I got fed up of ringing them up and getting the usual "We dont have a geographical number" or "Whats That"... THEY WORK FOR AN ELECTRICAL GOODS COMPANY AND DONT EVEN KNOW WHAT A GEO NUMBER IS!!!!!!!!

So I sent a nice email, thanks to the pre-typed one but made a few alterations and sent it to them... hopefully they will respond, but I mean what I said, I would rather pay PC World's extortionate prices to have someone I can speak to for free over the counter...



Quote:

Dear Sir(s), Your Contact Number Lately there has been a lot of newspaper articles and news items on TV about companies such as yourself that use numbers beginning 084x/087x. In most cases a company using such numbers actually earns a revenue from each minute that us consumers are on the phone to you.  This revenue you receive varies depending on the number but can be up to around 4p/min (higher in some high usage cases). These numbers are commonly misleadingly advertised as 'local' or 'national' rate and Ofcom, the ASA (Advertising Standards Authority) and Trading Standards have agreed that describing any number beginning 084x/087x as either 'local rate' or 'national rate' is misleading. The reason is that the cost of the calling these numbers varies and in most cases costs more than a normal geographical (those beginning 01 or 02) calls.  In fact, it can cost anywhere up to 40p/min (on some mobile networks) to ring these numbers. The newspaper articles about the use of these numbers are available in the following links:- http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/business/5405620.stm http://www.timesonline.co.uk/article/0,,2-2389087,00.html http://www.dailymail.co.uk/pages/live/articles/news/news.html?in_article_id=4086 60&in_page_id=1770 http://www.thesun.co.uk/article/0,,2005300000-2006460369,,00.html and a BBC news video: http://www.bbc.co.uk/mediaselector/check/nolavconsole/ukfs_news/hi?redirect=st.s tm&news=1&bbram=1&bbwm=1&nbram=1&nbwm=1&nol_storyid=5410232 I would hereby like to make a complaint about your number, 0871 521 33 00, and the fact that you are most likely are receiving revenue from us calling on these expensive numbers as mentioned in the above newspaper/TV articles. I would also like to make it clear that I will not be purchasing anything from yourselves and I will recommend my friends and family to do the same until you stop using this premium rate number... Looking at your call stats, it states yesterday the longest wait was 12 minutes, If I had called from a mobile, through the day it would cost me £4.80 just to be put through to an adviser, then only to be put on hold again. I do not understand why you can’t put your geographical number on your website for customers like myself, who would rather pay extortionate prices at PC World than pay extortionate prices to listen to music for 12 minutes... and pay nearly £5 for the privilege!!! Due to continuing use of these numbers, Ofcom has announced that a new number range beginning 03x should be available from January/February 2007.  This new number range will offer the exact same facilities/network features like IVR (Interactive Voice Response), Intelligent Call Routings, etc that are available now on existing 084x/087x numbers EXCEPT these new numbers will not cost us consumers anymore money than a normal geographical call and will actually be free for us consumers that have inclusive call plans (the existing 084x/087x numbers in most cases isn't included in any plans). I would also like to ask for your procedures for starting an internal review into the extortionate use of these numbers Yours faithfully

[edit]Forgot to remove name + address :D[/edit]

Well in my field, I use multiple suppliers but have to say mainly Ebuyer because they are generally cheap.

It really depends on how cheap they are compared to any nearby competitors.  If its a small amount then I would choose another supplier for piece of mind but depending on item, the difference can sometimes be a lot.

Saying that, I've just bought the new Belkin wireless N router for £104 from PC World as they were doing an introductory offer and they were the cheapest when I did my search.  Ebuyer was £108.

You could add another option, "Depending on price difference of item(s)"

Hi trubster,
Do you have the email address for ebuyer, as I can't find it on the web.

kk wrote on Nov 25^th, 2006 at 10:37pm:

Hi trubster, Do you have the email address for ebuyer, as I can't find it on the web.

They have a live online chat facility via the website which is free during opening hours but when they are closed you can then send them an email instead using their contact form:-

www.ebuyer.com/customer/enotes2/index.html?rb=23320736553&action=Tm90ZUZyb250&_LOC=UK

So there do seem to be ways to contact Ebuyer without having to use the 0871 number.  But as to why they offer the live chat facility online free of charge but try to charge 10p per minute to call them on the phone I far from clear - it certainly doesn't seem logically consistent.

As to the Poll on this site I would not buy from PC World instead as they are total cowboys.  Wherever possible I would instead try to buy the product on the high street from either Maplins or Staples, who both stock a large range of PC related goods, or online from another supplier whom it was possible to contact via a geographic number, even if only a geographic number published on this website.

This is the direct link to the form to email EBuyer when they are closed:-

http://c17.chatsupportlive.com/message_box.php?theme=&l=ebuyeruk&x=90&deptid=187

kk wrote on Nov 25^th, 2006 at 10:37pm:

Hi trubster, Do you have the email address for ebuyer, as I can't find it on the web.

complaints@ebuyer.com

I also sent the email through there website in case they did not recieve it

Just noticed that e-buyer have changed their contact number from 0870 to 0872 111 222.  I'm sure rate won't have gone down but 0872 is a new one on me! Any ideas what price 0872 is charged at?

Sorry, appears I may have made an error re the above-the product & sales advice line is 0872, general enquiries remains at 0871 5213300.  Still, it's the first time I have encountered an 0872 number.

You are correct, the 0872 number is for sales at ebuyer, and - surprise surprise! - is charged at 10ppm. Just shows how greedy ebuyer are when it comes to their telephone numbers (considering I know of other suppliers like ebuyer that have geographic numbers!)

Oh, I don't know if this helps at all, but Howden's dialling code is 01430, so I did a search of ebuyer+01430 in Google and got this result. However, it is possible that that number is actually the home phone number of the person associated with ebuyer FC (since the area of the given address also shares the 01430 dialling code). However, nothing to say that dialling around that range wouldn't hurt :).

0872 and 0873 are extensions of 0871 and 0843 is an extension of 0844. This is because all the numbers in 0844/0871 are nearly allocated to telcos.

Cheaper than the men with moustaches.. ooohh Dorothy :o

EBUYER    01430 433605

Hello
This what I gleaned from a website called Made in China. This is their grammar and spelling, not mine.
"We are the biggest the electronics product retailer in UK. We sold 10k order a day. We are currently looking for full range of home entertainment product. We need Blu-ray player, DVD player, Hi-Fi speakers, home theatre etcs.
Company Name: Ebuyer UK Ltd
Company address: Shenzhen, Guangdong, China
Thought this might help potential buyers.