Hi, can anyone help please?   My elderly father wants to contact the Tourist Office in Bournemouth as he wishes to book a holiday there.   However, all I can find is an 0845 number which I do not want him to ue as it is unlikely to be a short call (he gets very flustered).  I wonder if someone has a geo alternative?   There is nothing I could find in the datebase and a Google search only gave me the 0845.

Full details: Bournemouth Tourism Office
                Westover Road
                Bournemouth BH1 2BU
                Telephone 0845 051 1700

I have sent them an email requesting a geo no but do not hold out much hope!

Thanks for any help you can give.

Further info - have just tried contacting the local council and their switchboard tried to tell me 0845 was a local rate call - I leave you to guess my response!!   Have left a message for their head of tourism (and my tel no) that this is NOT the case.   They were unable to provide an alternative geo no, there was a geo alternative on the Dorset CC website but that now redirects to the 0845 so any help or ideas would be appreciated.

Hey Barbara,

How about having a nose round this site...

http://www.bournemouth.gov.uk/main/contact.asp

I don't know if it will be any help, it is the council's site and looks quite thorough and they have a geo. number.

Just an idea.

Sorry, realise you have beaten me to it.

I have just had a phone call from a very nice and helpful person at the Bournemouth Tourist Office.   They had been asked to phone to reassure me that calls to 0845 were local rate, it had been confirmed by their provider, Britannic, today.   When I explained the true situation, they were shocked and the matter will now be pursued at a high level.  I have sent them the document I prepared for ECC about "Why not 0845?"   I will be careful what I say here as I would not wish to prejudice anything; apparently, Bournemouth are also charged for the calls (I believe this situation is the same as that referred to in another thread re a police force).   I have not heard of Britannic, I expect others here have.   I would say a little more if anyone wishes to PM me.   There is now someone else in Bournemouth who is shocked about the costs to callers, particularly from mobiles!  I have given details of this website for them to gain further information.

Barbara what number showed on your caller display when their tourist office called you back?  Is this by any chance a geographic number that could be added to our database?

As to Bournemouth Council and their tourist office I can only refer you to the following sources to point out to them the error of their ways:-

Paragraph 3.51 to 3.65 starting on Page 35 of the Central Office of Information's Better Practice Guidance for government contact centres (third edition) which has just been published.

See www.coi.gov.uk/documents/gcc-third-edition.pdf

Or you could also refer them to the decision taken at Minute 141 of Mole Valley District Council's meeting of 19th July 2005 where one of their more far sighted councillors (sadly no longer on the council) had the council unanimously adopt a resolution agreeing it would not use any 084 or 087 based numbers for services provided by the Council.

See P.5 of www.mole-valley.gov.uk/media/pdf/1/s/Council_Minutes_190705.pdf

If its good enough for Mole Valley District Council then why isn't it good enough for Bournemouth Council and Tourist Office?

As to these characters who maintain that 0845 is definitely "local rate" because they were told it is do you think they also believe in four leaf clovers and unicorns?  Presumably if they were given instructions to cut off their index finger by their managers because the Council's Community Safety Officer had told them it was safe to do so then they would cheerily proceed with alacrity.  Oh dear no wonder it has been so easy for Robert Mugabe, Saddam Hussein etc, etc when the majority of the population are a bunch of easily led sheep. :o :'(

If you dial 01202 451451 and insist they put you through, they normally do.

The supplier of their 0845 Number is probaly http://www.btlnet.co.uk/network/non_geographic_numbers.html  who describe 0845 as locally rated

I know its local govt and not national but you might also want to point out the COI latest advice.That
0845 tariffs should never be referred to as ‘local rate’ in any publicity or by agents.
See: http://www.saynoto0870.com/cgi-bin/forum/YaBB.cgi?num=1207653631

oldharryrocks wrote on Apr 9^th, 2008 at 4:08am:

I know its local govt and not national but you might also want to point out the COI latest advice.That 0845 tariffs should never be referred to as ‘local rate’ in any publicity or by agents. See: http://www.saynoto0870.com/cgi-bin/forum/YaBB.cgi?num=1207653631

The COI have previously confirmed to me that in their few "government contact centres" includes local government.

Update - sucess!   I have just received a reply this morning from the person responsible for the phone numbers at Bournemouth Tourism who confirmed that Bournemouth Council is looking at 03 numbers but, in the meantime, Bournemouth Tourism will now offer a geographical (01202 451734) alternative to their 0845.   I will check to see if it is on their website and, if not, add it to the database.

Barbara wrote on Jun 3^rd, 2008 at 10:02am:

Update - sucess!   I have just received a reply this morning from the person responsible for the phone numbers at Bournemouth Tourism who confirmed that Bournemouth Council is looking at 03 numbers but, in the meantime, Bournemouth Tourism will now offer a geographical (01202 451734) alternative to their 0845.   I will check to see if it is on their website and, if not, add it to the database.

Well done Barbara.

If at first you don't succeed then try, try, try again..................................

Barbara wrote on Jun 3^rd, 2008 at 10:02am:

Update - sucess!   I have just received a reply this morning from the person responsible for the phone numbers at Bournemouth Tourism who confirmed that Bournemouth Council is looking at 03 numbers but, in the meantime, Bournemouth Tourism will now offer a geographical (01202 451734) alternative to their 0845.   I will check to see if it is on their website and, if not, add it to the database.

I have verified this number.

Bournemouth Tourism  have now stopped using the 0845 number on the front of their website and prominently display 01202 451734.

http://www.bournemouth.co.uk/

The council have  another 0845 number 0845 055 0968 which belongs to Bournemouth Sea Front . (Beach Hut Bookings) . I can confirm the alternative to this is 01202 451781.

bigjohn wrote on Feb 9^th, 2014 at 10:48am:

Bournemouth Tourism  have now stopped using the 0845 number on the front of their website and prominently display 01202 451734. http://www.bournemouth.co.uk/

So it only took them six years to admit they were wrong and change their number in the face of recent government pronouncements and the impending European Customer Service Directive.

Seems to me that when they assured Barbara their number was definitely "local rate" they were relying on dimwitted phone call charge illiterate staff to do their dirty work for them when the telco and the Council's Operations Director or the Tourist Bureau Head or equivalent knew perfectly well what the real situation was.

The thing is even with the implementation of this European Customer Service Directive on the horizon we have clearly not won the war against telco extortion and greed.

Look at the following.

1.  Minimum BT line rental has increased 150% in 10 years.  Most people only pay it because they need fixed line broadband.

2. The minimum cost of connecting a call has gone up 200% out of bundle blackmailing single people making few calls in to taking a call bundle they did not need before.

So the fixed line telco scammers are still at it but have merely adopted new methods.

The only way to beat them is to go to a mobile where £15 per month with Virgin Mobile actually buys you unlimited calls to landline and mobile and supposedly unlimited data (actually 3.5GB worth per month at 3G speeds and then unlimited beyons that at 2.5G or 2G speeds) and there is no nasty line connection fee for nothing at all (or at least only for near worthless weekend calls to landlines).