Hi

Not strictly 0870, I know, but has anyone else been caught by and 07099 number?  I made two calls to an otherwise respectable tradesman recently who was only contactable by an 07099 number, which I now know is a code which redirects my call from phone to phone until answered.

What I didn't know, until I got my phone bill very recently, is that they cost 40p a minute.  I have emailed my tradesman expressing my displeasure, and suggested he made clear the cost of the number in his adverts.

The best people to complain to are www.ofcom.org.uk who allowed the aburd situation of a premium rate number class charged at up to 50p per minute to be put on a prefix that looks like a mobile number and is not regulated by the premium rate regulator ICSTIS.  But then this would be the same Ofcom who has allowed Jersey mobile numbers charged at international call rates to be put right in the middle of the 079 mobile number range.

In Ofcom's consultation document The Future of Numbering they propose to move these 090 covert premium rate call redirection numbers on to an 06 prefix code but so far damn all has happened about implementing it.

My advice would be that any tradesman who uses an 070 number is one you should not be giving your business to.  Also if he put the number in an advert and did not give the rate in pence per minute in the advert and so left the impression it was a regular 07 mobile number you may be able to complain to the Advertising Standards Authority who have already ruled that 084 and 087 numbers cannot be described in advertisements as local and national rate.

In my view any tradesman who uses 070 numbers to contact him is either a crook or very stupid and either way someone not worth dealing with.

I have indeed informed him of my displeasure on discovering how much the calls cost me - via his email address.  I haven't had a reply though.

One question - do these 07099 numbers make money for the people who use them (like my tradesman), or do they simply provide the redirection service?  Thanks.

Hmm... you can get 0871's for free that redirect internationaly, even to some mobiles.  OK, it's not the cheapest prefix, but it's better than 070!   (eg. from here - click Description, then Which Service do I Need? [disclosure - affiliate link])

Years ago, back when they very first became available, I used to have an 07050 number i gave out instead of my mobile, but now just have a redirect-on-no-answer on the home phone, since thats the number people actually call us on, and I'm happy to stand the cost for the few calls we actually get.  I used to run some 0870 numbers, too, for an online business, and that was specifically because when the phone rang, I could then tell what the number dialed was, so could answer approriately. 

As it happens, back on topic, the washing machine bloke I use (twice..) also has an 070 number, and as a tradesman, I've found him very reliable, and fairly cheap..   I'll have to educate him about the call costs should I need to contact him again..