SAYNOTO0870.COM - CAHOOT 0844

derrick Supreme Member Posts: 877	CAHOOT 0844 Apr 13^th, 2006, 2:33pm Cahoot,as well as dropping the rate on their savings account, appear to have changed their number from 0845, to 0844 9009070, (via an e-mail sent this morning) an example of what is to come from the rest of the rip off merchants??
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derrick

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Posts: 877

Re: CAHOOT 0844
Reply #1 - May 6^th, 2006, 10:03am

Received the following e-mail from Cahoot this morning, I have not put the capitals in.

Dear Mr

I'm very excited to announce that we'll be launching the new cahoot
website on May 8. We started by redesigning the homepage and product
pages, and the secure banking pages will follow in a couple of weeks.

We know you have many options when looking for a loan, savings account,
credit card or current account and we're very happy you've chosen cahoot.
We're always interested in understanding from you how we can improve our
service, so if you have any ideas please give us a call on our NEW LOCAL
rate phone number 0844 9000 900 or email us through the 'contact us'
section of your personal homepage.

Yours sincerely,

John Goddard
Managing Director

Who would you rather be in cahoots with?

Not me, I have fired off a reply telling them that the number is not local rate, I do not expect a reply.

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« Last Edit: May 6^th, 2006, 10:04am by derrick »

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Heinz

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Money to burn?
I haven't.
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Posts: 1069

Re: CAHOOT 0844
Reply #2 - May 6^th, 2006, 10:25am

Quote from derrick on May 6^th, 2006, 10:03am:

Received the following e-mail from Cahoot this morning, I have not put the capitals in.

Dear Mr

I'm very excited to announce that we'll be launching the new cahoot
website on May 8. We started by redesigning the homepage and product
pages, and the secure banking pages will follow in a couple of weeks.

We know you have many options when looking for a loan, savings account,
credit card or current account and we're very happy you've chosen cahoot.
We're always interested in understanding from you how we can improve our
service, so if you have any ideas please give us a call on our NEW LOCAL
rate phone number 0844 9000 900 or email us through the 'contact us'
section of your personal homepage.

Yours sincerely,

John Goddard
Managing Director

Who would you rather be in cahoots with?

Not me, I have fired off a reply telling them that the number is not local rate, I do not expect a reply.

So have I.
Quote:

Your new 0844 contact number (0844 9000 900) is charged at 4p/minute at all times by BT.

That is NOT 'local rate' as you have described it (BT's charges for calls to local numbers are 3p/minute during weekday, daytime and 5.5p for up to an hour evenings and weekends).

As you should be aware, the Advertising Standards Authority have specifically stated that firms should NOT use false descriptions of call charges such as 'lo-call', 'local rate' or 'national rate' and should specify exactly what the call charges are instead.

0844 9000 900 added to the database as well so, when it's confirmed by one of the Daves, it'll be found in a search.

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« Last Edit: May 6^th, 2006, 10:50am by Heinz »

What? A moving 'clickable' link? Impossible! Or is it?

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derrick

Supreme Member

Posts: 877

Re: CAHOOT 0844
Reply #3 - May 7^th, 2006, 6:55pm

Received the following this afternoon in response to me email to them yesterday, I have replied to them pointing out the error of their ways and giving them some pointers in the way of some attatchments and web pages,i.e. ASA, CAP and the one from Norfolk TS. I have also copied in Heinz's reply of yesterday.

Dear Mr

Thank you for contacting cahoot.

In response to your query regarding the new 0844 number I can confirm this is charged at the local rate of 3-4p per minute during the day and 1p per minute at the evenings and weekends. Please contact your service provider for further details on prices.

If you require any further assistance please do not hesitate to contact us again.

Kind regards,
Shahnaz Begum,
cahoot

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« Last Edit: May 7^th, 2006, 6:56pm by derrick »

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kk

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Gender: male

Re: CAHOOT 0844
Reply #4 - May 7^th, 2006, 8:36pm

0844 900 xx is charged by BT at 4p/min all times.

BT price list: special numbers - page 25 - charge band g11 - 4p 4p 4p (charge band G11)

Make a complaint to the Banking Code Standards Board of a "Deliberate misrepresentation to a customer"

Complain on the following grounds:

(1) The bank made a false statement in describing an 0844 900 xx telephone number as a “local rate number” when it is not and with the intention of passing the number off as a low cost inexpensive call, when in fact the cost of the call exceeds the normal local call rate.

(2) The bank made a false statement as to the cost of the call at weekends and evenings, by stating that the cost of the call was 1p/min, when in fact the cost of the call is 400% more expansive that the cost rate stated by the bank.

-------------------------

helpline@bcsb.org.uk [bankingcode.org.uk ]

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« Last Edit: May 8^th, 2006, 2:34pm by kk »

KK

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derrick Supreme Member Posts: 877	Re: CAHOOT 0844 Reply #5 - May 8^th, 2006, 10:32am Complaint gone to BCSB. thanks kk
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Heinz

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Re: CAHOOT 0844
Reply #6 - May 8^th, 2006, 10:48am

I assumed his e-mail address is john.goddard@cahoot.com (well, it didn't bounce anyway)

Quote:

F.A.O. Mr John Goddard, Managing Director

I am aware that, following a complaint similar to mine of 6/5/06 (copied below) regarding the false 'LOCAL rate phone number' description of the cost of calls to 0844 9000 900 contained in your 5/5/06 e-mail, your Shahnaz Begum has replied to another customer by e-mail saying:-

"In response to your query regarding the new 0844 number I can confirm this is charged at the local rate of 3-4p per minute during the day and 1p per minute at the evenings and weekends. Please contact your service provider for further details on prices."

That information IS FALSE.

I have checked with my service provider (BT) and confirmed that the basis of my original complaint - that calls to 0844 9000 900 are charged at 4p per minute (incl. VAT) AT ALL TIMES - was correct. If you refer to the BT Price List - http://www.downloads.bt.com/pricing/SpecialisedNos.pdf - you will see that they are charged at g11 rate.

I assume you will be sending another e-mail to all customers to whom you sent your 5/5/06 e-mail correcting the original false information, specifying the actual cost (in accordance with ASA guidance) and refuting the further false information given to at least one customer by a member of your staff - particularly about the alleged 1p/minute evening and weekend cost of calling the number.

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What? A moving 'clickable' link? Impossible! Or is it?

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bbb_uk Global Moderator Posts: 1784	Re: CAHOOT 0844 Reply #7 - May 8^th, 2006, 3:39pm I doubt Cahoot will inform people that their 0844 is not local rate because that would mean telling the truth. I suspect they'll just ignore your email and hope it goes away. They'll just brush it under their carpet to hide it and if they don't have enough carpet then they could brush it under Ofcom's carpet alongside Ofcom's!
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Heinz

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I haven't.
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Re: CAHOOT 0844
Reply #8 - May 8^th, 2006, 8:35pm

Interesting responses.

(1). My e-mail to John Goddard, the Managing Director originator of the e-mail containing the false pricing information resulted in the following reply @ 16:42 today:

Quote:

Thank you for your correspondence, John Goddard is on annual leave at the moment, in his absence I would like to acknowledge receipt of your e-mail and assure you that we are looking into this and will get back to you as soon as we can.

Kind regards

> Chrissie Millington I PA to John Goddard I e-Commerce Channels
> T: 020 775 66230 I F: 020 775 66124 I L: TS 4B 21
> chrissie.millington@cahoot.com

(2). The same 'on annual leave' Managing Director, managed to send the following @ 20:22 today:

Quote:

I'm very excited to announce that we'll be launching the new cahoot website on May 8. We started by redesigning the homepage and product pages, and the secure banking pages will follow in a couple of weeks.

So why did we do it? Well, we've been doing some research over the last several months and customers like you have told us that our site could use a revamp. You said that we should make things easier to find, and, most importantly, simpler to understand. And you said we should more clearly explain the benefits and advantages of our market-leading products, which would allow you to compare us to other banks. So that's what we've done. Don't worry, there aren't any big complicated changes to get to grips with. All we've done is a lot of listening and a small amount of programming to make the website clearer. We hope you like it.

We know you have many options when looking for a loan, savings account, credit card or current account and we're very happy you've chosen cahoot. We're always interested in understanding from you how we can improve our service, so if you have any ideas please give us a call on our NEW phone number 0844 9000 900 or email us through the 'contact us' section of your personal homepage.

Yours sincerely,

John Goddard
Managing Director

Who would you rather be in cahoots with?

Spot the missing words? You're right, only two - 'LOCAL rate' - are missing from just after the word 'NEW' in the last paragraph.

They don't appear capable of complying with ASA guidelines.

Think I'll be moving my money.

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« Last Edit: May 8^th, 2006, 10:12pm by Heinz »

What? A moving 'clickable' link? Impossible! Or is it?

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derrick

Supreme Member

Posts: 877

Re: CAHOOT 0844
Reply #9 - May 10^th, 2006, 4:06pm

Just received the following from Cahoot:

Dear Mr ,

I am contacting you further to your recent e-mail correspondence with cahoot's Contact Centre regarding our new telephone number.

We're sorry that the e-mail we sent regarding our new telephone number contained inaccurate information regarding 'local rates'. This was sent as a result of human error for which we sincerely apologise.

Our new Contact Centre telephone number is charged at a flat rate of 4 pence per minute at all times.

Again I'd like to apologise for any inconvenience our error has caused.

If you've any further queries or wish to discuss anything in greater detail, please do not hesitate to contact us.

Yours sincerely,

David Freeman,
Service Relationship Manager.

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bbb_uk

Global Moderator

Posts: 1784

Re: CAHOOT 0844
Reply #10 - May 10^th, 2006, 4:53pm

Derrick,

Do you think its worth you emailing back this David Freeman now that you've got a more normal response and pointing him to the ASA decision on 08x/087x numbers in that they should be clearly indicated in all marketing/advertising materials, etc?

The relevant ASA links are Hanging on the telephone and Advertising 084x and 087x numbers.

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derrick Supreme Member Posts: 877	Re: CAHOOT 0844 Reply #11 - May 10^th, 2006, 4:57pm Yes I will do that
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bendipa

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Posts: 18

Re: CAHOOT 0844
Reply #12 - May 10^th, 2006, 9:45pm

Quote from derrick on May 6^th, 2006, 10:03am:

Received the following e-mail from Cahoot this morning, I have not put the capitals in.

Dear Mr

I'm very excited to announce that we'll be launching the new cahoot
website on May 8. We started by redesigning the homepage and product
pages, and the secure banking pages will follow in a couple of weeks.

We know you have many options when looking for a loan, savings account,
credit card or current account and we're very happy you've chosen cahoot.
We're always interested in understanding from you how we can improve our
service, so if you have any ideas please give us a call on our NEW LOCAL
rate phone number 0844 9000 900 or email us through the 'contact us'
section of your personal homepage.

Yours sincerely,

John Goddard
Managing Director

Who would you rather be in cahoots with?

Not me, I have fired off a reply telling them that the number is not local rate, I do not expect a reply.

What gets me is the way these type of letters are written in such a way to insult people's intelligence. That banks treat their cutomers with contempt is not surprising considering how so few people bother to complain or even walk. The internet bank savings con continues with interest rates being regularly slashed, despite Boe rate holding steady for many months now. As for the new exciting 0844 telephone number, it bothers me not. On the few occasions I have had to ring Cahoot, I've always used the geographical number 02476 627190 without any problem.

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derrick Supreme Member Posts: 877	Re: CAHOOT 0844 Reply #13 - May 10^th, 2006, 10:20pm Quote from bendipa on May 10^th, 2006, 9:45pm: On the few occasions I have had to ring Cahoot, I've always used the geographical number 02476 627190 without any problem. Yes that is the number I ring, but as you say, they do try to con people and I thought it wise to let others know
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Tanllan

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Re: CAHOOT 0844
Reply #14 - May 11^th, 2006, 11:20am

Quote from derrick on May 10^th, 2006, 10:20pm:

Quote from bendipa on May 10^th, 2006, 9:45pm:

On the few occasions I have had to ring Cahoot, I've always used the geographical number 02476 627190 without any problem.

Yes that is the number I ring, but as you say, they do try to con people and I thought it wise to let others know

Ah, would that be 024 7662 7190? Wink

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