I got mine today, BT Option Together 1

It shows one "National Rate" Call charged at £0.329  for 05:09 minutes.

OK so far (I did not make it, God FORBID) but hang on, Ofcom, and Oftel have said there is no such thing as "National Rate Calls" BT have said it as well.

BT promised me that if I signed up for "BT Option Together"  then my "national rate" calls would cost the same as my "local calls".

Just firing this one at you lawyers in the forum, is there any meat in it?

juby

Juby,Look at your bill again,Types of call include:-
1/ Local                        
2/ National
3/ Mobile
4/ NATIONAL RATE
5/ LO-CALL

National & National Rate are 2 distinctly separate items charged at very different rates.

I obviously didn't explain myself very well.

I will have a go at this one myself, and let you know.

::)

wrote on Mar 4^th, 2005 at 4:23pm:

I obviously didn't explain myself very well. I will have a go at this one myself, and let you know. ::)

I've noticed that on my bill too.  Unfortunately, I don't think that it gives any grounds either for you to claim a reduction or for BT to be challenged for giving a misleading price indication.  That's because the description 'national rate' is applied after the event.

But I'd agree that it's poor practice and should be changed.  They should use the descriptions in the National Numbering Plan/Scheme -- 'Special Services Basic Rate' and 'Special Services Higher Rate'.

If you see a service provider advertising an 0870 number as national rate, do report it (to trading standards).  If you could show that you'd been misled by such an indication, you might have a claim against that service provider for the excess you've paid -- but you'll struggle to prove that now that you obviously know how much an 0870 call costs.

It makes those of us who don't make calls via BT any more thankful that we have been able to escape (partly), although we still have to suffer Option 1!!!

wrote on Mar 4^th, 2005 at 12:04pm:

National & National Rate are 2 distinctly separate items charged at very different rates.

Exactly. And they've been described separately like that for years, ever since 0990, 0541, and similar numbers were invented.  At the time of course they were all 8p a minute.

So it's rather unobservant to start jumping up and down about that now as if it was something new. Point out the hypocrisy of continuing to give 0870 calls the description yes, but you can hardly claim that you've been wrongly charged.

On other threads, people have been whingeing that the majority of the population are underinformed about all this, and don't understand the differences. Now we can see some of it here. deriving from the historic ambiguity overhang of the National Rate and national calls descriptions. No wonder all the half-baked quoted replies from PR nerds referring to national, National Rate, local, Lo-call, Local Rate are so cocked up. Even people on this forum can't get it right all the time.


Quote:

Just firing this one at you lawyers in the forum, is there any meat in it?

No

Thanks MiLud. 8)

... but I'm not a lawyer, so ignore me if you wish ;D

wrote on Mar 4^th, 2005 at 5:03pm:

If you see a service provider advertising an 0870 number as national rate, do report it (to trading standards).  If you could show that you'd been misled by such an indication, you might have a claim against that service provider for the excess you've paid -- but you'll struggle to prove that now that you obviously know how much an 0870 call costs.

Apart from individual claims for having been misled don't Trading Standards have a duty to the general public?

In my GP's surgery there is an NEG poster claiming that the GP's new 0870 number is 'national rate'. I wonder if Trading Standards would take any action if one reported this to them.

Hi Lompos

The more reporting you do the better, all types of pressure help.

You could report the Practice to the GMC, at the same time.

In the end, the doctors may well come to the conclusion that the 0870 – 0844 number scam in not worth the hassle.

Pretending that an 0844 ContactCall at 5p/min, at all times, is the same as the price you or anybody would pay for a local/national call (at most 3p/min.) is  misrepresentation.  Which is  against the GMC code of conduct and would be a disciplinary offence.

You could also point out to the GMC, that with the new proposed 0844 numbers, (and with non-geographical numbers in general), you could find yourself in a life threatening situation.  If you became ill outside the UK, doctors may not be able to contact your own GP for essential information.