Bad news. Following hard on the heels of 1899 announcing their change in charging policy, I've just received the following message:

Dear customer,

We have selected some new offers just for you!

Canada 0.5p per minute * (Canada mobiles as well!)
Greece 1p per minute *
Lithuania 1p per minute *
Malaysia 1p per minute *
Spain 1p per minute *

For more details and free online registration please visit
http://www.18185.co.uk/index2.php.


*Please note: from the 20th of July calls via 18185 will be billed per
minute.

All it means is that call charges will be rounded up to the nearest full minute - the 0p/minute with 4p connection charge still applies to UK 01/02 numbers called.

mjcairney wrote on Aug 23^rd, 2006 at 2:06pm:

All it means is that call charges will be rounded up to the nearest full minute ...

As has been pointed out on the thread on BT's latest increases, whole minute charging actually means that (where a 'per minute' charge applies) that the call actually costs more than the quoted pence per minute if it doesn't last exactly a full amount of minutes (which most calls won't). Thus, whole minute charging is (yet another) increase by the back door that is being allowed in today's privatised telecoms industry.  >:(

i used 18185 a couple of days ago for an 0870 number i got the voice saying 5pence a minute and when i looked at my account online it was verified that a 6minute call cost me 34pence...i.e.  6minutes @ 5 plus 4pence connection..as its supposed to be 4pence a minute cant work that out?i've chaecked website for 18185 and it still says 4pence a min...i've emailed them to query this charge..still waiting for reply...just thought i'd let you all know... ;D

>:( Ive just noticed the same thing with my 18185 account: a 2 minute call to an 0870 number was charged 14pence, ie 5 p per minute plus 4p connection. I emailed customer services (no reply!), but on looking at their website today, I notice they have subtlely and craftily changed their rates! They now acknowledge a 6am-6pm period as well as a 6pm-6am one, and sure enough, 0870 numbers are now charged at 5p per min between 6am and 6pm and 3p per min between 6pm and 6am. In other words, unless your call in the daytime to an 0870 number is more than 2 minutes long, it would now be cheaper, or the same cost, to use BT!  >:(

chinaboy wrote on Aug 28^th, 2006 at 1:18pm:

>:( Ive just noticed the same thing with my 18185 account: a 2 minute call to an 0870 number was charged 14pence, ie 5 p per minute plus 4p connection. I emailed customer services (no reply!), but on looking at their website today, I notice they have subtlely and craftily changed their rates! They now acknowledge a 6am-6pm period as well as a 6pm-6am one, and sure enough, 0870 numbers are now charged at 5p per min between 6am and 6pm and 3p per min between 6pm and 6am. In other words, unless your call in the daytime to an 0870 number is more than 2 minutes long, it would now be cheaper, or the same cost, to use BT!  >:(

From 1/10/06, BT will introduce a 3p 'call set-up fee' - so their peak 0870 rate will then be 3p set-up + 7p/minute.

Then, a 1 minute 0870 call via BT will cost 10p (via 18185 it'll cost 11p)
and a 2 minute 0870 call via BT will cost 17p (via 18185 it'll cost 14p)
and a 3 minute 0870 call via BT will cost 24p (via 18185 it'll cost 19p).

Bearing in mind they're cash cows, how many calls to call centres last less than 3 minutes?

Heinz wrote on Aug 28^th, 2006 at 7:13pm:

chinaboy wrote on Aug 28th, 2006 at 1:18pm: >:( Ive just noticed the same thing with my 18185 account: a 2 minute call to an 0870 number was charged 14pence, ie 5 p per minute plus 4p connection. I emailed customer services (no reply!), but on looking at their website today, I notice they have subtlely and craftily changed their rates! They now acknowledge a 6am-6pm period as well as a 6pm-6am one, and sure enough, 0870 numbers are now charged at 5p per min between 6am and 6pm and 3p per min between 6pm and 6am. In other words, unless your call in the daytime to an 0870 number is more than 2 minutes long, it would now be cheaper, or the same cost, to use BT!  >:( From 1/10/06, BT will introduce a 3p 'call set-up fee' - so their peak 0870 rate will then be 3p set-up + 7p/minute. Then, a 1 minute 0870 call via BT will cost 10p (via 18185 it'll cost 11p) and a 2 minute 0870 call via BT will cost 17p (via 18185 it'll cost 14p) and a 3 minute 0870 call via BT will cost 24p (via 18185 it'll cost 19p). Bearing in mind they're cash cows, how many calls to call centres last less than 3 minutes?

A 1 minute call via 18185 will cost 9p ?? not 11p ? i.e. (assuming daytime) 4p conn and 5p per minute = 9p.