I am about to buy a 0870 number and would like your advice.
I want to charge national rates to all calls and will display this on our site clearly and all adverts.
My competition is charging premuim prices such as £1.00 a minute.
I do not want people to know i am based in the North West becuase i am looking to attract South customers so what am i to do?

It is going to be used for customer service, it is a car parts website and users can order can parts via the web or by ringing a telephone number.

I do not want to charge them and make money off the number, but i want them to be charged a national rate so anyone in the uk rings they get charged the same.

Also i do not want the users to know where i am based , so i wish to hide my 0161 number.

Thanks for yor reply

0870 isn't national rate anymore.  They are actually more expensive to ring than for example you calling from Manchester to London, or from London to Scotland, etc.

Charges to 0870 vary from around 8ppm to about 30/40ppm from a mobile/payphone depending on tariff and network.

ASA (Advertising Standards Authority) now state that you would have to advertise that in fact calls cost upto 8ppm from a BT landline and may cost more from a mobile.

This may put off people ringing you.

If your website is going to have your address on then they will know what are you are in anyhow regardless of your phone number.

I'm afraid that if you sell anything to the public then under Distance Selling Regs and another regulation (can't remember which one) then you will have to provide a geographical address and not a PO box address.

Is it essential that you hide your location as I personally dont care which area I do business.

You could (to attract more business) operate a freephone 0800 number.  Depending on your expected turnover, etc it may be worth it.

Freephone numbers obviously cost nothing on all landline providers and from payphones (i think) but some networks do charge for freephone numbers though.

If you think you don't receive more than 700 minutes in a month then for a monthly fee of £4.95 you could have a freephone number from Call08.co.uk.  After you have received more than 700 minutes worth of incoming calls a month then it is only 2ppm thereafter for the remainder of that month.

Now I don't have a business of my own but I believe that it is excellent value compared to many other providers out there.

ok all , here is one up and coming company who will firstly look into 0800 numbers for free calls and if i cannot do that i will use the 0161 number .

I will say no to 0870  - ok thanks for your feedback.

Quote:
Good decision.

Good luck with the business.  I regret I won't be a customer because I've reached the age now where car parts are things someone else deals with when I tell 'em to!

solman,

I wish you all the best for your business, but cannot understand why you are ashamed of your Manchester connections?

Why? I would not dream of doing business with you if you had an 0870 number, would hesitate if you had an 0207 number but would instantly call you on 061, 021 or 031.

Having a London number means big bucks for rubbish, 061 means value for money.

Have no axe to grind - born in Yorkshire - live in the South!

juby

Quote:

OT I know but wiper blades are one of the few 'car repair' things I do still deal with because MOT testers often fail a car for split blades and, to be fair, rotting rubber due to age (not mileage) is the cause.

I therefore replace the wipers every year just before the MOT is due - and I buy whole wipers from The Range for £1.99 each (total cost £5.97 for my hatchback).