I see there are some numbers in the database (more on this later) but there does not seem to be a thread.   I am looking for an alternative number for Worcester Bosch to the 0844 892 9900 number which they now publish.  The address is: Cotswold Way, Warndon, Worcester WR4 9SW.   Oddly, on the back of the brochure of a part fitted to our boiler yesterday, they give their telephone number as 01905 754624; however, as another post says in the database, this no longer works and callers are referred to the 0844 number.   The 01905 752936 number is permanently engaged; the only geo number which does work (although for how long I cannot say) is 01905 752640 for Sales who will happily transfer callers to the service dept. but they close at 5pm whereas Service Dept is open until 8pm.  I did raise the issue with the member of staff when I had to use the 0844 number a few minutes ago (I had requested a call back in view of the cost) as they have also discontinued the 0845 numbers in favour of 0844 & her response was that they used 0844 "in case they relocate so they don't have to change the number"!!   I explained to her that they could have an 03 number which would allow the same continuity but without the premium rate charge!  I asked this to be made a complaint & she said she would forward my comments.   We are thinking of taking a service/repair contract with them but I'm not happy to do this while they use rip off numbers.   Pse also refer to my comments under the thread Which? attacks two tier fees (or similar), I really don't want to pay 0844 costs to hear WB tell me how wonderful Which? think they are & how many awards they have been given by Which?!!!

Any help with an alternative geo number for the Service Dept would be great, also perhaps the database entry could be tidied up in view of my experiences with non-working numbers.   Thank you.

Thanks for that Dave.   Now the boiler engineer has gone (finally, we hope, they say they repair 98% of problems first visit, our boiler was one of the 2%!!), I will give some of those numbers a try over the next few days and report back here.

Dave

Just to let you know Buderus already list 01905 number for spares on their site http://www.buderus.co.uk/buderus-uk-commercial-boiler-company-information/buderu...

Ah ok sorry Dave,

I decided to give Worcester Bosch my feedback over the use of an 08 number to contact them on. I will await their reply via e-mail.

Good Morning, as promised here is the full dialogue with them.

I sent them the following message via their "contact us" form yesterday:

"I am contacting you to express my astonishment that Worcester Bosch have decided to use an 0844 number. Are you aware of the cost of calling such a number from a mobile phone? I am aware this is not the charge you make, but you have decided as a company to use this number, as opposed to keeping an 01 number for ALL of your contacts. Why exactly has Worcester Bosch decided to do this? Why not use an 03 number instead? They provide the same functionality as an 08 number but with NO additional cost passed onto the caller. More information is available: http://ask.ofcom.org.uk/help/telephone/03number"

It was simple and designed to see what "truths" they sent back.. and here is the response:


"Thank you for your email.

The changes to our telephone numbers were made to ensure that we could improve the service that we provide to all of our customers.  Historically we have used a variety of different telephone numbers within our customer service department, which included both 0870 and 0845 numbers as our main points of contact.

These numbers, are disliked because they offer businesses the opportunity to earn revenue from their customers and whilst we only ever received a nominal amount of revenue, changing to 0844 numbers means that we will no longer receive revenue from any customer who is contacting our business.

Further to this cost improvement, the change to 0844 numbers has enabled us to negotiate an extremely low call rate of three pence per minute from most networks, which for many customers will result in a cost saving, when directly compared with contacting us via geographic numbers.  In addition to this, we need to provide continuity of service to our customers, irrespective of any business of service disruptions and this can only be done by using non-geographic numbers.

Whilst this explanation may not be comprehensive, we trust that it will go some way to demonstrate the intent behind our decision

Should you require any further assistance then please feel free to contact us online www.worcester-bosch.co.uk, or alternatively please telephone 0844 892 3000 during our normal operating hours of 7am to 8pm Monday to Friday, 8am to 5pm Saturday and 9am to 12pm Sunday and we will be happy to assist you.

Kind regards,"

If anyone would like to pick out any points and draft a suitable response for me to give I would be most grateful.

Quote:

Just because YOU no longer earn any revenue doesn't mean the caller pays any less to make the call.  0844 numbers still contain a "service charge" element, monies paid by the caller that are passed on from the callers telco to the provider of your telephone number and service.

Quote:

What cost improvement? There is none. The caller is paying MORE to call you than before. Calls to 0844 numbers cost very much more than calls to 01, 02 and 03 numbers.

Quote:

You have no ability whatsoever to negotiate the price the caller pays to call your 0844 numbers. People calling you from mobile phones on a contract with free minutes will pay nothing to call 01, 02 and 03 numbers but will pay up to 41 pence per minute more to call your 0844 numbers, all this just so your provider can earn 3 pence per minute service charge from every call made to your numbers.

Quote:

Untrue. And easily proven to be so, as shown below.

This blatant lie should be referred to the Advertising Standards Authority for immediate action, especially if you can also find any place where WB claim 0844 numbers to be "local rate". The ASA have already slapped a number of other companies for promoting this untruth.

If Worcester Bosch want to "do the right thing" they should change to an 0344 number without delay. All 03 numbers are charged at the same rate as 01 and 02 numbers and always included in call packages.
To facilitate easy migration, the 034 and 037 numbers are reserved for the exclusive use of the holders of the matching 084 and 087 numbers.

The uninformed and misguided reply from WB appears to parrot junk that their provider has fed them in order to hoodwink them into changing to the more expensive 0844 system, or is written by someone who has no clue whatsoever as to how and what callers are charged to make calls to various types of numbers. However, having signed a contract of supply, they'd probably now find it difficult to back out from that. As noted above, 03 numbers should now be used for these services and WB's supplier should allow that change without penalty.

WB probably have no idea about the EU-led telecoms changes coming next year. Time they woke and got a clue.

Thanks catj,

I will if that's ok with you, take some of this information and formulate a reply to send to them....

hopefully it may not only show them the error of their ways but perhaps convince them to reveal a Geographic alternative.

Other number shown on their page are geographic.

Dave this is Excellent News!

Can they now be added to the Hall of Fame? It seems only fair... as they have clearly seen the error of their way's at last

Barbara I am sure will be happy they have moved to 03 numbers..

I think I may just e-mail them later to say how pleased I am.

Happy New Year to us all!