Both Norfolk's advice and Leicester Trading Standards were mentioned in a letter to yesterday's
.
TRUE COST OF CALLS
10:30 - 27 September 2005
It is good to see that, following the good work of the likes of
www.saynoto0870.com to bring the true cost of calling 0845 and 0870 numbers to the attention of the public, Norfolk County Council's trading standards department has taken the lead on increasing public awareness.
As a trader, I recently received guidance from the trading standards department. I was told: "You should not use the terms 'local rate' or 'national rate', or any reference to local or national rates.
"You also should not use words which could imply a local or national rate (for example, lo-call, low rate, national call, standard rate)."
Businesses now have to make the public aware of the true cost of 0845/0870 calls. Calls to real local numbers are significantly less.
Why can't our local trading standards take the same action?
Joseph Hill, Leicester.
I've written a reply, quoting LTS's advice from 2003 and their recent comments relating to the Micro Direct case, and pointing out that their original advice is more relevant now than ever.