The calls you wanted to make to that 03 number would not have cost you any more or less had you been calling an 01 or 02 number.

As there is no Service Charge within the call price, calls to 01, 02 and 03 numbers should be the cheapest chargeable calls you can make. This will become very clear when the "unbundled tariff" for 084, 087 and 09 numbers is introduced in 2015.

When you do not commit to an inclusive call plan for calls to 01, 02 and 03 numbers, the per-minute rate charged for these calls is usually very high. Nowadays, it makes sense to have an inclusive call plan on your landline or mobile or on both.

The out-of-plan call price seems extortionately high but it's merely set that way to make inclusive call plans seem more attractive. On a landline, it only takes about an hour of calls per month for an inclusive call plan to be cheaper.

bazzerfewi wrote on Feb 18^th, 2014 at 4:23am:

As explained by Ian G, the current reality is that if you use your phone to make calls (to "ordinary" numbers, at any particular time) it is almost invariably best to ensure that you subscribe to the appropriate package. Sadly not enough people understand this, so a campaign of information is certainly necessary.

Some people also fail to recognise that calls to 03 numbers cost exactly the same as calls to 01/02 numbers. It is therefore unquestionably fair for organisations such as HMRC to use 03 numbers and campaigning energies are required to reassure people on this point. It is therefore quite wrong to suggest that any alleged "rip-off" is particular to 03 numbers.

If you are arguing that telephone companies should be paid for calls to public services out of the public purse, when most callers pay have already paid for all of their calls 03 numbers, then that is a different point. I might say that this would be a rip off of the taxpayer.

The original issue with 0870 numbers was simply that they cost much more than an equivalent call to an 01 or 02 number and were not included in call packages.

Your issue with (01, 02 and) 03 numbers is that you are being charged a high rate for those calls if you do not sign up to a call plan. It is in no way a similar issue.
Presumably your provider also charges a high rate for calls to 084, 087 and 09 numbers.


Once the "unbundled tariffs" system is in place, I think things will become much more clear.

Tariffs will be something like:

01, 02, 03 - calls cost X p/min or inclusive in call plan (including termination charge much less than 0.1p/min)

07 mobiles - calls cost Y p/min or inclusive in call plan (including termination charge around 0.5p/min)

080 - free

084, 087, 09 - calls cost Z p/min Access Charge PLUS a per-minute or per-call Service Charge ("enhanced termination charge") to the benefit of the called party.

If X, Y and Z are either vastly different to each other or are set at an excessively high level consumers should have grounds to make a complaint.

At present it is not easy to compare prices because Z is hidden within the overall advertised call price.

For BT customers, Z is effectively zero and this will continue to skew their call prices until such time as the "NTS Retail Condition" is lifted.

Even then, BT may continue to offer inclusive 0845 calls, but it will be clear this is BT giving their own customers a discount on these calls.

(Calls to 0500, 055, 056, 070, 076 and non-standard mobile numbers ignored here.)

bazzerfewi wrote on Feb 18^th, 2014 at 11:59am:

As I read the topic of the thread, your point was that they were being "Ripped Off". Whether or not they benefit from the telephone conversation they choose to have is another quite separate issue, the point is that if calling a 03 number the only charge is that they accept from their telephone service provider.

Where call inclusive packages are offered (in some cases even with so-called PAYG arrangements), it is only those who make very few calls who do not find it worthwhile to subscribe - the break-even points are surprisingly low.

We may want to start a general discussion about the charges imposed for non-inclusive calls and for PAYG tariffs, but that would over all calls, not just those to 03 numbers.

I don't understand the point the OP is making. It strikes me that it may be that the point being made is not relevant to the title of the thread.

I suspect that your main point is that the incidental "per minute" cost of geographic rate (01, 02 and 03 equally) calls for pay as you go users is very high. This is a separate matter and not one specifically related to the uptake of 03 numbers.

I don't understand why you have singled out the Virgin Media landline service here as it is not a mobile service and it does offer an all-inclusive option which would mean the cost of such calls would be zero. As you have said, you make calls from your mobiles which is why you haven't opted for the inclusive package on your landline.


As an aside, if your policy is to make calls from mobile telephones then why might this vary for 03 as against 01 and 02? Surely it would be the same.

bazzerfewi wrote on Feb 19^th, 2014 at 8:58pm:

You have finally identified the "rip off" - it has nothing to do with 03 numbers as such, as it relates to the way in which many people are paying too much for all of their calls to geographic rate numbers.

The most inclusive packages are not "expensive", as you claim - well certainly not when set against the penalty charges imposed for "out of plan" calls to geographic rate numbers.

The fair telecoms campaign is working with Ofcom on this issue, using some valuable research done by DWP. We hope to draw more attention to this when DWP announces its switch to 0345, but with 0845 numbers retained to ease the impact of the "rip off" which some of their "customers" are suffering on their geographic rate calls.

I recognise that there will be some who will continue to publicise the phrase "03 rip off" when contributing to this thread, but then we campaigners have always had to compete with opponents and this discussion forum must accommodate all views.

Unfortunately that seems to be the trend with everything these days.
Buy a 10-pack of crisps and it costs £2. Buy a single bag and they want 65 or 75p.

With phone calls it takes only about an hour per month from a landline or a bit less per month from a mobile before a "bundle" is cheaper.
Many pay as you go deals come with an inclusive allowance of 01, 02 and 03 calls. I suspect that trend will continue.

Three offers a pay as you go deal with calls to 01, 02 and 03 numbers priced at 3p/min. Tesco and others are around 8p/min.
There's no need to be paying 20p/min or more for these calls.