0845 / 0844 / 0870 illegal from tomorrow

[geoffb]

http://www.callcentrehelper.com/the-end-for-0845-numbers-63370.htm

I need to phone Tesco credit card .....

perhaps I will wait until tomorrow
http://www.tescobank.com/creditcards/contact.html
http://www.tescobank.com/creditcards/contact.html

Looks like there are going to be lots of illegal web businesses out there !!

 

[deniser]

There is no obligation to provide a phone number at all though so I wonder how many companies will just take the phone number away altogether and ask customers to email instead.

 

[martin_frost]

As this is yet more regulation I have simply removed our phone number. We get one call every few weeks and only have a number as no reason not to. As we are online only phone is rarely used by customers.

Secondly, is the issue not mobile providers charging extra for no reason, not companies with local rate numbers!

 

[deniser]

We don't use a premium rate number but we get more scam calls than genuine customer ones so if the public get used to there being no phone number then not necessarily a bad thing!

 

[promdressers]

As this is yet more regulation I have simply removed our phone number. We get one call every few weeks and only have a number as no reason not to. As we are online only phone is rarely used by customers.

Secondly, is the issue not mobile providers charging extra for no reason, not companies with local rate numbers!

0845 "Local" rate numbers are NOT local rate numbers - they are LO-CALL. Why on earth does any form use them? It is normally claimed by the big firms that it enables them to centralise operations, but for a small company they are, IMO, nonsense. The consumer may not have the numbers included on their land line package (I don't), and it is exorbitantly expensive to use them from a mobile. You may blame the mobile operators, but it is the business that decided to set up the numbers, for whatever reason.

 

[SuffolkDesigns]

The new regulation only makes them illegal for 'Customer Service', other departments such as 'Technical Support' & 'Billing Enquiries' etc can still use them.

 

[japancool]

The new regulation only makes them illegal for 'Customer Service', other departments such as 'Technical Support' & 'Billing Enquiries' etc can still use them.

I think both of those would fall under customer service. Anything to do with after-sales, if I'm reading it correctly. Sales lines can still use them.

The reason the mobile operators started charging silly money for them was because people were using them as access numbers to bypass the MNOs' ridiculously high call charges.

Back in the day, non geographic numbers made sense and gave you capabilities that normal landline numbers didn't. Nowadays, technology has caught up and you can do all of what you want on (virtual) geographic numbers.

Freephone numbers still make sense, but 0800 numbers are not free from most mobiles. I still don't understand why they had to introduce an entirely new range of numbers to do this, why not just tell the mobile operators to include 08* calls in their call packages?

 

[Virtual Phone Numbers]

I think both of those would fall under customer service. Anything to do with after-sales, if I'm reading it correctly. Sales lines can still use them.

Unless the actual service being used is a service which is paid for by the phone bill of the call.

From the government guide

I sell computers and offer technical phone support. I use a revenue sharing
arrangement with my telephone provider to fund this service. Does the
number have to comply with regulation 41?

12. Where a trader offers a technical support line, this need not come under
regulation 41, provided it is a discrete service, and not one on which the caller
is also expected to call to discuss problems with a purchase already made.
Provided the trader makes it clear that it is a separate service for which a
separate fee (paid for through the enhanced cost of the call) is payable and
not one for post purchase problems, regulation 41 will not apply. Horoscope
and weather lines are similarly excluded. Regulation 41 applies where a
phone line is offered which allows a customer to contact the trader about a
problem which may have arisen with a product already purchased or to
exercise cancellation rights.

 

[geoffb]

Parcelforce updated all their phone numbers about a month ago,

0845 are free from my landline phone, but 0844 aren't

Credit card customer services 0845 300 4278
Apply for a credit card (remember you can also apply online) 0845 300 4278
Make a claim against your payment protection insurance 0845 309 8765
Identify payment protection claims and queries 0844 848 4277
Card Protection Plus claims and queries 0844 848 2914



these are all customer helplines, so now illegal.

If I phone them, I can now take them to court to reinburse my phone costs !

 

[KM-Tiger]

What this demonstrates is that Ofcom remain about as much use as a chocolate fireguard when it comes to protecting consumers from telecoms industry scams.

 

[deniser]

Parcelforce updated all their phone numbers about a month ago,

0845 are free from my landline phone, but 0844 aren't

Credit card customer services 0845 300 4278
Apply for a credit card (remember you can also apply online) 0845 300 4278
Make a claim against your payment protection insurance 0845 309 8765
Identify payment protection claims and queries 0844 848 4277
Card Protection Plus claims and queries 0844 848 2914



these are all customer helplines, so now illegal.

If I phone them, I can now take them to court to reinburse my phone costs !

It doesn't come into force until midnight.

 

[NickGrogan]

So the regulator thinks it's better to create potentially 100's of court cases, increasing costs for business and customers than to "regulate" the price of calls?

Also spotted this

"June 2015 will see Ofcom alter 0800 and 0808 numbers so that they are free to call from mobile phones."

So they can regulate costs if they want to, but decided not to for 0845s. And why does is it take another year to fix 0800 numbers?

 

[promdressers]

So the regulator thinks it's better to create potentially 100's of court cases, increasing costs for business and customers than to "regulate" the price of calls?

Also spotted this

"June 2015 will see Ofcom alter 0800 and 0808 numbers so that they are free to call from mobile phones."

So they can regulate costs if they want to, but decided not to for 0845s. And why does is it take another year to fix 0800 numbers?

 

[promdressers]

I would say because the 0845 numbers will still be allowed for, say, general enquiries or quote requests. I, believe though, that firms are not allowed a profit share on these calls, so I don't see why they would be used, apart from masking the location of the call recipient.

Also, at least until a year ago, financial institutions were to be exempted from these regs - has that changed?

As far as the potential court cases are concerned, then that is the fault of the companies, and I am guessing, from your apparent standpoint, that you use them?

Technical helplines are allowed to continue to use premium rates - and in some cases that is fair, as they are used to gain a service outside of a warranty.

 

[NickGrogan]

I don't see why they would be used, apart from masking the location of the call recipient.

Given that technology allows any number to be ported to any location, this hasn't been a reason for many years.

As far as the potential court cases are concerned, then that is the fault of the companies.

As a consumer, this is the first time I've heard about this - it's not exactly been making headline news. Given that's the case, it wouldn't surprise me if some companies don't know about it. It also means that I have to forget the numbers I've memorised or stored in my phone and computer that begin 0845, so that's not really helping the consumer is it.

Ofcom can and do regulate prices, so why not simply rule that 0845 numbers are charged at the same rates as 01 numbers and must be included in mobile inclusive minutes. Simpler, easier to enforce and better to the consumer. Whilst they're at it they could clean-up the whole system.

Will they be compensating companies that have invested in advertising 0845 numbers?

and I am guessing, from your apparent standpoint, that you use them?

No, my numbers are 01/02. I had an 0800 number, but dropped it recently as people preferred to call the 01 instead.

My standpoint is "keep it simple", Ofcom's solution is overly complex

 

[silvermusic]

There is no obligation to provide a phone number at all though so I wonder how many companies will just take the phone number away altogether and ask customers to email instead.

Exactly what I've just done. I'm only a tiny one person operation and get so few genuine calls it's no longer worth my time.

 

[cjd]

No excuses, I did a thread on this ages ago!

http://www.ukbusinessforums.co.uk/t...e-selling-from-13th-june.325442/#post-2413734

By and large, the changes are a good thing and give traders more protection than the old DSRs. There's was never a good excuse for businesses to use 'premium' numbers on their websites - despite them being more profitable for telcos like mine - and I've raged against the practice for years. You can get an everyday 01 or 02 number for £2 per month, you'd have to be insane not to.

 

[Jet Virtual]

The truth is you could get an 01 and 02 number for free these days so it doesn't make sense to get an 08 number

 

[japancool]

Exactly what I've just done. I'm only a tiny one person operation and get so few genuine calls it's no longer worth my time.

I get very few calls, but my conversion rate on calls is around 75%, give or take. It's also the perception of it. My main competitor offers a mobile number buried on their About page. I whack mine in the site header.