chinaboy wrote on Aug 28
th, 2006 at 12:18pm:
Ive just noticed the same thing with my 18185 account: a 2 minute call to an 0870 number was charged 14pence, ie 5 p per minute plus 4p connection. I emailed customer services (no reply!), but on looking at their website today, I notice they have subtlely and craftily changed their rates! They now acknowledge a 6am-6pm period as well as a 6pm-6am one, and sure enough, 0870 numbers are now charged at 5p per min between 6am and 6pm and 3p per min between 6pm and 6am. In other words, unless your call in the daytime to an 0870 number is more than 2 minutes long, it would now be cheaper, or the same cost, to use BT!
From 1/10/06, BT will introduce a 3p 'call set-up fee' - so their peak 0870 rate will then be 3p set-up + 7p/minute.
Then, a 1 minute 0870 call via BT will cost 10p (
via 18185 it'll cost 11p)
and a 2 minute 0870 call via BT will cost 17p (via 18185 it'll cost 14p)
and a 3 minute 0870 call via BT will cost 24p (via 18185 it'll cost 19p).
Bearing in mind they're cash cows, how many calls to call centres last less than 3 minutes?
A 1 minute call via 18185 will cost 9p ?? not 11p ? i.e. (assuming daytime) 4p conn and 5p per minute = 9p.