I sent an Email to Argos telling them I was not happy using 0870 numbers, I thought you might like to see the response:

I wrote:

"I guess you would want me to call your expensive premium rate number well
you stand no chance.

An Email will be fine thanks"


Argos:

"Thank you for your email regarding our phonelines.

I can confirm that out telephone lines are national rate telephone lines as we operate national call centres. We do not use premium rate telephone numbers.

Calls to our telephone lines cost approximately 8p per Minute through BT which is the call charges made by BT not ourselves.

Should you require any further assistance please do not hesitate to contact us at order.enquiries@argos.co.uk or call us on 0870 600 8784."

My Reply:

"I'm sorry, but I think you have been mis-informed. Calls to 0870 telephone
numbers always generate call revenue of between 1 - 4p per minute. This is
given to the user of the service, ie Argos. I expect you have a telephone at
home, look carefully at the call charges given by your service provider, a
call to an 0870 number is always dearer than a call to a standard 'phone
number, in addition many people use BT Together Options, which offer either
free calls or very low cost calls, ie BT Option 1, evening and weekend calls
to a standard 'phone number cost 6p for 1 hour, irrelevant of the location
of the 'phone number being called, whereas 0870 are charged at about 8p a
minute.

If you do a search in Google for 0870 numbers you'll see numerous companies
that offer them and how much can be earned by the users

Lastly, I'm not alone, a lot of people view 0870 numbers with distaste,
Argos along with many other companies have joined the 'gravy train' of
0870 - there's even a hate site. If you really care about your customers,
you should visit it and read. Here's the address http://www.saynoto0870.com/

The use of 0870 has even been featured on BBC Radio 2 and Ofcom are looking
at their use"

Argos:

"Thank you for your email regarding our telephone lines.

I am sorry that you are not happy to use our telephone lines on 0870 numbers, I can advise that all correspondence can be carried out by e-mail.

Should you require any further assistance please do not hesitate to contact us at order.enquiries@argos.co.uk or call us on 0870 600 8784."

My Reply:
Many thanks for your reply, I would appreciate it very much if you would
pass on my feelings about 0870 numbers to someone within Argos who are able
to advise me why it's necessary for Argos to earn extra revenue in such a
deplorable fashion

Many thanks"


I will keep you informed as to what else Argos say

Lyn

P.s This is a great site well done

Lyn333444.
This is a perfect illustration of the 'scam' these companies are perpetrating, with their  "It's not me guv' - honest".
The only way we can hope to win is with publicity, send that email & reply from Argos to newspapers, TV consumer programs, and your MP and ask for assistance.
Only when more people realise the scam will OFCOM be encouraged to get off the fence and work on OUR behalf, against the Telcos.

Lyn,
What a great email you sent to argos, its great that there are people out there like you who stand up for things!
Keep it up!

A couple of points you might want to pass on to Argos:

My idea of a premium rate number is where part of the call cost goes to the called party (a premium). This makes 0870 numbers premium in all but name. The number is charged above 'normal' rate, and this can only be to pass on the 'premium'.

Also, 0870 number just translates to a normal geographical number, which makes the extra charge even more of a rip-off.

Not quite an 0870 'problem' but her's what happened to me last night.
Had a call from Tiscali customer services , because I was having a problem with the ISP service, about which I had been having an email correspodence.  The girl had phoned to ask me to ring the technical helpline instead, on 090.....
When I asked how much the call would cost the girl said "It's just a local call".  Naturally I queried this, and she contacted a Manager to find out!  "Yes it is 50p/min, but BT gets that, not Tiscali, so we cannot do anything about it". !!!  I said I would not bother as my other ISP was doing OK, and then she started a sales pitch for Tiscali phone package!
Do these companies encourage their staff to mislead us, and try to blame someone else for the costs?  Started to feel a bit sorry for BT, getting unjustified blame (but this quickly passed!!).

I had to deal with Argos Direct and could not find a non 0870 number for them, so I emailed them instead.
I told them that I would NOT ring their rip off 0870 number and would conduct the sending back of a bed that I ordered from them via email only, which I did.

Actually, to their credit, they answered the emails quickly, so I concluded my business with them without using their rip off phone number ;D

I say either use email, if you can or ring them if you have to, complaining bitterly about them ripping off their customers by only providing us with 7/8p a minute 0870 numbers, (I have had SO many employees of these companies telling me that an 0870 number is a 'local call rate', to which I proceed to put them in the picture but all I usually get in reply is - Oh, well, I thought it was a local rate.  :-X  Do these people ever get any training!)

I say we demand a geographical number to use or tell them you will never give them your custom again!

Ann