 6p/minute using the 08081703703 freephone gateway number).

Sadly, I can confirm the 6p/minute (using the 08081703703 freephone gateway number) having just made a call...