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Personal details such as name, address and preferred method of communication are a reasonable request. Course details are probably irrelevant unless this aspect has a direct bearing on the request. As I said earlier, I made three requests yesterday and have already received two acknowledgements from the institutions. I am not a student nor am I the parent of a student and I also live in the United States. None of this excludes me being able to make a FOI request. I repeat, you do not have to be a student in order to make this FOI request.

I contacted them and they told me to write to a lady who they said is the Information Co-ordinator for the University. They didn't seem to know who exactly the FOI act officer is or even if they have one. Do you think I should write to her then would she be the right person? They didn't give me any email address which I would prefer but I'm just thinking it's all going to take longer if it's not the right person. If anyone has any suggestions of exactly what to say to them it would help as I'm really not very good at this kind of thing but I do think it needs to be done

I'm not convinced there's much point submitting a FOI request for this information, unless it's just to inconvenience the university a bit and give their admin staff something to do.

The Halls at Derby are run by a private company with charitable status, and the phones are provided by an external contractor. Whatever the rights or wrongs of it, the 0870 revenue will be factored into the economies of running the phone system. Therefore they will tell you that it is commercially sensitive information that won't be released under the FOI act.

Even if they give you the number, I'm pretty certain it'll be 01332 05, which can't be dialled from most phones anyway.

I will contact them about it as I think the more people complain they might start to take notice even though it doesnt seem it's going to help us this year anyway.

I am on NTL but it seems I cannot ring from my phone to the number that it most likely is which is 01132 05**** NTL have probably now blocked it like BT have done.

nongeographicalman

Thankyou very much for finding that information for me. The costs you quoted there are they excluding vat aswell? as NTL always add the vat after the calls cost so if so it's even more.

I'm out of work through sickness at the moment so calling the 0870 no. would effect me a fair bit and it's an all on struggle for my daughter to pay her halls fees and all the extras without having to be worrying about anything else. I'm a single parent too so theres only us.

It really concerns me that sometimes students will have problems and contact is important, it just makes things more difficult

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I don't think it's quite the same situation as big companies who use these numbers for their existing customers who have already paid considerable sums. Many of the halls phone systems have no line rental, so the providers would argue that the 0870 revenue makes up for this. However, I'm sure that in fact the price of the hall fees is higher to pay for the phone (I think Derby has a non-returnable "booking fee" - well, this is what you get when a private company runs the accommodation).

Anyway, I wasn't trying to claim that the use of 0870 was valid. I was just guessing what the likely response from the university will be. Ever since the FOI Act came into force, whenever someone wants a number, everyone on this site is so quick to say "FOI", but many of the organisations have cited commercial sensitivity to justify not revealing the numbers.

You are quite right about the FOI being one way to make it clear to the university that people are dissatisfied by the 0870 numbers. E-mailing the VC is also a good idea. However, as with companies, the university probably won't care less about its "customers". Most universities use 0870 numbers anyway, so what's the alternative? Live out of halls, study abroad, or go for a modern apprenticeship, it would seem! 


onesexylady: About the assumed 05xxxx number, perhaps it won't ring from an NTL line because the last four digits are invalid. I suggest you try dialling some random numbers across the whole range and see if you can get through. On Monday I'll try another number and if I get through, give the number to you. (I do pity the people I call at random, but two calls won't hurt!) Unfortunately, I don't think I know anyone with a domestic NTL line who I can ask to try things for me any more.

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Are you sure it was someone at the university? Can you tell us what the 3rd digit was, this may be the one we're after.

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onesexylady, have you tried all combinations? Ie, 05#xxx with # as 0 through to 9 and xxx as last 3 digits of extension and last 3 digits of 0870? That gives 20 combinations.

I suggest you try the 3rd digit jrawle got through on.

I can't quite remember what I dialled (which is stupid really!) although I think it probably started with 5 as there are extensions starting with that number in Leicester. There won't be as many as 9999 lines, so it's possible the first digit will be different... or maybe even all the digits.

I did ask the person who answered whether they were at Derby Uni and they said yes, although I suppose they could be living in a private house. I'll try again on Monday and this time record the number I dial!

With BT, it beeps and the lady says the number has not been recognised before I've even had chance to dial the full number! Perhaps the continuous ringing means you have the wrong room.

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That's great!!
How good are we?! 
Do the last few digits match to the extension or 0870?
What about the third digit? Does this have any connection to the extension/0870? *** out the last few digits, but please let us know so we can add to the database.

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Who provides the line is irrelevant. It is a geographical number, so whatever NTL charge you to call 01/02 numbers.