Perhaps you would also care to email Eddie Mair and file a Complaint on their complaints website to back me up then Heinz.  An email to the BBC R4 Feedback program - feedback@bbc.co.uk - making the point about Sky Talk customers would also not go amiss either. The producer Viv Black, who selects the letters, seems to be reasonably supportive of the saynoto0870 campaign.

I actually copied in a much larger part of the BBC Board and several directors of the BBC Trust as well.  I can always post the names if you are interested.  I didn't post all the email addresses on the basis of not helping the spam bots.

I now understand that a paper about the possibility of the BBC switching to all 03 numbers is going to the BBC Board for decision at their 21st April Board Meeting but I don't know what the recommendation about 03 numbers in that paper actually is.  Even then the Board could decide to go against that paper's recommendation.  I wonder if the Board meetings are open to the public and any of us could turn up to watch the proceedings?

If anyone feels like emailing all members of the BBC Board about this issue now is therefore the time.

See www.bbc.co.uk/info/running/executive/biographies.shtml

firstname.lastname@bbc.co.uk to email any of them.

I have just received back this load of quite unbelievable and totally unapologetic claptrap under the name of Roger Sawyer, Deputy Editor of the PM program.  I very much doubt he did more than finally send it out under his name having read it (presumably in ignorance of real phone call costs) as several of the misleading points are straight off the propaganda street long used by Capita run and staffed BBC Information to lie to the public about the BBC's 084 and 087 phone numbers.

1. He still refuses to apologise for the 0870 is "cheaper than a stamp" analogy even though I pointed out an 01/02/03 phone call would be free.  It appears they may even still carry on making such claims on PM therefore.

2. He claims the BBC doesn't make any money out of the numbers.  This is another blatant lie as they either get a big outgoing discount on their own calls from Cable & Wireless they would not get without the incoming 084/7 revenue stream and/or get cheaper line rental and switchboard equipment out of Cable & Wireless they would not get if Cable & Wireless was not earning the revenue share.  He even says they could take a rebate on the calls and don't.  In which case why don't they immediately use 03 then.

3. He perpetrates the old longstanding Capita/BBC Information lie that on an 0845 number they are charitably sharing part of the call cost with the caller.  But as an 01/02/03 call to the BBC would be free how can they share a part of the cost of nothing then?  If they are really paying to receive their 0845 calls their Finance Director needs to be fired for gross incompetence.

4. He perpetrates the old lie that they use 0845 purely so as to not have different call costs from different parts of the UK as this would be unfair.  This despite the fact that no major telco including BT has had local call pricing for at least 3 years now.   Also again it ignores the point that 03 is the same to everybody but free at the weekends and/or all the time for those on call packages.

This is quite unbelievable.  I am going to reply exposing his lies and copying all members of the BBC Board, BBC Trust, Eddie Mair and the producer and editor of the PM program.

Quote:

A standard scripted lie used by all the Capita employed staff of BBC Information.  Capita have repeatedly refused to stop using these lies despite them obviously becoming inappropriate in the light of the launch of all calls plans to 01/02/03 numbers like BT Option 3, and even more inappropriate following the launch of 03 prefixed phone numbers.

Capita are the lowest of the low when it comes to 084/7 call abuse and they have even created these various basically bare faced lies to be given out when any complaints are made.  Capita are really little more than a commercial extortion racket interested only making money and not in happy customers or a decent product.                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                  BBC Information is unbelievably abysmal compared to the old BBC Duty Office in London that used to take complaints until the mid to late 1990s.

I just checked with the BBC Trust whether the public can attend meetings of either the Trust or the BBC Board as observers.  Apparently they cannot even though this is common practice for the boards of other truly public sector bodies like NHS Trusts.  So regarding the upcoming decision by the BBC Board regarding 03 numbers on Monday the only solution is for as many as possible of us here to email all the BBC Board and BBC Trust's members about this issue indicating why they must vote in favour of 03 numbers on Monday.

Its getting a bit late for that, given that the meeting to decide the 03 question by the BBC Board is on Monday.  Also I'm suggesting writing to individual email addresses of all BBC Board and Exec members.  I supect Daniel may feel it is going OTT to put this in front of those merely looking up numbers on the site.

I will post a new thread specifically on the subject of sending an email re the discussion at the BBC Board on Monday and ask moderators if they will sticky it.

We need informed and well written emails that are individual.  Even 10 or 15 so such emails around all the Board and BBC Trust members might make quite a difference.  If their mailboxes were saturated with 500 stock emails they might just feel they were being spammed and just delete the whole lot without reading them.  Unfortunately the BBC's Finance Director (who must have been one of the prime moving forces to cause the original use of 084/7) just deletes all emails that appear to come from the public without reading them but most of his colleagues on the Board seem less contemptuous of the public and one does get Read Receipts.

I got the strong original impression from Michael Stock (a top level manager wallah but not director involved with the BBC Viewer & Listener side of things including BBC Information) that the paper he would write to the BBC Board would be in favour of 03.  But then the paper was delayed due to the Ofcom 0870 delay from 1st Feb and I am concerned that the recommendation could now just be to carry on with 0870 until and unless Ofcom ever does end the revenue share on 0870.  Alternatively it could be that Mr Stock has been pressurised by Pro Capita forces in the Corporation to say recommend moving to 5p per minute at all times 0844 on the basis that it appears to look more like a local number (even though it is not) and that this is also what many other major scammers (eg DSG Retail) previously using 0870 have been doing.

It could be the paper for the Board leaves the final decision up to the Board and does not make any recommendation, although probably this is unlikely as they must look at a lot of papers for each meeting that probably go through on the nod without discussion, unless individual Board members choose to challenge the recommendation and force a discussion by other Board members.

We certainly cannot be sure the BBC is going to go with moving to 03, hence why some selective email lobbying by informed members of the forum may help.  Actually thinking about it I might send a PM to those forum members who I know are regulars and could write something effective to email to BBC Board members.