I recently received an unsolicited email from a company inviting me a get a free 08 number through them. They got my email from a website community for start-up businesses, and they suggested an 08 number would make my business seem more professional.

This is how I responded (anyone else care to share how they respond to the 08 issue?):


"Thanks, but no thanks.

More and more people are discovering the high cost of calling 08 numbers compared to geographic ones, and the most savvy companies are making a retreat. Take this from the Lloyds TSB website:


Call PhoneBank® to speak to us 24/7 on 0845 3 000 000.

If you need to call us from abroad, or prefer not to use our 0845 number, you can also call PhoneBank® on 01733 347 007.



Particularly during these tough times, companies should be doing everything to encourage customers to get in touch, not turn them away. Asking them to dial an 08 number is a sure way to turn a lot of people away.

You say an 08 number gives a business a corporate, professional image - I think it says you don't care about your customers' costs.

Please don't be offended. Just my reasons why every business shouldn't have an 08 number (unless that's the way they charge for their services and it's made clear)."

I hope you reported this to the administrators of the forum in question. Using details to send commercial spam is unacceptable.

As for 08 numbers looking more "professional", I feel it actually does the opposite. Seeing such a number says either (a) they are a load of rip-off merchants or (b) they are incompetent and were easily mislead by their phone supplier.

All other things being equal (as they often are when scanning Yellow Pages) I'll always give my business to the company that uses a geographical or freephone number.

lpgm,

Welcome to the forum and congratulations on your excellent efforts in saying No to the 084/7 telecoms snakeoil salesman.

Perhaps as a further point you could suggest to the the firm concerned that they are not really actually the least bit interested in giving businesses a more professional image but instead only in increasing their own income stream by getting a hidden back door rakeoff on every single call made to a company with an 084/7 phone number that they have supplied.