http://www.telegraph.co.uk/money/main.jhtml?xml=/money/2007/12/04/cmliz04.xml

QUESTION OF THE DAY

By Liz Dolan

Last Updated: 3:20pm GMT 04/12/2007

www.telegraph.co.uk/dearliz

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Liz Dolan answers a reader's question about the practice of providing customers with premium-rate phone numbers, and then leaving them hanging on the line for long periods.

There are ways round this pernicious little scam (“Banks milk poor service”, Sunday Telegraph, December 2). First, go to www.moneysavingexpert.com/phones/0870-say-no where you will find lots of helpful advice and tips regularly updated.

Second, go directly to: www.saynoto0870.com and fill in an easy-to-use form. Just type in the name of the relevant firm or organisation and it comes up with a series of alternative numbers (which sometimes include 0800 numbers usually used for sales). Use these and get transferred.

If you yourself know of any useful local and national call numbers, go to saynoto0870 and add them to the data base. This is happening all the time and is thus increasing the site's effectiveness. - Jeremy Bridges

The “pernicious little scam” to which you refer is the growing practice of providing customers with premium-rate phone numbers and then, to pile on the financial agony, leaving them hanging on the line for long periods.

The saynoto0870 website gives alternative phone numbers for the same service that operate at standard, or no-cost, rates.

I totally agree with you that this is an extremely useful service – and that the more people share their knowledge of such numbers on the site, the better chance the poor old consumer has of not being fleeced in this iniquitous way.

Moneysavingexpert.com is a financial website providing information and tips of general interest to consumers.
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