http://www.nottinghamshire.gov.uk/home/newshome/newsarticle.htm?id=104003&Counci...;

<<08:00, 30 Jun 2008

In Notts? There's only one number to remember.

If you've got questions about council services, get in touch: call us on 08449 80 80 80.

...

The customer service centre is open from 8am to 8pm Monday to Friday and from 8am to 12 noon on Saturdays. It is closed on Sundays and bank holidays.

Calls to 08449 80 80 80 cost 3p per minute from a BT land line regardless of the location and the time of day the call is made. Call charges from other operators and mobile phones may vary.
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No mention of the comparative cost of previous numbers. The hours of service, early evening and weekend when this may be used by many who work during weekdays, would make it seem particularly expensive. At less than 4p per minute, it is likely that the Council (taxpayers) is also paying to receive calls.

(see also Norwich City Council)

SilentCallsVictim wrote on Jul 4^th, 2008 at 4:05pm:

Last two of several corresponances between me and Notts CC. There reply is shown first to my email shown after. Note this is after several other emails going back and forth, but i guess you can guess how they went 

How on earth did their own Trading Standards not know of a Trading Standards guidleline. I think it will be very effective to point this out to councils who break these guidelines. The Trading Standards document is number 180805.


Dear Sir

Thank you for your email of the 5 August 2008.  I would like to thank you for bringing to my attention the guidance regarding special service numbers.  I have arranged to print a public apology in the autumn edition of County News and will ensure that any future publicity material is amended accordingly.

The Authority has introduced a single telephone number to make it easier for customers to contact the Council.  Calls are directed to the right people, with the rights skills, first time – ensuring they are dealt with more efficiently and answered more quickly.  Customers are able to contact the Council over a period of extended opening hours.

Whilst customers with contracts that provide free calls will not always benefit from the change in number, others will benefit.  Due to the wide range of telephone packages available to people today, it would have been impossible to accommodate the individual requirements of every resident.   

I acknowledge that the 03 number range is included within some call packages but the organisation receiving calls from the 03 number range has to pay a pence per minute charge for each inbound call it receives.  I can assure you that the Authority does not earn any income from the use of 08449 80 80 80.

Once again, I do apologies and thank you for the points you have raised.

If you are not satisfied with the response to your complaint, the next step would be to ask for an investigation to be carried out on behalf of the Chief Executive of the County Council.  If you wish to do so, you are invited to contact –

                            ----------------

How on earth can trading standards not know of their own guidelines. Here are some quotes that I have cut and pasted from their own guidelines on Special Services Telephone Numbers. As you can see it is quite clear (in particular I have made bold and underlined the offence you have committed). You are committing a criminal offence by describing your number as such. I have also copied and pasted the potential penalties for doing so from the same trading standards guideline document. Quote:


"You should not use the terms 'local rate' or 'national rate', or any reference to local or national rates. You should also not use words which could imply a local or national rate (e.g. 'Lo-call', 'low rate', 'National call', 'standard rate')."


Also:


"you should not:
• state that callers will be charged local or low rates for 084x numbers;

• state that callers will be charged national or standard rates for 087x numbers;

• state that callers will be charged the same rates regardless of where in the UK they call from (unless you make it clear that this is also the case for ordinary geographic numbers for most callers).


Also:

Under the Consumer Protection Act 1987, it is an offence to give misleading price indications to consumers, and an unlimited fine can be imposed as a penalty. Liability can extend to the business which provided the number, if they gave incorrect pricing information to the advertiser.


I notice you have effectively made this statement again in another announcement, quote:


"We have chosen an 08449 number to make it fair to everyone because under the old system certain pockets of the county were having to make calls at national rates rather than local ones."


This is just untrue (hence the trading standards guidelines). In 2004 the distinction between National and Local Rate calls were removed completely. Since then it has cost the same to call Lands End as it does to call your next door neighbour.

Unless I see a public retraction of these untrue statements it is my intention to make a formal complaint with the intention of bringing about a criminal prosecution. As a public body you should not be making such claim.

It is also worth noting that you completly ignored the fact that 03 numbers are set up to be included in all call packages because unlike 0844 numbers there isn't any revenue sharing) and hence cotrary to what you have stated they will effectively be substantially cheaper (ie free) for nearly all callers.

   

Keith,

Well done on all your efforts so far.

However as they have apparently refused to back down and either provide an official geographic alternative to the 0844 or introduce an 03 replacement number can you not continue your complaint to deadlock with the Chief Executive and then take the complaint on to the Local Government Ombudsman for their adjudication?

Interesting to note that Nottinghamshire County Council's Social Care Services Emergency number is 0300 456 4546

http://www.nottinghamshire.gov.uk/home/social_care/ss-main-contactss.htm

http://www.nottinghamshire.gov.uk/edt-dec08.pdf