It is very difficult to have to class organisations that do genuinely "good work" along with ripoff merchants, but this is what we must do.

If they were to explain that many potential volunteers are happy to make a modest contribution towards the adminstrative costs of handling their enquiries, to make this fact clear to callers then I would have much more sympathy.

To lose the subsidy of operating costs that is provided by revenue sharing would make a hole in the budgets of many charities. Unless the fact that callers are making a donation by calling a revenue sharing number is made plain, then there can be no justification for this underhand method of funding.

I personally feel that charities which need to raise money from telephone calls should always do so openly, by using properly recognised 09 premium rate service numbers. These are well known as being revenue sharing and the calling cost must be declared.