Ofcom's new rules require they declare the Access Charge, not the bundled prices, set the same level Access Charge for all 084, 087, 09 and 118 numbers, and charge the call using their Access Charge plus the correct Service Charge rate for the number called.

They would have a big problem if they bill the customer 3p per minute and then have to pay out up to 7p/13p per minute, as that would also be a serious breach of the new version of Ofcom's General Condition 17.

Ofcom staff apparently believe their own myth, that users of 08x numbers will publicise their service charge. Many will not, unless callers complain. Many will not, even if callers do complain. And few callers will bother to complain to the ASA.

Meanwhile, I have insisted on logging a formal complaint with Ofcom that Ofcom does not make available on its website a list of all 08x number ranges and the corresponding service charge. I realise that such a list will be long. But it could be made more consumer-friendly than the spreadsheets telcos used to bury deep in their websites 08bcdef = g309 (and so on for 209 pages).

I hope other readers of this thread will consider also complaining to Ofcom.

The next myth is that telcos will get the billing right.

I made a test call to 0845 6006000, formerly used by Co-operative Bank for its credit card, now replaced by 0345 6006000. Because of the Co-op Bank's ineptitude, the call still connected.

Our "recent calls" list from EE includes

Quote:


"NonGeo Local" has, of course, been nonsense for many years. It is now inspissated nonsense.

Note that EE does not state that this is the service charge, only, and does not show an access charge of 0.000. (In contrast, all our calls to 01 02 03 and mobiles are listed with a charge of 0.000.)

Any clues about what SC6A means?

There is, of course, no way I can find out what the service charge for the 0845 600 range is. The Co-op Bank doesn't state it, because they no longer publicise this number. So I don't know whether it's 1p a minute, and we're being charged for a whole minute (sans VAT), or 5p a minute, and we're charged for 11 seconds, or what.

Ian01 wrote on Jul 5^th, 2015 at 9:35pm:

Many thanks Ian! I can now be the only EE customer who understands their bill! Hope they do improve the layout, and scrap the NonGeo Local garbage.

Dozens of sites have published lists or have lookup functions. Lists are available from EE, Vodafone and TalkTalk.

There are hundreds of differences between them. The point is that service providers should be declaring these charges.

bigjohn wrote on Jul 6^th, 2015 at 7:40pm:

Many thanks. Magenta's site is most impressive. Assuming it's almost always accurate, shouldn't it be prominently mentioned on this website? And it looks like I was mistaken to demand that Ofcom provides a list? And maybe the Fairtelecoms campaign also doesn't need to?

As mentioned in the Clear Call Rates for Everyone thread we are actively engaged in belated efforts to sort out provision of a definitive list of applicable Service Charges. This is important both for the industry and a potential reference point for consumers.

It is however vital that (notwithstanding a need that must be met) nothing is done to remove the obligation of Service Providers who choose to impose a Service Charge on their callers to declare it. The relationship between the organisation that imposes this charge and those who have to pay it must be properly fulfilled - that must include specifying the charge and thereby having to justify it. There must be no opportunity to pass it off as being something that is a function of the telephone industry.

The telcos have long used 084 numbers as a way of shifting costs from their direct customers onto consumers in general. Making those who adopt the numbers carry that responsibility is an important step in ending their misuse.


We are also concerned about the publication of extensive tables of Service Charge number ranges and charges being used as a means of making tariff tables even less accessible than they were previously. One clear objective of "Clear Call Rates for Everyone" was to remove the need for such extensive price lists, so that the relevant and important information would become more accessible. One reason for us pressing for a single definitive publication is to make it possible for telcos to be prohibited from cluttering up their price lists in this way - under the pretence of helping consumers.