Source: Hastings Observer

http://www.hastingsobserver.co.uk/newshastings/Council-defends-call-charges.3647...

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Council defends call charges

By Richard Morris

Council bosses have come under fire after it was discovered people phoning up to complain are getting charged for the privilege.
A chance Freedom of Information Request made by a member of the public revealed ringing any council number which begins with 0845 will result in a charge - even if it is to complain about poor service.

Departments which use an 0845 number include animal nuisance, benefit information, food hygiene and safety, fraud investigation and health and safety.

Even the council's general inquiries line incurs a cost.

However, Hastings Borough Council has been quick to point out these are not premium rate numbers and the cost is only the same any other local call.

The 0845 numbers were introduced two and a half years ago to help the council handle all its external calls.

Using this system means council staff can re-direct lines when necessary with no disruption to services.

One criticism of the council was that it was making money on the back of the scheme but Council Spokesman Caroline Pattenden denied this. She said: "It is not an extra charge to the public.

"We handle 20,000 calls each month and have had only a handful of queries about this system since it started.

"Our service provider gives us a refund on our overall phone bill, based on the number, duration and time of calls we receive. This discount plays a very minor part in reducing the £50,000 bill we receive each year.

"This saving is ploughed back into reducing our overall telephony costs.

"Where appropriate, we do still advertise direct lines for residents to reach individual officers."

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The people of Hastings have been busy writing to the Hastings Observer about this.

Letters to the editor - 23 November 2007

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Phoney plan
SEVERAL months ago Hastings Borough Council abandoned publicising its geographic telephone numbers starting 01424 in favour of numbers starting with 0845 on the pretext of convenience to the public.
It would have been clear at the time to council bosses that the new numbers are not included in inclusive minutes or discount packages that many now enjoy when calling geographic telephone numbers and residents of Hastings who wish to contact the council are therefore having to pay more than is necessary. It might only cost from a BT line max 5p, but it could be free.
Numbers prefixed by 03 have been released by Office of Communications (Ofcom) and they describe the recently released numbers saying: '03 numbers were introduced by Ofcom as an alternative number for organisations, including public sector bodies, who wish to offer their consumers a single, trusted point of contact.
Calls to 03 numbers will cost the same or less than calls to 01 and 02 prefixed numbers and will be included as part of any inclusive minutes or discount package. These rules will apply to calls from any type of line including mobile, BT, other fixed line or payphone.'
Because of the cost savings offered to mobile telephone users as well as fixed lines it is now time that Hastings Borough Council considers the introduction of an 03 number or to advertise their geographic number, and that will remove the current cost to some residents when calling their council using the 0845 prefix.
BOB HART
Hastings
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Letters to the editor - 25 January 2008

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On the line
Hastings Borough Council spokesperson, Caroline Pattenden, is being disingenuous by claiming that callers to the council using an 0845 number to complain (Jan 11) are not paying an extra charge.
Her claim that the phone company gives a refund on the overall phone bill is technically true, but makes it sound as though this is inadvertent with no adverse effect on the caller.
0845 numbers are chargeable to callers at a variable but lower rate than some premium rate calls, such as 0870. Calls can be costly, particularly from a mobile phone.
The only reason that the council will have contracted for this service is to generate revenue, which is shared between them and their phone company.
The council will not generate revenue if callers ring a 01424 number. These 0845 calls generate revenue because their cost is not included in the inclusive packages, which most people now have, from both landline or mobile operators,.You will always pay extra for 08 calls on any inclusive package.
The council and the phone company perhaps think we will not notice these extra costs, but it is iniquitous that state-run services charge us extra to call them.
We do not have a choice of service provider like borough councils and there is a captive audience.
Hastings borough is certainly not alone in charging this way, but it is another example of paying again for what we already pay for.
Such is the public outcry that Ofcom, the phone regulator, will soon be releasing 03 numbers which will be part of inclusive phone packages, so no extra charges.
This will soon expose those who simply want to charge extra. We shall see how quickly services transfer to these new numbers.
As Caroline Pattenden claims, where appropriate, they do publicise direct lines. All premium rate numbers connect through ordinary geographic numbers, in our case 01424 numbers.
I am sure we shall soon see the borough's switchboard number publicised on its website, rather than only the 0845 number. This must be an appropriate place to reveal the 01424 numbers, unless the council is simply trying to make money from us after all
Brian Rockell
by e-mail
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cont...

Ask the Leader - Questions put to the council's leader.

Quote:

These two questions get the same answer. Mr Pragnell admits that the council receives revenue payments of 0.6p "peak" and 0.1p "off-peak".

The suggestion that telephone providers could include them in "any packages" is quite ridiculous. If he is talking about inclusive packages, then no telephony provider will allow that because of the possibility of "artificial inflation of traffic". In such cases, someone could get a 0845 number which provides revenue and call it from an inclusive package, leaving the call on for a long time. This will generate revenue for no cost, which obviously comes from the telcos.

He goes on to say "or whether they continue to charge those calls at the local rate." Quite clearly one's "local rate" is the cost of a local call, which varies from tariff to tariff as a result of the free market in call origination. It is 0 pence per minute for those on inclusive packages. National calls are charged at "local rate" for the vast majority of telephone users.

Hastings Borough Council chooses to define "local rate" at an archaic rate, not inline with that of "local" calls. It's like it doesn't recognise or respect the free market. How ironic is it therefore that it has changed telephone provider in order to save?

Quote:

It's a pity that Hastings Borough Council doesn't give a fraction of the consideration it gives to its own budget to those of its taxpayers who need to phone up.

Why does it choose not to publicise the alternative numbers? Is it because it receives revenue and doesn't want to loose this? Or is it because it is constantly changing its telephone numbers as the responses from the leader suggests? Why keep changing numbers? As Hastings Borough Council is based in, erm, Hastings, then choose where the council moves to, it will be within the 01424 area code.

As I say, there's no excuse for not providing the alternative numbers with a note to say they may change and that the 0845 numbers will always put calls through.

Quote:

If the "majority" of callers are better off with 0845 numbers, then perhaps the free market in call origination has not reached Hastings yet and everyone has a landline. Mobile phones are obviously not very prevalent either.

Again, more nonsense that those on inclusive packages who pay nothing (0 pence per minute) for a local geographical call have a different "local rate" for 0845 calls.

It is, according to Mr Pragnell, the telcos' fault that they choose not to make 0845 calls inclusive, thereby leaving themselves open to "artificial inflation of traffic" whereby one may aquire a 0845 number and call it at no extra cost to generate revenue. This obviously comes from the telcos which operate to generate profit rather than charities and they do not have the ability to print their own bank notes.

There is the further possibility that it actually costs the originating telcos more in "wholesale" call charges which allows the revenue in the first place. Are free lunches common in Hastings?

Quote:


Judging by the number of questions to the leader and letters to the editor of the Hastings Observer, it is quite clear that the citizens of Hastings object to the use of these numbers. Yet the council leader maintains that they are somehow charged at "local rate" and that its new telephony supplier cannot offer a solution on 01424 numbers which can be switched around between offices at the drop of a hat.

BT lowering the cost of 0845 and increasing the cost of geographical calls didnt help us at all.

Dave wrote on Apr 29^th, 2008 at 10:23pm:
Obviously Mr Pragnell has no idea how NTS calls work.  He probably just thinks it's another number that allows them to receive revenue and change the geographical destination number the 0845 (effectively) transfers to.

Another letter to the editor of the Hastings Observer:

Letters to the editor - 30 May 2008
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Phone rip-off
COULD someone explain why I can 'phone my son in California or my daughter in Spain or my sister in Scotland at nil cost but to report non-emptying of my bin to the Town Hall, less than a mile away, I have to pay for the call on their 0845 number? - I don't know how much because they don't say. I'm 82-years-old so perhaps I'm missing something.
MARGARET CASTRO
Hillyglen Close
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Source: Sussex Express

http://www.sussexexpress.co.uk/479/Hastings-Tories-blasted-over-sudden.4320262.j...

Hastings Tories blasted over sudden change in council phone number

Published Date: 24 July 2008
By Richard Gladstone

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A row has broken out between councillors over the sudden change in the main council phone number.

Opposition members at Wednesday's meeting blasted ruling Tories for displaying 'staggering incompetence' by not informing residents of the change.

They also said people were being left stuck in queues on the phone.

Cllr Godfrey Daniel said: "It's staggering incompetence and disgraceful that the council should change its main telephone number without informing the public.

"What's worse, if you ring the old number you are not automatically transferred to the new number and have to redial.

"This is wasting people's money. Surely they deserve better?"

Cllr Jeremy Birch said residents were waiting up to 25 minutes to get through to someone at the council.

He said the areas where people were waiting a long time were the benefits department and refuse and recycling.

Cllr Birch said £77,000 was saved in administration costs in the environment department but no new staff had been recruited to fill vacant posts.

He said: "Had these posts been filled people would have been there to answer the phones."

Cllr Richard Stevens said: "I tried to ring in the other day to give my apologies about not being able to attend a meeting but it was impossible to be put through to the right people.

"If you are going to change the main council number you have got to reallly put this in banner headlines."

But Cllr Keith Bing dismissed Cllr Birch's claims that people were waiting up to 25 minutes on the phone as 'a load of baloney'.

"I find this criticism an absurdity," he said.

The matter of staffing at the contact centre has been referred back to the cabinet for re-examination.

A council spokesman said: "The change of one telephone provider to a number involves a change of number, and that is exactly why the council introduced 0845 numbers for public use some years ago, because they have been kept the same throughout the process.

"Using 0845 numbers allows the 'real' telephone number to be changed behind the scenes without changing the publicly advertised number.

"Council numbers used to start with 78, most now start with 45, and the main switchboard changed from 781066 to 451066 last week.

"However, the publicly advertised number, 0845 274 1066, has remained unchanged, so anyone using this number will have had no problem getting through.

"The main switchboard was the last busy number to be changed, and no further number changes are planned, so we will now be phasing out the use of 0845 numbers over the coming months."
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