Next week we are moving house and will need to phone British Gas & Southern Electric to give meter readings at the new house. Both these companies give 0800 numbers but with only a mobile phone, will be charged. However if I had regional numbers,they would be part of my free numbers allowance, so in a way, this is a reversal, can anyone help please.

Hi Islandman,

Firstly, calm down.  If you have a mobile you can dial 0200 222 0700 ( this will come out of your inclusive minutes ) and then you can dial the freephone number of your choice.

This number that I have quoted does work - I have used it on quite a few times.

Now, have you been able to find out the other numbers that you require - are they in the database?

James Bond

Hi there again!

If you are lucky enough to be given georgaphic numbers let the Forum know and for what areas.

James Bond

James Bond - 0200 numbers work a treat, thank you! But please bear in mind that not everybody knows about this site and is therefore forced to pay extra to use a 'freephone' number.

Islandman, completely empathise - how many people would have a landline already connected the day they move into a new house? And who wants to stand at a phone box in the rain to get their heating connected??

All the more reason why companies need to use common sense and offer their customers geographical numbers.

Hi Floella2,

I am really glad that the 0200 number helped.  All I can kindly ask you to do, is spread the word about this site and the 0200 222 0700 to phone freephones from a mobile!

Thank you for your comments.

James Bond ( licenced to thrill! )

Hello Floella2 again - sorry!

If you come across any geographic numbers for these wretched utility companies that use 0800 or even 0845 or even banks etc, the forum members and I would be deeply grateful.  If I find any other info, I will put on this website via Dave or whoever wants this info.

James Bond

A somewhat calmer islandman here.  I have regional numbers which may or may not be listed, if they are of use they are:-

British Gas 0800 048 0202 = 0113 298 0900

Southern Electric 0800 117116 = 029 2024 96000

However I've since found  www.0800buster.co.uk/  who's website says:- dial 0118 352 0800, wait for a verbal prompt, enter the 0800 number complete then hash.  I've tried it and it works.

Oh my lord. I've just trawled down, only to find a wealth of input about the buster site. Can I be the only one that doesn't read thoroughly before posting, der! and sorry.

Hi Islandman!

Glad to hear that you are happier.

I have sent you a Personal Message to you.

Let me know, how you get on.

Cheers.

James Bond

There are many providers of dial-through services on geo numbers to call 080 and other "reverse revenue sharing" numbers. Many have been mentioned in various threads in the forum.

Essentially they are performing the same role as personal injury claims companies; they provide "customers" with a "free" service because they get paid by somebody else. As the service is only the connection of a telephone call, it may not be easy to distinguish between them. If anybody wants to promote one of these over another, then the "Call Providers" area is the place to do it.

I would personally love to see some charity set up such a service, so that one could feel more comfortable about who else was benefiting from the call. For landline callers with inclusive geographic calls they too could put their 080 calls through such numbers so that the charity could benefit at the expense of their telephone service provider and the person being called, but at no cost to the caller.

That, SCV, is a top notch idea my friend!

If this never happens, I still maintain that the best option is for companies using 0800 to also publish their geographic number so that the caller has the choice of which number to use.

This site is fantastic, but not everybody knows about it (yet!)

Mr Bond, yes it certainly helped and I spread the word to everyone I can about this site and others - I am amazed at how many people still don't realise how much these numbers can cost or why they are used in the first place!

I don't know if we will ever get to a point where companies use both non-geographic and geographic numbers. A better solution would be for mobile operators to include calls to 08 numbers in the bundles, but I cant see this happening.

The reason I say this is because non geographic numbers have advanced so much, and many are not simply translated onto a single number anymore. They are intelligent now, and have automated menus on them, and can be routed to several different locations or call centres depending on what options are selected on the menus. There are many more features available on these numbers.

All of these features are available on NGN numbers as well as virtual geographoc numbers, but the reason most companies use 0844 is because it helps to offset the cost of receiving calls.