Hi, Keith.   I don't think they would be bothered by members overseas having problems, it was made quite clear to me that this "broader" view is taken whereby if something upsets a "small" number of their 3.5 million members, that is just unfortunate but they would not change things for the benefit of that "small" number.   The lady who rang me admited she was no expert(!) on telephone issues which were dealt with at director level, she had merely been briefed to respond to my email, indeed she did not even seem over clear on what had been said in the magazine as some of her responses to my questions were contradictory.  [She was, however, outraged that GPs should use 0844 numbers while claiming she was sure profit had not been a motive for NT!!]

My original point was that the NT would have been better to stick with 0870 (I was assuming the OFCOM changes would go ahead) or move to 03 (and it seems the NT might be right it would cost them to receive calls which I accept would not be right for a charity).   Obviously, they could provide a geo equivalent but it was made quite clear to me they will not do that, there being "technical problems" (I think they should say financial!) in doing so.

Hi, Sherbert.   It is the number for their membership department & general enquiries so if, for example, they mess up the direct debit on your membership or fail to send membership cards etc in time, or you have a general enquiry about the Trust or membership, you would need to phone them, particularly as you might not want to wait for them to reply to emails (it can take weeks, believe me) or a letter (which would cost the price of a stamp with no guarantee any letter would arrive or elicit a reply).   Yes, the phone nos for the properties etc are in the handbook & are currently mostly geographical so that is not a problem UNLESS, of course, they start to change these to 0844 as well!

Barbara wrote on Oct 30^th, 2007 at 11:33am:


Fair enough.

I would just like to mention that if you need to cancel a direct debit and you have internet banking you can do it on line via your bank. However you can't do anything else. I know you probably didn't want to do this but I just thought I would mention this.

Thanks for that info, bbb_uk.   I was told that they had centralised their membership dept at Heelis (from where I was called) so the multiple call centre bit would not apply.  I think the person who rang me did so in good faith but had been briefed with a very selective version of the facts.   From your point about them being charged for calls to 0870 in the future, that is evn more proof that the ONLY reason for changing to 0844 is their own financial gain!   I have still not heard from Fiona Reynolds, despite making clear during the phone call that I expected a reply from her.  I think the time is approaching when I must approach members of the Board of Trustees will the explicit accusation that the change is PURELY for financial gain by the NT at the expense of members who have already paid a fairly considerable membership fee.