HHeidy wrote on Aug 8
th, 2009 at 12:01am:
Thanks for your reply I forgot to mention I am in Southern Ireland so its TalkTalk Ireland Euroland
website
www.talktalk.ie I am on Talk Tariff 3 so I get unlimited Free Calls to landlines however Yes they say they do NOT know the price of the 0871 or 0870 Non Geographic Numbers based in the United Kingdom
They DO suggest you actually call the company to find out this is sharp practise
Any company should be able to tell you how much a service/product costs before you decide to purchase.
I'm also surprised that as Ideal World TV is available in Ireland that it does not have a number for viewers in that country. The 0871 number is a way of the TV station charging for calls to it. As you've found out with 0870, an international call to one of these numbers can be far more expensive than if called nationally from within the UK.
0845 and 0870 number call rates vary between providers with some allowing them in inclusive packages.
0843, 0844, 0871 and 0872 are generally the same across all landline providers. 0871 and 0872 are up to 10 pence per minute at all times, that's lower than 09 premium rate numbers. 0844 and 0843 are even lower at up to 5 pence per minute at all times.
If you need to call UK 0845 and 0870 numbers, then 18185 is useful. It is accessible through a geographical London (020) number and when you register, you enter the telephone number(s) you will be using the service from. I am assuming here, that it will allow non-UK numbers to be registered. The page for call rates through the 020 access number is
here.
18185 is operated by a Swiss company, Finarea, and it also operates a similar service in Ireland, Call13434. Depending on how often you call these numbers and the exchange rate, you might find it useful to register with one or both these services.
A useful site listing alternatives for 1890 and 0818 numbers in Ireland is
www.saynoto1890.com