Say Thank You To The Eu For Saving You Money

[sunny-dave]

They have forced a reluctant UK Government (and its utterly useless regulator, Ofcom) to at last ban the use of expensive 08xx numbers for Customer Contact lines.

As from 13th June 2014 it will be illegal to use these numbers (except for a few Financial Services organisations - and most of these will change voluntarily).

So :

084x and 087x numbers :

From 13th June 2014, it will be a legal requirement that these numbers are no longer provided for customer contact. They must be switched to an 01, 02 or 03 number.

0800 numbers :

Businesses will be able to keep 0800 numbers for customers calling in from landlines. However they will also have to provide a clearly-indicated 01, 02 or 03 number alongside it – for customers calling in from a mobile phone. This is because 0800 numbers dialed from a mobile phone are typically more expensive than geographical numbers.

A nice bit of spice is that if you are forced to use an expensive number, you can claim back your costs from the business involved.

0800 and 0808 numbers will become free from all mobile phones on 26 June 2015

[lady-janine]

thank you.

[naomi24]

^Ditto. Most grateful.

[anneasquith]

are 0300 numbers going to be free from a landline ?

[sunny-dave]

All 03 numbers (including 0300) are charged at the same rates as 01/02 - from landlines and mobiles - and included in any 'free' bundles.

[THECORBYLOON]

How can you say it's illegal to have 08 numbers and then say folk can call them from a landline still?

[pixie373]

Aha. Have noticed a few have changed from 0845 to 0345. That's obviously why:-)

[sunny-dave]

0800 is a special case Corby - all others are illegal for customer contact numbers

[jno]

interesting; got a link?

[SpikeyBush]

Long overdue. Too many utility providers have these money-spinning numbers and understaffed call centres so you have spent a fiver before you actually get speaking to someone - usually to correct a problem that is their fault anyway! I am not with the cheapest telephone or electricity supplier but I can speak to them quickly if I have a problem. BT and Airtricity were cheaper but finding Shergar is easier than getting through to their call centres.

[sunny-dave]

Jno :

http://www.fairtelecoms.org.uk/consumer-rights-directive.html

[jno]

thanks, sd.

I did believe you, I just wanted a link to send people.

[Old_Geezer]

0800 are never free. The phone company not being a charity. The called party agrees to pay. So is the idea to let the called party pick up a larger tab from the 26th June then ?

Good to see we sometime get something back for all we pay in. So how much are we in pocket now ?

[jno]

you can spend your profits on exotic straight bananas, OG

[sunny-dave]

No sarcasm at all - the EU is (by and large) a 'good thing'. In this case it has supported the consumer against the vested interests which have been very effectively twisting the arms of successive governments here to allow them to continue to rip us off with premium rate charges.

[rockyracoon]

Thank God for this ruling, I get fed up with keep using Saynoto0870, especially when you can't find the landline number which must exist.

[mccfluff]

whooop, i can stop using my work phone :-D

[sunny-dave]

Tut :)