Welcome to the SayNo forums jasonc310771.

Thank heavens you came here before you did anything.

If you live in London and use a BT residential line, it costs EXACTLY THE SAME to call another London number as it does to call an Exeter or Edinburgh or Dover number.

The terms 'local call' and 'national call' have been meaningless since 1st July 2004 when BT forced all residential customers onto their BT Together Option 1/2/3 packages.  Calls cost 3p per minute* weekdays and 5.5p for up to an hour evenings and weekends.

* Subject, at the moment, to a 5.5p minimum call charge but, w.e.f. 1st October 2006, subject instead to a 3p call set up fee.

Referring to 0845 numbers as 'local rate' is misleading and, now, specifically barred by the Advertising Standards Authority (although most firms ignore such ineffective organisations and continue with the lie).

Additionally, many people now use a prefix-dial company ( www.call1899.,co.uk ) and make their calls to UK 01 and 02 numbers for 3p each (that's 3p connection and 0p per minute) - so you would penalise (alienate might be a better word) such people because calling an 0845 number would be more expensive than calling an 01 or 02 number.  Others have inclusive call packages allowing them to make unlimited calls to UK 01 and 02 numbers (but not to 084 or 087 numbers) for no additional charge - so you'd alienate them too.

I think you've missed the point.  It may have been costing YOU nothing but it was costing customers extra.

You must have been paying a landline rental of some sort.

As I said, there's no such thing as a 'local call' any more.  All calls to geographical numbers are charged at the same rates.

Get an 020 number - more people will like you for not attempting to rip them off with the "It's only the cost of a local call" lie.

Hello jasonc310771, the best number you can provide is a geographical (01/02) one. The main phone packages these days charge all calls to these numbers at the same rate, regardless of the location of caller and receiver.

The BT Light User scheme is one example of where this is not the case, but for other packages that do charge the same for both, you won't find one that charges the same for 0845 numbers (or any other non-geographical numbers for that matter).

There is a new 03 prefix that is coming into operation that will be non-geographical and charge the same as 01/02 numbers. This will also be included in inclusive packages where calls to 01/02 numbers are covered. At present, 0845 and other NGNs are always chargeable.

From mobiles and payphones, 0845 numbers are often more expensive than geographicals aswell.

jasonc310771 wrote on Aug 23^rd, 2006 at 5:33pm:

Your 020 number is one such number.

Quote:

Absolute rubbish!!!

You find me a mainstream telephone package that charges more for long distance geographical calls than it does for local ones and I'll put you in touch with a poor plumber !!!

Hi Jason,

jasonc310771 wrote on Aug 23^rd, 2006 at 5:33pm:
Any geographical number like your current 0208 is the cheapest option (bar freephone) for every one to call regardless of where they may live within the UK or abroad.

Quote:
I think, like many people, you have been fooled into thinking 0845 is cheaper to call than a normal geographical call.

As mentioned earlier and in the links I provided in my previous post from the Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) confirm that 0845 is no longer local rate.  In fact local and national rate calls to geographical numbers (those starting 01 or 02) cost less than 0845, etc and are mostly excluded from customers' call plans.

This is why the ASA (Advertising Standards Authority) have ruled that advertising 0845 as local rate, etc is misleading.  Please check out the links I've provided.

Also, some international call providers may not allow calls to 0845/0870 because they are more expensive for them to carry than normal geographical calls to 01 or 02 numbers.

jasonc310771 wrote on Aug 23^rd, 2006 at 6:01pm:
If you check out Telewest's page here they announce that Ofcom (the telecom regulator) has declared that 0845 can no longer be described as local rate, etc as well as some other changes.

From this page, I quote the following first two paragraphs:-
Quote:


The problem with Telewest is that they've forgotten to update the rest of their webpages so they don't describe 0845 as local rate, etc and therefore follow Ofcom's and the ASA's guidelines but they have obviously forgotten to update their other webpages so are therefore technically doing the opposite of what Ofcom and the ASA have ruled.

Quote:


Jason, you need to understand a couple of very simple issues.

1.  If YOU want a "free" line, then your customers (callers) will pay.....

2.  If you want a "free" or minimal cost service for your callers, then YOU are going to have to pay

These facts are inescapable.

The reason that a telephone company will offer YOU a free setup and 0845 number is that they (the telephone company) will make money on EVERY Call.  As other people have said, your callers will pay - a great deal - and will generally be mega-pi**ed off with YOU!  Meanwhile, the telephone company laughs all the way to the bank. There is NO SUCH THING as a "local rate" and your customers will pay PER MINUTE for the call - wherever they are. Next door. Next town. Scotland ... it doesn't matter.

The alternative as in (2) above, is that you pay the line rental for a normal (geographic 01/02) number. Then YOU pay the cost and the majority of your callers will not pay any incremental costs - i.e. it is a "free" call to them. Of course, now the telephone company is pi**ed off, because they are NOT laughing all the way to the bank! (Why do you think they introduced these rip-off 0870 and 0845 numbers? Of course - to maintain their revenue stream in a world where voice calls are becoming all but generally free!)

So you decide. Who would you rather see pi**ed off? Your customers or the telephone company? To me, it's a no brainer..... 

Of course, the downside is that you pay a line rental for the geographic number - but I think that would be a VERY small price to pay for satisfied customers. Don't you?

Does that make sense? I hope so........