I just saw a new outfit who call themselves "ZeroP" in the list of cheapest call providers for UK Geographic numbers.  We've been using 1899 for several years for daytime calls on our BT line, and have seen the connection charge steadily rise to 6p.   ZeroP charge 5p per UK call, so is cheaper, so I'm thinking of moving.

But no-one seems to have commented on them when I did a search.

Is anyone actually using them?  What are they like?  I note that they don't yet accept direct debit which I would prefer as I can just cut off a direct debit if anything is amiss with the billing.

I note BT is increasing its connection charge for calls to 9.01p per call from 1st October. That's an enormous increase in the past 12 months; it was just 6p per call a year ago.  Plus the per minute rate, now up to 5.25p.  So all the more reason to find a good alternative supplier.

This appears to be a new calling brand of the Callax group.  The same people who also run Abroadtel, Phonebird and Pennyphone amongst others. See www.zerop.co.uk/AboutUs.php to confirm this is the case and also note the links to Pennyphone UK and Pennyphone Germany on the www.zerop.co.uk home page   The big difference is that this appears to be the first Indirect Access number product from the Callax group who have previously only favoured the use of what I find to be the very annoying and rather cheating 0844, 0845, 0871 and 09 dial through service products.  I dislike dial through products intensely because you pay for a lot of time when you are simply having the call connected that is not actual call time to your destination and also the call connection on such products frequently fails altogether and/or the person you call may be out and not answer or their number may be engaged (all circumstances in which you would not be charged when using an Inidrect Access service like 18185).

However the connection fee for UK calls is actually 5p and not 4p and its only 4p for calls to the rest of the world.  In other words the same deal as www.18185.co.uk   However they also offer 0808 142 1301 for those with cable companies or WLR or fully unbundled LLU providers who block Indirect Access code use (thanks to Ofcom's idea of competition).  There is no mention of a fee being charged on your bill for connecting to the 0808 number as Finarea charges for its 08 service but I wonder if this is an omission so the only way to test this is to try making some calls using the 0808 number.  Alternatively have they found a way to connect calls using 0808 without charging an extra fee, unlike Finarea?  I note that they also offer 0161 404 1301 for those who have mobile phone bundled minutes packages and those calls presumably ends up on the same phone bill as those you make you make on your domestic phone line.

With all the Indirect Access Call Barring now in effect by non BT suppliers I had presumed that the Indirect Access call market was probably in its death throws, especially as most BT customers are now blackmailed in to taking a calls package unless they are a one person household (where call prefixing is possible) and/or have automated diallers they can program.  So its interesting to see this apparently new Indirect Access brand from Callax or has it existed all along and no one has spotted it before?  If the 0808 number was genuinely free to call for those with TalkTalk, Skytalk etc it could be a very interesting product.

Thanks for all the feedback on ZeroP aka 1301.
 
Yes, for UK calls the connection charge is 4p versus 5p for 1899, 18185 et al, so it is 20% cheaper. (I'd managed to add 1p to each)  We make a lot of daytime calls, but from two different BT numbers so it's not quite worth paying for the BT call-inclusive package, so 1899 has been a good deal.  

These people sound reasonably reputable, so I've rather reluctantly given them a credit card number.  It seems to work fine, although the message you get is rather long "This call will be charged at only zero per minute" and in what might be a dutch or german accent. You can switch it off, of course.

You probably have a little more reassurance about who Callax are than Finarea and Finarea's even more shadowy UK billing subsidiary - Connect Telecom UK - as at www.call1301.co.uk/index.php?pg=about it says:-

Quote:


and at www.call1301.co.uk/index.php?pg=contact they say:-

Quote:


Tower 42 is the old Nat West Tower in the City of London so unless this is a purely name plate address it suggests they probably have a rather more major UK operation than the Finarea telecoms group (owners of the 18866, 1899 amd 18185 Indirect Access call brands).

andy9 wrote on Aug 21^st, 2009 at 10:26pm:


I signed up tonight with this company just to have it as a backup to 18185 for weekday daytime calls once I move to Post Office Homephone from www.yourcalls.net in early September.

The calls connect fine and a very precise sounding German lady announces the cost per minute in English.  However an immediate oddity was that the CLI was presented on my mobile as +44xxxxxxxxxx if I used the 1301 access code from my landline but if I used the 0808 access number from my landline the number was presented normally on my mobile as being a domestic UK call as without the +44 prefix.

However there is no mention on their website anywhere of there being an additional handling fee for using the 0808 access number so for anyone with Virgin or a WLR supplier on a former BT line that blocks Indirect Access (eg TalkTalk) this could make 1301 a better choice for making low cost UK landline calls than 18185.  1301 also offers a zero p per minute rate to a handful of overseas countries including the USA whereas 18185 always charges something per minute.  However where they charge unfortunately 1301s overseas landline rates are more expensive than 18185 and most of their mobile rates (UK and overseas) are truly extortionate compared to 18185.

Another difference compared to 18185 is that you cannot see calls you have made recently before they are invoiced.  This is slightly annoying although doesn't matter much as long as their billing turns out to be accurate.

I will give an update report on their actual call charges and whether they charge 4p or 5p for a UK landline call once I have my first invoice from them.

BB wrote on Oct 5^th, 2009 at 5:05pm:


I was tempted to email Callax to point out their various logical inconsistencies in pricing but perhaps it is better to just go on using them at 4.6p per call for as long as possible as I expect otherwise they will make it 5p per call plus VAT for UK calls..........

I find www.poketalk.com and www.nonoh.net to be almost unuseable services so it looks like I will be sticking with 18185 and 1301 for my weekday daytime calls for the time being.

However I do find Callax's lack of immediate online billing and the need to wait for weeks to see the cost of calls rather disappointing compared to Finarea's various offerings with immediate online call history and call cost availability(18185, 1899 and 18866).

We've been using 1301 for a while - it was marginally cheaper than 1899 etc.
But I just spotted on our bill that they are now charging 1p/minute for UK calls.  That's confirmed by their website.

So the so-called "ZeroP" is no longer that, at least for UK calls.  
I've just cancelled our account with them and we will go back to 1899 or 18185.

Needless to say, there was no warning of the change (or at least not one that we spotted.)  Presumably the announcement before each call must have changed.

sherbert wrote on Jun 1^st, 2010 at 12:22pm:


I signed up a few months ago but only ever used them a handful of times when there seemed to be problems with 18185 not connecting my call (which usually turned out to be a fault with just that number and not with 18185).  Due to the conflicting information on their website about call cost I always expected that they were in fact charging 5p per call for a UK landline call.

So far I have never received a bill from them so they don't seem to have a maximum time period after which they bill you if you only have a small outstanding balance with them.