Today I came across the
www.rufusroo.com website giving the following description of their 0844 number of 0844 824 6697 on their web page:-
Quote:Landline calls to us are at UK local rates, mobile and international calls will be higher.
In looking for an appropriate web page on the ASA website to tell them what the ASA is saying they should be saying about the cost of calling such numbers I came across their Committe of Advertising Practice's web page on 0843, 0844 and 0871 numbers at
http://www.cap.org.uk/Advice-Training-on-the-rules/Advice-Online-Database/Charge...This states that:-
Quote:Calls to 0843, 0844 and 0871 numbers are charged at a higher rate than standard calls on BT’s most popular call plan (BT Unlimited Weekend). CAP recommends that the cost of calling those numbers should be made clear in ads. See ‘Chargeable 08 numbers: General’. Calls to 0843, 0844 and 0871 numbers are charged at different rates depending on the numbers that follow the first four digits.
They then go on to say that :-
Quote:At present, for calls that are charged by the minute, we recommend: “Calls cost 10.9p plus up to Xppm from BT Unlimited Weekend Plan. Mobile and other providers’ charges may vary”.
Alternatively, if they know the total cost of the call, for example, because callers are being invited to hear a message of limited length or because calls are charged at a set price, marketers could state “Calls cost Xp from BT Unlimited Weekend Plan”.
Following my pointing out in a message to RufusRoo that by making the statement that are potentially committing a Criminal Offence under the Consumer Protection Act 1987 re Misleading Price Indications they have now removed the misleading statement regarding the cost of these calls being "local rate" but they have yet to replace it with a statement about the actual per minute calling cost.
I do find it more than a little disappointing indeed that a company that is selling wearable travel luggage to avoid ripoff low cost airline hold baggage fees should be trying to ripoff its own customers if they want to telephone it to ask questions about its products......
There is also further guidance on giving pricing information to customers about the cost of calling Chargeable 08 numbers in the CAP guide at
http://www.cap.org.uk/Advice-Training-on-the-rules/Advice-Online-Database/Charge...This states:-
Quote:The ASA has ruled that, because the BT rate for calls to 084x or 087x is sometimes different from the rate for calls to geographic numbers, marketers should no longer describe calls to those numbers as “local” or “national” to avoid misleading consumers. The ASA has also upheld against the word “Lo-call” (Emap Ltd, 6 April 2006).
CAP believes that, if the cost of calling an NTS number featured in a marketing communication is more than the cost of a phone call to a landline (01 or 02) using BT’s Unlimited Weekend package, the marcom should include pricing information that states the cost or the price per minute (ppm) of a call to BT customers: BT is the dominant residential call plan in the UK so information about costs from BT’s most popular plan (Unlimited Weekend) is meaningful to the most consumers.
Marcoms should state that the price of calls originating from non-BT call providers varies and, if space allows, that callers can check the price with their phone company (Windsor Telecom plc, 4 January 2006, and Langley Miniature Models, 6 April 2005).
If the cost of calling an NTS number is always less than the cost of a call for BT’s Weekend Unlimited customers to a geographic number made at the same time (for example calls to 0845 numbers), CAP recommends that no pricing information has to be given.
At the end of 2009, BT aligned the maximum cost that its residential customers are charged for calls to 0870 numbers with standard rates for UK calls. CAP now recommends that pricing information about the cost of calls does not have to be included in marketing communications containing an 0870 number because the cost of calling is never higher than the cost of a standard call on BT’s most popular residential package, Unlimited Weekend Plan.
So I think that fully covers off the issue of what the ASA currently has to say about requirements for giving information consumers about 084 and 087 prefixed phone numbers.
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local call rate (Read 25,904 times)
