Source: ClickAJob

http://www.clickajob.co.uk/news/companies-criticised-for-using-expensive-phone-h...

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Companies criticised for using expensive phone helplines
29-05-2008

A new report has criticised a number of major companies and government agencies for using expensive phone helplines to make money at the expense of consumers.

The report published by Which? today names over 30 organisations, including British Gas and Barclays, which are deliberately charging higher rates to make money.

The companies in question use the higher-charging 0871, 0870, 0844 or 0845 numbers for customer service or technical support lines.

Organisations that use these numbers can share revenue from calls with the phone service provider, and therefore the longer a customer stays on the line, the more money the organisation makes.

Communications watchdog Ofcom introduced special 03 phone numbers last year to stop companies making money out of 0870 numbers.

Which? however, found that none of the companies checked in its survey had switched to the new number.

British Gas, AOL and DVLA made researchers wait the longest on the phone, with one call to AOL being held for 15 minutes at a price of 75p a minute.

Editor of Which?, Neil Fowler, said: "Why should you pay for the privilege of making a complaint or getting a problem fixed? It's unacceptable that companies and government agencies can make big money from people calling helplines.

"Check if there’s a cheaper phone number or ask the company to refund the call cost – it’s the least they can do if you’re calling about a faulty product or bad service."

In response, DVLA released a statement saying: "It is unfortunate that at peak times there are inevitably delays due to customer demand and these are issues which we are constantly trying to address."

However, the government agency denied it made any money out of the phone calls.

"DVLA is committed to transferring all its 0870 to 0300 numbers. That process is already underway but cannot be completed until Ofcom publishes its new guidance on the issue.

"DVLA does not make money from its telephone lines, any revenue collected goes back into providing valuable services to the public."
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Has the DVLA changed its contract so it doesn't receive revenue or this a complete lie?

We have still not established as to why the DVLA must wait until Ofcom "publishes guidance". The point is that Ofcom isn't publishing any guidance is it?

A very good report on this on the 8 am news on Radio 4. They got the facts right which is a big change for any report on this topic by anyone and with the (unforced) admission that the BBC are also at fault but they are putting it right. Hopefully more reports by the BBC today. It will be interesting if it comes up on Working Lunch.

I guess good publicity for the BBC and maybe the BBC will become advocates for change once they are no longer participating in the con.

Here is the report in full



http://www.which.co.uk/reports_and_campaigns/audio_visual/reports/phones/helplin...

Dave wrote on May 28^th, 2008 at 11:29pm:

That's Orwellian-speak for, "DVLA, an Agency already funded entirely by the taxpayer, made an extra £3.4 million last year from calls to its 0870 numbers - but didn't make any money because it spent that money on providing the service for which taxpayers already pay through their taxes."

So, if you get income but spend it, that's not making money then!  I spend all my income every month - so why am I taxed then?

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/7424910.stm

High-cost call 'culprits' named

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A consumer group has published a list of companies and government agencies it claims are using phone helplines to make money at customers' expense.

Which? names more than 30 bodies it says are using 0870, 0871, 0844 or 0845 numbers to profit from their callers.

These include Tiscali, British Gas, TV Licensing and the DVLA - which all take part of the cost of each call.

Which? says the DVLA made £3.4m from its 0870 line last year. The DVLA says it plans to switch to a cheaper number.

Organisations using 0870, 0871, 0845 and 0844 numbers are permitted to receive a share of the call charge revenue.

Examples of this include pay-as-you-go internet services, which often use 0845 numbers, and other companies who may use the revenue to fund the cost of keeping call centres open 24 hours.

However, other groups, such as charities, also use 0845 numbers and do not take a share of revenue.

These calls are charged at the standard local call rate of 3.95p/min from a BT landline, unlike calls to 0870, 0871 and 0844 numbers which all cost more.

Ofcom introduced 03 numbers last year, which cost the same as calling an geographic (01 or 02) number.

The watchdog plans to stop organisations making money from 0870 numbers but Which? said none of the organisations it checked with had switched to 03.

Some had simply switched from 0870 to other higher-cost numbers, it said.

The consumer organisation called customer helplines for broadband and utility companies and government agencies to see how long callers were kept waiting to speak to an agent.

It found British Gas, AOL and the DVLA kept people hanging on the longest, with average waiting times of around three minutes.

One call to AOL was held for more than 15 minutes, at a cost of 75p from a BT landline.

Which? is calling for all companies to switch their helplines and technical support lines from expensive numbers to cheaper 03, 0800 or geographic numbers.

Which? said a 10-minute call from a BT landline to a normal geographic line costs about 40p at most while the same call to 0845 or 0844 numbers could cost up to 60p and 50p respectively.???

The organisation's Nicola Frame told BBC News, the equivalent call would cost as much as £1 for an 0870 or 0871 number.

She said: "That doesn't sound like a huge amount, but when you think about how long people are hanging on the phone on some of these phone lines, it really adds up."

Whilst she acknowledged it was up to customers whether they called the higher-cost lines or not, she said it could often be hard to find a cheaper alternative.

However, she said many companies did have cheaper phone numbers and it was worth checking for these before calling, or finding out whether a query could be made by e-mail instead of by phone.

She said customers calling to complain about a faulty product or bad service who were kept waiting a long time on an expensive number should ask the company to refund the cost.

"A lot of the time people who are calling these numbers are making a complaint or asking for some support with the product and really we don't think customers should be paying big sums of money for that sort of help."

Call charges from BT landlines
0800 - free
0845 - up to 3.95p/min
0844 - up to 5p/min
0870 - up to 7.9p/min
0871 - up to 10p/min

HIGHER-COST HELPLINES
0871: Admiral Insurance, Bell Insurance, Elephant Insurance, Diamond Insurance, Nikon, Tiscali
0870: Apple (tech support), Carphone Warehouse/Talk Talk, DVLA, Gladiator Insurance, Lexmark, Philips, Sony, Zanussi-Electrolux
0844: AOL, Orange, Panasonic, Sky, TV Licensing
0845: Barclays, British Gas, Consumer Direct, Direct Line, Eon, Green Flag, Halifax, Lloyds TSB, Miele, Npower, Philips, Scottish and Southern Energy, Scottish Power, TV Licensing, Virgin Media

Source: Which?
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http://www.yorkshirepost.co.uk/news/Pull-plug-on-ripoff-numbers.4130550.jp

Pull plug on rip-off numbers, say phone activists

Published Date: 29 May 2008

By Mike Waites Health Correspondent and Jonathan Reed Political Editor

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TOP companies and Government agencies are today accused of a high-cost "rip-off" of callers forced to use expensive telephone helplines, prompting renewed demands for the numbers to be scrapped.

Scores of GP practices, three hospitals and three police forces in Yorkshire are among those using telephone numbers which can cost significantly more than ordinary local calls.

In a report, consumer group Which? names and shames businesses and publicly-funded agencies, including the TV licensing authority and the Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency (DVLA), that use higher-charging 0871, 0870, 0844 or 0845 numbers for customer service or technical support lines which are branded a "rip-off".

Organisations using the numbers can share the revenue from calls with the telephone provider – and the longer a customer stays on the line the more the organisation earns. Analysis by the Yorkshire Post shows more than 200 GP practices in the region use non-local numbers. Most surgeries in Sheffield, Rotherham and Barnsley use 0845 numbers while more than 50 surgeries in West Yorkshire have switched to 0844 lines. In contrast, only a handful of practices in Hull, Doncaster and North Yorkshire have adopted the systems.

Callers to the Wakefield-based Mid Yorkshire NHS trust also ring an 0844 number. Patients ringing the NHS Direct helpline and non-emergency callers to West Yorkshire, North Yorkshire and Humberside police forces ring 0845 numbers.

Telecom regulator Ofcom introduced 03 numbers last year, which cost the same as calling a geographic 01 or 02 number, and plans to stop organisations making money from 0870 numbers.

Which? found none of the organisations it checked had switched to 03 and some had moved from 0870 to other high-cost numbers.

It also called customer helplines to find out how long callers were kept waiting.

British Gas, AOL and the DVLA kept people hanging on longest, with average waiting times of around three minutes. One call to AOL was held for over 15 minutes at a cost of 75p from a BT landline.

Neil Fowler, editor of Which? magazine, called for a move to cheaper numbers.

He said: "Why should you pay for the privilege of making a complaint or getting a problem fixed? It's unacceptable that companies and government agencies can make big money from people calling helplines."

Campaigner Dave Lindsay of Doncaster, a spokesman for the website saynoto0870.com, said: "Callers should pay no more than the cost of a local call. With the NHS, there's the point of it being free at the point of need."

Liberal Democrat Shadow Work and Pensions Secretary Danny Alexander said: "The Government is profiting from people who often have no choice but to access their services via telephone. It is deplorable of the Government to double-charge people to access services such as the DVLA and Passport Office which they are already funding through their taxes. Ministers should make all essential Government helplines free as soon as possible."

The Yorkshire Post has already revealed the DVLA made £3.5m from 0870 numbers last year while the Department for Work and Pensions made more than £1.4m from 0845 lines over two years.

A 10-minute call from a BT landline to a geographic number costs 40p at most. But the same call can cost up to £1 to an 0870 or 0871 number, 60p for an 0845 number and 50p for an 0844 number.

Hi-tech IT firm NEG, which operates 0844 numbers for GPs, said some patients paid more, some paid less and some the same but that callers from mobiles could pay more depending on their providers' package.

More lines could be used during busy periods. Call duration was shorter, there was no engaged tone and if there was a queue callers were told where they were as they waited.

"We continually measure the service and the perception of the patient, and while there is of course a minority who don't like the system the vast, vast majority appreciate the improvement in service and would not wish to go back to the old way and the old number," said a spokeswoman.

The Mid Yorkshire trust, which runs hospitals in Wakefield, Pontefract and Dewsbury, said its 0844 number cost five pence a minute from any landline in the country and enabled it to deal with more calls at any one time. Extra income earned had been used to improve its telephone systems.

Police chiefs last year urged forces to consider dropping 0845 numbers or at least to make it clear that callers were not being charged at the local rate.
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Edited:

Also NEG said "but that callers from mobiles could pay more depending on their providers' package."

Name one where they don't pay more?