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Main Forum >> Geographical Numbers Chat >> Time to Change
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Message started by TelephoneNut on Oct 20th, 2005 at 4:29pm

Title: Time to Change
Post by TelephoneNut on Oct 20th, 2005 at 4:29pm
Having stumbled accross this website about 3 or 4 weeks ago it was VERY interesting to hear what people had to say on all aspects of telephone numbers.

I operate a business which DID have 0870's about 4 or 5 years ago and until this month operated 0845 numbers for the last 4 years.  Years ago before the easier and better method of transfer your calls away from BT these numbers had their place.  If you were ringing nationally then 0870 came out about the same, and if a company like mine offered 0845 then a local rate is what you paid.

I agree with everything people are saying regards TODAYS costs of ringing these NGN numbers.  I think I should point out that I offered an 0845 because I DID want to try and offer my customers (who are all nationally calling) a cheaper method ( and NO I didn't receive any revenue share).  Running an 0800 number was too expensive so I thought this would be better FOR ME!

Having recently moved house and looked into cheaper GAS and ELECTRICITY I thought best to look at my telephone supplier as well.  Having changed to Onetel for both calls and line rental I now see the disadvantages to NGN.  Hence I have returned to my standard 01 numbers for sales.

My point I'm trying to make is, yes there are firms out there earning hugh revenues on 0870 and some who probably keep you hanging on longer than you should.  But please remember I (and hopefully a lot of other business) offered these types of numbers for the correct reasons and now the benefit to the customer has gone! So therefore have these types of numbers in my case!  

I do feel that if some of you had your way I would be "shot" along with the rest of them!!!!

I thought it best to make my point now before the firing squad came knocking!!

Title: Re: Time to Change
Post by jrawle on Oct 20th, 2005 at 5:15pm
I don't know about other people here, but I'm sure there are many businesses like yours who originally operated 0845 numbers with good intentions. Small businesses may not have time to review things such as their telephone service all the time. Also, there is a huge amount of confusion surrounding NGNs, which is a large part of the problem.

In an ideal world, your telephone company would have told you ages ago that the service might no longer offer the best deal for your customers. But the fact is, while you make no revenue from the calls, the phone companies do make extra money out of having an 0845 number.

However, there are a lot of companies who do use 0870 numbers to collect extra revenue, often on helplines that existing customers must call to complain about something that is wrong with the product or service through no fault of the customer. There are many reports in these forums of companies who know exactly what they are doing, and simply refuse to give alternative numbers. I wouldn't say these people should be shot, but hopefully they can be shown the errors of their ways.

Title: Re: Time to Change
Post by Shiggaddi on Oct 20th, 2005 at 7:33pm
[glb]I do feel that if some of you had your way I would be "shot" along with the rest of them!!!!

I thought it best to make my point now before the firing squad came knocking!! [/glb]

Well, I certainly won't be in the firing squad.  You have clearly demonstrated that you understood the situation with 0870, and 0845 numbers, and took the correct action straight away, and I'm sure your customers appreciate being able to phone a geo number instead.

There are alot of businesses around who are in the same situation.  They got their NGN number in good faith, and there was a time when 0845 was cheaper than 01/02.

However, this is no longer the case, and the only benefits for having NGN numbers are clearly profit driven now.  With all the bad publicity surrounding these numbers, anybody that changes over now, or has done in the last year or so, clearly knew what they were doing, or been very badly advised from telco reps!!

Today, I sent an e-mail to one of the worse offenders of 0870 numbers, for a simple customer service issue, which in my opinion could easily be dealt with over e-mail, but instead they told me to call their customer services if I wanted to sort it out, because dealing with it via e-mail might be insecure, and they might fall foul of data protection laws!!  Just as well O2 do inclusive minutes to 0870 numbers, and my mobile has loud speakers so I don't have to hold my phone for half an hour!!

Title: Re: Time to Change
Post by NonGeographicalMan on Oct 20th, 2005 at 7:43pm

wrote on Oct 20th, 2005 at 4:29pm:
I do feel that if some of you had your way I would be "shot" along with the rest of them!!!!


But are you not aware of the famous biblical quotation:-


Quote:
"I tell you that in the same way there will be more rejoicing in heaven over one sinner who repents than over ninety-nine righteous persons who do not need to repent" ;) ;D Luke Ch15:6-7


But to be serious for a minute I hope that someone like you will be responding to the two Ofcom consultations telling them that like so many businesses you were conned by BT salesmen before you understood about the calls costing more on non BT call packages. Although this problem has in fact been there since 1997 (when I could call an 01 or 02 number for 2p per minute but 0870 still cost 7.91p per minute ) it has only become really visible with BT changing their 01 and 02 prices.

But as a company that once operated some 0845 and 0870 numbers I hope you will tell Ofcom just how appalled you are that they now propose to make 0845 numbers cost more than 0870 numbers for several years just so that companies like AOL and Wanadoo don't lose a few dial up internet customers (who are in any case being horribly ripped off compared to subscription 0808 dialup or 0844 dialup at 1p per minute at all times) when asking them to change the number they currently dial makes those customers suddenly reconsider the whole business of how they connect to the internet and how much it is costing them.

Title: Re: Time to Change
Post by gdh82 on Oct 24th, 2005 at 2:01pm
Thanks for your post, TelephoneNut.

I was heartened and encouraged to read of a company acknowledging how much more expensive is it to expect customers to use 0870 numbers and then actually doing something about it!  Offering geographic numbers is surely the best practice for good customer care these days.

Keep it up and let's hope many others follow your lead - it is time to change!


Title: Re: Time to Change
Post by dorf on Oct 24th, 2005 at 6:21pm
TelephoneNut,

It's good to hear your honesty relative to your company that was deceived into using these numbers for what you felt were good reasons; and of course until there were other telcos who could offer cheaper calls what you state was true. However, as NGM points out most people do not seem to realise how long ago it was that it was no longer true that BT's Local Rate and National Rate became much more expensive than the lowest cost rates available from the newly competing telcos.

I think it is true that most of us if not all of us who have campaigned against these continuing scams from way back, do not in any way blame the companies who are deceived into using these NGNs, nor even those who do make large amounts of revenue from their use. They are not doing anything illegal. They are just exploiting the system contraventions which the corrupt and incompetent regulators have allowed to diverge out of control, and even when they could no longer pretend, as they did to start with, did nothing whatsoever to ameliorate or prevent. So it is the regulators Oftel and now Ofcom that we blame and that are indeed to blame. They might as well not be there for all which they objectively do - precisely nothing!

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