Hi Rick,

For 0845 and 0870 at peak times 1899 seem to have the lowest costs of 3 p and 7 p per min respectively.

However, Victor Delta in his post Cheapest 0870/0845 calls? hereon claimed that www.3utelecom.co.uk are only charging 2 p / min at peak times for both 0845 and 0870, and 1 p at all other times. If this is true they would be the cheapest for these calls, but there is some doubt about this according to the embedded wording on their web site, and no one yet seems to have confirmed that they are actually being charged these low rates. In fact of course at those prices they would be making a loss after the Premiums were paid. However, it might be a loss leader I suppose?!!!!  

wrote on Nov 5^th, 2004 at 1:30am:

I've put together a a list of cheapest call providers I can find... Does anyone know of any that are cheaper??

niftylist does (e.g. for calls to mobiles @ 10p/minute at all times).

Then there's call1899 (e.g. calls to mobiles 2p/minute at weekends and 10p/minute at all other times).

Cheers, I have added 1899 to the list. I thought they were the same as 18866 with a different min charge.

Rick

0845 & 0870 calls via 18866 gives very poor quality due to calls being routed out this country and then back in again - called 'boomeranging' I believe! The 3U 0845 has been suspended according to an email that I have received - they hope to resolve the problem soon and will email me when everything is OK. I have used their 0870 service but successful connections are infrequent, sound quality appauling and no indication of charges.

I cant understand all these comments that 18866 / 1899 offer such a poor service. Even on 08's and 07's

I never get the engaged tone, always get through, and always have good call quality. Even to the extent that my friend is a presenter on a radio station too far away for me to pick up, so I called him and got him to put me on hold so I could hear his show.

Perhaps you do not make as many 0845 and 0870 calls as I do - I can only speak from my personal experience -
I get good sound from my end of the call but for some reason the person that I speaking to complains that I am 'breaking up'. Other calls are fine.

wrote on Nov 5^th, 2004 at 9:10pm:

Perhaps you do not make as many 0845 and 0870 calls as I do - I can only speak from my personal experience - I get good sound from my end of the call but for some reason the person that I speaking to complains that I am 'breaking up'. Other calls are fine.

But 18866 charge:
4p/minute (at all times) for 0845 calls;
9p/minute (at all times) for 0870 calls.

Similarly, 1899 charge:
3p/minute (at all times) for 0845 calls;
7p/minute (at all times) for 0870 calls.

Surely it would be better (most of the time) to dial those calls on BT - where charges are:
3p/minute for 0845 calls (daytime Mon to Fri 8am-6pm) and
1p/minute (at all other times);

7.51p/minute for 0870 calls daytime Mon to Fri 8am-6pm;
3.75p/minute for 0870 calls evening & night-time Mon to Fri before 8am after 6pm;
1.50p/minute for 0870 calls weekend All Day Sat & Sun

Yes. I found this out just a few hours ago - so I am changing the router to BT for 0845 & 0870 calls. ;)

So..... Going back to my original question

Does anyone know of cheaper services than the ones I aleady have?

Rick  ;D

Heinz,

Surely according to your own rates listed here that makes 1899 the cheapest during peak hours and BT the cheapest during off-peak hours? So although I always avoid using any of these numbers wherever possible, on the very rare occasion that I might have to call one (which is inevitably during peak time) I would use 1899.

wrote on Nov 9^th, 2004 at 12:09am:

Heinz, Surely according to your own rates listed here that makes 1899 the cheapest during peak hours and BT the cheapest during off-peak hours? So although I always avoid using any of these numbers wherever possible, on the very rare occasion that I might have to call one (which is inevitably during peak time) I would use 1899.

You're right (well, re 0870 calls anyway - their rates are the same as BT on 0845 calls at peak times).

I missed that - above post now amended with green text highlighting those which appear to be the cheapest.

I can confirm - as I have had the bill in today - that 3U Telecom 12911 provide 0870 numbers at 0.017p per minute + VAT = 2p per minute. However, as I have said before - I find the sound quality terrible and connections take a while to get through as your call 'boomerangs' around the world.  No news from 3U as to the situation on 0845 numbers.  

Following on from my previous posting, the 2p per minute charge for 0870 calls were for Daytime Calls. I have now spoken to 3U regarding 0845 numbers and they say that providing you have an account with them, then you can use an alternative access code being 1664 to access 0845 numbers at 2p per minute. Using 1664 without a 3U account will either not work or you will be charged at a higher rate. On testing the 1664 access code on just one call, I found the sound quality to be good.  

wrote on Nov 5^th, 2004 at 1:30am:

I've put together a a list of cheapest call providers I can find... Does anyone know of any that are cheaper?? Post here! Cheers Rick Check out the table at: www.nowherenearthegarden.com/calls

I think THIS is more likely to be kept up-to-date.

oh yes.. brilliant... i ALWAYS make ALL my calls during the day!

Rick,
A really comprehensive list! I have used a company called Equitalk now for quite some time and they are excellent people to deal with and unlike many others, their service number is freephone!  The following link will take you to how they favourably compare themselves with TalkTalk ...

http://www.equitalk.co.uk/default.asp?secure=no&URL=prices/comp_talktalk.asp

Thanks for the table.  Hope this proves useful.

Peter

With due respect for the work done by Rick - here is a more comprehensive list of UK teleco rates with a cost comparison for each.  The site has some good resources and gives addreses for the operators and in some cases non premium direct phone numbers

http://www.magsys.co.uk/telecom/residx.htm

OK OK.... all these messages of better lists.

my list is only an indication of who offers the cheapest calls and asking others to let me know if there is a cheaper provider.

Its not supposed to show a full list of providers. So if anyone else has anyone cheaper then let me know. If you have a better list then I dont want to know just tell me if there is anyone cheaper!!!!!

thanks

Rick

I know this site is about the possibly bad use of 08xxx etc but I am a little confused in that I have looked in MSE's 'cheapest call providers' to discover several companies who offer good rates and seemingly to a wider range of international destinations without the need to register or commit payment by credit card etc---- simply by using an apropriate access no.

TELESAVERS  and CHEAPEST CALLS are just two.
Charges appear on BT bills.

Am I missing something? :-/

If you pay 2.7p per minute for a local or national call with a provider that does not have a minimum charge you are paying less than a so-called free call that charges 1p minimum for a call that lasts less than 20 seconds.
I have analysed my bills and have found that a very significant number of calls are for very short durations ("Hi, is Fred there? - OK I'll call him back later") and although some of course are much longer than these we actually save money with the zero connection providers.

wrote on Feb 9^th, 2005 at 12:27pm:

If you pay 2.7p per minute for a local or national call with a provider that does not have a minimum charge you are paying less than a so-called free call that charges 1p minimum for a call that lasts less than 20 seconds. I have analysed my bills and have found that a very significant number of calls are for very short durations ("Hi, is Fred there? - OK I'll call him back later") and although some of course are much longer than these we actually save money with the zero connection providers.

I'm not sure you actually realise what you said there JB.

Using my regular Friday call to the local Chinese (Happy Chinese New Year BTW) as an example.  It always takes less than a minute to place my order.  I dial their number with my usual 18866 prefix.  The call costs me a total of 1p (1p connection and 0p per minute).  It would cost you 2.7p in your example.

Now the wife phones her mother after we've eaten the Chinese.  She dials using our usual 18866 prefix and chats for 2 hours 36 minutes.  The call costs a total of 1p (1p connection and 0p per minute).  In your example, it would cost £4.21.  Even on BT, it'd cost 15.5p (3 x 5.5p) and would require remembering to re-dial twice so as not to exceed BT's 60 minute limit for a 5.5p evening call on BT Together Option 1.

OK, the second example is a little extreme but, as you see, your examples are more costly on both occasions.

Jimbo does have a very valid point, and if you do spend alot of time calling people, and keep getting 1571, then hang up without leaving messages, or very short calls like that, then the amount of calls you make does add up.

However, you only need to spend 20 seconds, to make 18866 better value, and even though you might make a few very short calls, the few that last 10 minutes, or even a few hours, should outweigh those very short calls.

Another good idea, if you know someone has an answering machine/1571 etc that kicks in after so many rings, just hang up before the call is answered!!

wrote on Feb 9^th, 2005 at 7:08pm:

Jimbo does have a very valid point, and if you do spend alot of time calling people, and keep getting 1571, then hang up without leaving messages, or very short calls like that, then the amount of calls you make does add up. However, you only need to spend 20 seconds, to make 18866 better value, and even though you might make a few very short calls, the few that last 10 minutes, or even a few hours, should outweigh those very short calls.

Assuming the 2.7p/minute quoted is charged on a per second basis rather than being rounded up to the next minute .....

wrote on Feb 9^th, 2005 at 7:08pm:

Another good idea, if you know someone has an answering machine/1571 etc that kicks in after so many rings, just hang up before the call is answered!!

Ring it from Orange - calls under 3s free

We joined the Utility Warehouse, part of telecom Plus, because it looks like they offer us the best overall deal - there are of course possible cheaper deals on some calls, for which prefixes can be dialled if that is significant. We just liked the whole package  so have now become an Independent Distributor which gives us a further discount on our own calls! check it out at www.storeplus.co.uk/?exref=766114
select "utilities"
Let us know what you think!

wrote on Feb 12^th, 2005 at 2:46pm:

We joined the Utility Warehouse, part of telecom Plus, because it looks like they offer us the best overall deal - there are of course possible cheaper deals on some calls, for which prefixes can be dialled if that is significant. We just liked the whole package  so have now become an Independent Distributor which gives us a further discount on our own calls! check it out at www.storeplus.co.uk/ select "utilities" Let us know what you think!

Sorry to spoil your sales pitch but, to UK 01/02 numbers, I pay 1p per call, not 2.5p per minute during the day and 1p per call, not 4.7p for first hour and 0.7p/minute thereafter evenings and weekends.

Similarly, I pay 10p/minute to call ANY UK mobile during the week, not 13.5p, 11.4p, 12.5p, 11.8p, 14.8p, 8.4p, 21.6p, 15p, 15.5p or 6.3p and I pay 2p/minute to call ANY UK mobile at the weekend, not 6p, 3.6p, 7p, 3.9p or 3.7p.

Similarly again, I pay 1p/minute to call Spain at any time, not 12p/minute or 5p/minute.

And (last one for now, I promise), I pay a fixed charge of 3p (NOT per minute) for a call of any length at any time to Canada, USA or Germany - not 9p or 5p per minute,  8p or 5p per minute, 10p or 5p per minute.

Have I correctly highlighted the two good bits about Utility Warehouse/Telecom Plus prices above?

Even leaving aside 18866 and 1899, there are plenty of ways of calling abroad for under 5p, free from included minutes on a mobile for a start

edit - in fact, looking at it again, all the calls Bill mentions are free from included minutes on a mobile.

So 500 min a month for £2.99, less £20 cashback on an old phone, or maybe 230 min a month for -(minus)£30 a year must be the cheapest of all

only 0870 and 0845 calls not included; if it wasn't for 50 min a month on an O2 contract, they could be 90% of  annual total

I have subscribed to 3U, butI have great difficulty in getting a connection on 0870 numbers (using 12911) .  When I do get through the line quality is very poor.  I have tried usig the 1664 prefix, but just get an error message.

wrote on Feb 27^th, 2005 at 1:20pm:

I have subscribed to 3U, butI have great difficulty in getting a connection on 0870 numbers (using 12911) .  When I do get through the line quality is very poor.  I have tried usig the 1664 prefix, but just get an error message.

So what exactly have 3U discovered about managing to route calls cheaply to 0870 that no one else (not even call18866) has managed to discover?  The deal has been running too long now for them not to have withdrawn it if it was actually costing them lots of money?

After all poor old BT couldn't  manage to make a profit when people paid 2p per minute for 0870 from their payphones.  Not even at the weekend apparently.  Although one would hope that at the current drastically increased 11p or 13p a minute rate to 0845 and 0870 numbers, at all times, from a BT Payphone that BT might perhaps now be making at least a penny or too from each of these calls, especially at the weekend! :o