In response to Lawrence, 0845 was local rate up to 1st July 2004 when BT stopped such tariffs & pushed their inclusive packages.  What people using this site are generally seeking is an alternative number which won't cost them any more than a geographical number and are thus included in any package - for most purposes, this means numbers beginning 01, 02 & 03 (the last being the number recently introduced by OFCOM for those organisations who want a single number without geographical link but who do not want to cost their callers a "premium").  The premium often comes from a revenue share where the called party receives part of the sum the caller pays (the telecoms company receives the other part), this revenue share has been abolished on 0870 but still exists on 0844, 0871 (although this is regulated by other thas Ofcom, I think it is called PayphonePlus).   If you are not receiving anything on your 0845, I presume your telecoms company is keeping the whole premium paid by your callers, you may have views on this!   Also, you have to remember that 0800 numbers are not helpful to mobile phone users as they are not freephone for them and are charged, I believe, at a higher rate than normal calls.  It should also be remembered that calls from mobiles to 084X etc numbers can cost up to 40ppm.

In summary, you are probably best to promote your geographical number, or move to 03 if you wish.  I think I have got all this right, I'm sure the others will correct me if I am wrong!

Hi Guys

This is all NEWS to me and indeed are very interesting reviews. I am actually meeting with my Telecoms company tomorrow as they are trying to sell us a new phone system. I will enquire about the "03" numbers for all Warranty Wise phone numbers!

My only gripe with this at the moment is that a vast majority of people do not commonly recognize the 03 number as costing the same as an 01 or 02 number and therefore it could affect our incoming calls and have the opposite effect than it is supposed to! As i hope you can see, we do everything to comply with TCF (treating customers fairly) requirements and my overall aim is to be as consumer friendly as possible.

The only problem with our 01282 number is that the majority of consumers have unfortunately come to expect 0800 and 0845 numbers from larger companies and associate local numbers with smaller organisations... I think ofcom or whoever is in charge should do some major advertising to get the public to realise what these numbers are all about. Just talking to you guys has been a revelation to me and my warranty company!

Have you got space near the number for something like:

Calls to 03 numbers are inclusive in landline and mobile talk plans. Outside of inclusive plans, 03 numbers cost the same to call as 01 and 02 numbers.

Ofcom should have insisted on this already.

If anyone wants to improve the wording or challenge the facts, have at it.