Basic Rate Contact Numbers For Companies Now A Legal Requirement

but when you call your customers idiots, have you thought that may have found your company listed in a directory on the internet or somewhere where your old phone number is shown? How are they to know that you changed the number? When checking something a customer told me recently, I found a directory displaying something in such an odd way that the customer thought they were on our site when they were actually not.

Unfortunately, if they're not getting the number from our website then that's their own problem. As I said before, customer service these days is turning more into hand holding which is wrong IMO. The correct number has been posted on our website for the last year, if the customer chooses to get the number from elsewhere there is little we can do.

I can assure you that they have refused to provide the landline number when asked politely. To the best of my knowledge, for each non-geo number there must be a landline as the non-geo is pointed to a landline. However, if there is a law requiring companies to record all phone calls (not one I am aware of) and they can only do it on this line, maybe they just need to say so when asked. I would have thought as well that the caller should be informed that the call is being recorded.

Companies tend to have 08xx numbers because these route into some kind of IVR/call management system. Their landline may not form part of this system - thus they don't want customers calling on it as they cant manage call volume, can't always have somebody answering it, may only use it for employes to call (sick line?)

What I'm saying is there will be a reason. They're not simply just refusing to be nasty to you. Believe me nobody working in customer service WANTS to argue with people all day and they WILL do anything they can for you as long as it's possible. In this case it dosen't look like it is.

Also 08xx/IVR systems can be independent (i.e. do NOT need a landline). So saying that all companies have a landline is simply not true. A landline is old technology as far as VOIP/IVR/Phone systems are concerned these day and don't integrate well with these newer systems.

When we got a call back from someone at Dometic they did say that it doesn't apply to them as they deal business to business. Not helpful when as a consumer you do need to contact them, but nonetheless an explanation. I had to contact them as a consumer because I have been unable to get a result any other way.

That's fair enough. They're primarily B2B and are not bound by consumer regs. It's not helpful, but "consumers" clearly aren't their target market so they're not bothered - they have no reason to be either if they are business to business.

They would have every right to hang up on you and say "sorry we only deal directly to businesses" but I'm assuming they have helped you in some way?

I would just like to politely ask AJXX .... please consider how you phrase things when commenting in a forum. Is it truly necessary to rant at someone just because they were trying to be helpful? I truly wish I just hadn't bothered to waste my time now.

I did not mean for my post to come off as a rant against you. I'm just offering another POV to some of the points you raised, and that is what discussion is all about (as another poster kindly pointed out).

All too often I see people posting things like "businesses should do this" yet don't realise that it's not just THAT simple to do. Often at times people don't understand the logic behind why things work the way they do and that things can't just be changed because they say so or believe it should be that way.