BAN THIS SICK FILCH: Which? demands end to £1.50-per-min 'help' lines

menus

Charging to phone and complain, long queues with messages that say how busy they are at the moment ( instead of putting more staff on at busy times), menu systems that lead to blind alleys, email replies that don't actually refer to the matter you queried, and my favourite which is making you go through technical hoops that they and you know won't change anything. Or just ignoring the email/letter.

All of these are ploys.

Some bean counter somewhere has presumably worked out the cost of managing complaints and compared it to the cost of not bothering or pissing customers off. Then decided we aren't worth bothering about.

Agreed it should be "local" to reach the complaints or customer care.

But when you offer technical services that go beyond pure customer service, why should you offer them for fee (other than its good customer service). If you need technical help, you either fix it yourself or you pay an expert (and I admit the term expert for some of these lines is a bit of an exaggeration)

"I can't get this computer to work"

"Have you plugged it in Sir?"

"Yes"

"And have you pushed the On button?"

"I can't see the On button"

"Why can't you see the On Button!

"The lights are off."

"Turn the light on please Sir"

"No point, the power's been cut off"

"OK, sir, have you still got the box, you're going to need to take the computer back to the shop"

"What should I tell them?"

"Tell them you're too stupid to own a computer"

BT gives us FREE 0845/0870, then these become 0844/0871!

What I hate is that BT have included 0845 and 0870 calls in the deal these days, however, when I try to call the 0845 or 0870 numbers, I find that they have been moved to 0844 or 0871 (whihc are not included).

This is a con - we think that we are getting a good deal and companies move away from the deal (or are encouraged to move) and we get the bad news again!

Various number types and charges, and many changes coming.

(Part 1) The UK has several types of telephone number (landline, mobile, non-geographic) and several general charging mechanisms (inclusive call plan, pence-per-minute rate, free of charge, additional Service Charge within call price potentially paying out revenue share to called party). There are also some differences depending on whether the call is made from a landline or from a mobile. Additionally, some of BT's call prices are regulated making them non-typical in the market.

01 and 02 - geographic numbers with an area code. Most people pay for a call package and call these numbers at no additional cost per call. This applies to calls made from landlines and from mobiles. A small number of people calling from landlines pay a pence-per-minute rate for these calls during the weekday daytime. This is because they have inclusive calls only during evenings and weekends or only at the weekend. Mobile phone users on a pay-as-you-go tariff also pay a pence-per-minute rate for these calls.

071xx-075xx, 07624, 077xx-079xx - mobile numbers. Many mobile phones have a monthly call package covering 01, 02, 03 and other mobile numbers. The remainder pay a pence-per-minute rate for these calls. Mobiles are fairly expensive to call from landlines but the call price from landlines is being steadily reduced. By 2015, it should have reduced enough such that landline operators can offer calls to mobiles within their inclusive call packages.

03xx, 08xx, 09xx - non-geographic numbers. These have call queueing and intelligent routing arrangements. They are usually forwarded to a UK landline for a small fee (about 2p/min, or less). The fee is higher if calls are routed to a mobile or to an international destination. There are a variety of charges incurred by the caller and it can get a bit complicated.

03xx - non-geographic numbers without a Service Charge. These are charged at the same rate as 01 and 02 numbers, and inclusive in call bundles on mobiles and landlines. The called party pays for the call handling and routing.

080x - non-geographic "freephone" numbers, free call from landlines. The called party pays for the call handling and routing as well as paying for call origination. This fee covers the cost of origination from a landline. This fee is also paid to mobile operators when they originate the call, but as their costs are higher, they also bill the caller for the call. However, this isn't the 2p/min or so that might be expected, it's often 15p to 30p/min. Users of 0808 80 numbers and certain government departments, such as DWP, pay a higher fee for call origination so that their numbers are truly free from mobiles. Ofcom propose that all 080 numbers be free to call from mobiles from 2015. Consequently every user of 080 numbers will pay a slightly higher call origination fee to make this happen. The plans are currently delayed by several months as one mobile operator is strongly resisting this change.

084x, 087x and 09xx - non-geographic numbers with a Service Charge. The caller pays their phone network for the call. Within that call price is a Service Charge to the benefit of the called party. The Service Charge is up to 7p/min on 084 numbers (2p/min on 0845), up to 13p/min on 087 numbers (currently zero on 0870, but will be about 10p/min from 2015) and up to 153p/min on 09 numbers (will be up to 300p/min from 2015). Where the Service Charge is 2p or 3p/min, and the number is routed to a UK landline, the number user pays no fees for the number or for the call handling and routing. Callers are paying those fees through the Service Charge. Where the Service Charge is over about 4p/min, the user receives a "revenue share" payment and is making money from each caller. From mobiles, these calls are almost always very expensive and almost never inclusive. From landlines, they are usually expensive and are generally not inclusive in call packages. There are a very small number of exceptions.

0870 - non-geographic numbers. These currently have no Service Charge and revenue share is not permitted. These calls are inclusive from many landlines. Mobile operators charge highly for these calls, often up to 41p/min. They are not inclusive calls from mobiles.

0845 - non-geographic numbers. These calls incur a 2p/min Service Charge. These are expensive calls from mobiles, often costing up to 41p/min. The largest landline operator, BT, confuses the situation by allowing 0845 numbers as inclusive calls. They do this by subsidising the 2p/min Service Charge from the monthly call package fee. Other landline operators generally charge for these calls. The Service Charge usually covers the call handling and forwarding costs, but is rarely enough for a revenue share out-payment to take place.

Other 084x, 087x and 09xx non-geographic numbers. These are expensive from landlines and mobiles and never inclusive. The caller pays the Service Charge as well as various fees to their own network. Mobile operators mark up 084 and 087 calls by up to 39p/min, and 09 calls by a much larger amount. Ofcom propose that the call price be "unbundled". The number user will have to declare the Service Charge that applies to their telephone number and each phone network will have to declare a single Access Charge covering all 084, 087 and 09 numbers. This action should bring call prices down, especially when calling from a mobile phone. Indeed, the Access Charge should be very similar to the pence-per-minute out-of-bundle rate for calling 01, 02 and 03 numbers.

0871, 0872, 0873 and 09xx - premium rate numbers. All 084, 087 and 09 numbers are technically "premium rate" due to the presence of the Service Charge, or "premium", to the benefit of the called party. However, only those numbers with the highest levels of Service Charge are covered by specific additional Premium Rate Services (PRS) regulation governing their use.

Various number types and charges, and many changes coming.

(Part 2) In all this, one complication is that BT prices for 084, 087 and 09 numbers are capped by a very old "competition" regulation. A similar price cap that previously applied to 01 and 02 numbers was removed in 2004. This has led to an absurd situation affecting callers using a BT landline and with no inclusive minutes: calls to 084 and some 087 numbers are charged at a lower rate than calls to 01, 02 and 03 numbers. That is, calls to numbers with a Service Charge cost LESS than to those without a Service Charge. Happily, the "NTS Condition" will be lifted in 2014. BT prices are likely to be adjusted such that they become similar to the "normal" price charged by some other landlines operators.

The end result of various forthcoming changes is that 084 and 087 calls will cost more than 01, 02 and 03 calls right across the board (unless a provider artificially inflates the cost of calls to 01, 02 and 03 numbers when called outside the allowances of an inclusive call plan). Just before this happens, the provisions of the Consumer Rights Directive will make it illegal to use 084, 087 and 09 numbers for customer service. Draft legislation has already been published and should pass into law in December 2013.

Additionally, the cost of calling 084, 087 and 09 numbers from a mobile will likely reduce so that it is the same or only slightly higher than calling from a landline. This has already happened for 01, 02 and 03 calls; many people have these as inclusive calls on their landline and on their mobile. The requirement to declare a single Access Charge per tariff for 084, 087 and 09 numbers should see a hefty reduction in the markup mobile operators add as compared to current levels (however, these numbers will not become inclusive calls).

When revenue sharing returns to 0870 numbers in 2015, landline users will see a hefty price increase. These calls will no longer be inclusive. However, some time before that happens, many of the companies currently using 0870 numbers will be required to swap to 0370 (or to another 01, 02, 03 or 080 number) under the provisions of the Consumer Rights Directive. Mobile networks currently charge excessively for these calls, so any change is likely to lead to a decrease in price.

Virgin Media landline users may not see a price increase for other chargeable 084, 087 and 09 numbers. VM already adds a sizeable markup on these calls. They will simply have to set and declare a single Access Charge to replace their current connection fee and variable markup.

BT users may well see a few small price increases. In particular, 0845 numbers will probably stop being counted as inclusive calls. The call cost will be the 2p/min Service Charge plus whatever Access Charge BT sets. However, the Consumer Rights Directive will have moved many 0845 users to 0345 (or to another 01, 02, 03 or 080 number) long before this happens.

Once the "NTS Condition" is lifted and once Ofcom's "unbundled tariffs" come into effect, BT will be able to add an Access Charge for all 084, 087 and 09 numbers for the first time. This will likely lead to a small price rise. Other landline users may also pay a bit more for calling 084, 087 and 09 numbers. Several networks currently copy BT's prices and make no profit on these calls. These networks will surely be keen to add an Access Charge of several pence per minute.

Even if these networks set their Access Charge at zero, there's another effect that will give the illusion of a price rise. A call currently advertised as e.g. 5.1p/min plus 15p connection fee (using BT's prices) will in future be advertised as having a 7p/min Service Charge.

The major effect of the Consumer Rights Directive will be to reduce the need to call 084, 087 and 09 numbers. For those that continue to call these numbers, mobile users will generally be much better off after the price changes. Landline users may pay slightly more for most 084, 087 and 09 numbers and a lot more for 0870. BT users will probably pay more for 0845 than they do at present. However, these increases will mostly be bringing BT prices up to the sort of level that other operators already charge.

Before 2004, the price of 0845 calls from BT lines was tied to the price of a "local" call and the price of calls to 0870 numbers was tied to the price of a "national" call. Those days are long gone. Today, it is the call price for 03 numbers that is tied to the price of a geographic call. This applies to calls made from landlines and mobiles, and those calls always count towards inclusive allowances in call package "bundles".

Under the proposed new pricing framework, it will be clear that the Service Charge imposed on calls to 084, 087 and 09 numbers earns money for the called party, or at least pays the running costs of their non-geographic number, and that these calls are always more expensive than calling 01, 02 and 03 numbers. Users will therefore need to justify imposing this Service Charge on callers. The law will say that this charge cannot be justified in the case of customer service lines. Government reports and the recent Public Accounts Committee enquiry also now deem it unsuitable to impose this charge within the provision of public services. Public opinion will deem it unsuitable in many other venues.