Date Submitted      30 September 2008
Subject      Transactions
Message      To the disputes section. Further to my letter to you of September 3rd and your subsequent reply (asking for a repetition of the information already provided in that letter) regarding my dispute with (name withheld). You asked me to telephone the 0800 number quoted on the letter you sent me, however it is unobtainable. Further more when I tried to telephone your landline on 0115 993 8002, this appeared to be faulty as well. I am totally against 0845 and 0870 numbers since these are a complete rip off - it costs me nothing at all to dial a land-line number. I am therefore advising you that Trading Standards have managed to sort out (name withheld) and forced them to comply with legislation and I am no longer in dispute with them.

Status      Completed
Memo      Thank you for letting us know that you have resolved the dispute with (name witheld). I've made a note of this on your account. I'm sorry to hear that you aren't happy with the charges for calling our customer service telephone number. All of our customer communications that quote the 0845 number advises that this is charged at a local rate and the cost will vary depending on your service provider. If you call from a mobile your network provider may also advise you of the cost of the call before they connect you. If you need any other help, please call us on 08458 400 400*. We're here 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. (*Typical call charge from a BT landline is 7p connection fee plus up to 2p per minute. Calls from other networks and mobiles may be higher. Calls may be recorded/monitored for training purposes.)

     
Date Submitted      01 October 2008
Subject      Transactions
Message      Transactions Completed 30 September
Further to your message, I am indeed not happy with your 0845 service, it is an absolute money-making con! 7p connection plus 2p per minute is ridiculous - especially to be kept waiting in a queue, transferred to someone for whom English is not their first language and then more often than not kept on hold whilst they try to contact the appropriate department! It costs me nothing at all to call national or local land-line numbers and therefore I do not see why your 0115 number is only publicised for use by members whilst abroad. Perhaps if all your members got themselves 0845 numbers and asked your customer services to use these numbers for contact - you would see why numerous consumer web-sites advise a total boycott of these calls.

Status      Completed
Memo      Thank you for contacting us about our previous message. We always try to answer and deal with our customers calls as quickly and efficiently as possible. I apologise if you feel you have been waiting longer than you think is acceptable. However at times, we may experience a higher than normal number of calls coming into our customer service centre. When we do, this can affect our holding times. Our quieter periods are usually between 2.30pm to 4pm, so you may prefer to call us between those times. Please note that the cost depends on your service provider. This is capped at 5 pence per minute from landlines. Calls from mobiles may vary. It may also cost more to call from abroad. If you need any other help, please call us on 08458 400 400*. We're here 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. (*Typical call charge from a BT landline is 7p connection fee plus up to 2p per minute. Calls from other networks and mobiles may be higher. Calls may be recorded/monitored for training purposes.)

     
Date Submitted      02 October 2008
Subject      Transactions
Message      Completed 01 October 2008. I accept your apologies for the amount of time customers have to wait on your 0845 number, however I also note that you have chosen not to comment on the fact that these numbers are a complete con. Nor have you chosen to comment on the fact that most phone users these days have free calls to local and national land-lines. You have failed to answer my question as to why the landline number on your statements is only publicised as being for use by customers from abroad. I shall therefore be publishing your comments on the Martin Lewis Money Saving Expert site which has well in excess of 1,000,000 members, and an active boycott of these 0845 numbers.

Status      Completed. Thank you for contacting us about our phone service. I've passed your message onto our relevant department and they'll reply to you by letter within the next two weeks. I'm sorry that I can't give you an immediate answer.