A BBC report today slams a "Winter Wonderland" Lapland style theme park as a scam.

Lapland Scam

The report terminates by suggesting a response to an 0845 number which is described as "Local Rate".

I noticed that too. The number was for Consumer Direct, for which there are alternatives in the database.

BBC South have informally indicated that this was probably a unscripted slip by the presenter, who may be one of the many who are hooked on this common misunderstanding of current telephone tariffs. There was no attempt to suggest that the "local rate" suggestion came from Consumer Direct.

Consumer Direct needs to get to grips with the fact that it is not wholly "funded by government", but is subsidised by those who call it. This subsidy is at the rate of around 1.5p per minute, less any excess profit that its telephone service provider retains.

Consumer Direct also needs to correct its misrepresentation of call costs. Calls to 0845 numbers do "cost more than 4p per minute for BT customers" as every residential customer pays a 7p call setup fee before the call is actually answered by an agent. Furthermore it is wholly misleading to suggest that "other networks may vary" when it is BT that is the odd one out in offering perverse discounts to some customers on calls to 0845 numbers.

(The alternatives in the database are actually published by Consumer Direct. Reading the relevant page one understands why the 03xx range was introduced. There is however no explanation of why a 03xx number is not being adopted.)

This might sound like a stupid question from a newbie, but is there much difference in the cost of calling an 0845 number against an 03xxx number, especially when called from a mobile? And what about 0800 from a mobile, aren't they all charged as out of package landline calls?
Cheers, loonykev

Not at all. All 08 numbers are charged from a mobile as are 0800 & 0808 numbers. In fact the charges are more than a land line. They do not come out of the package like 01, 02 & 03 numbers do.

Hi, when I said "out of package", I meant outside the package, as if you had exceeded the number of minutes, but from what I can work out, it doesn't seem to matter whether it's 0845, 0800, 03xxx, they charge at the same rate as if you were calling a landline after you had run out of minutes. Seems to be 12-15p per minute, depending on the network and contract. I was puzzled to see someone saying "say yes to 03xxx", as I thought they were charged the same as 0845. In London, The Met. Police use an 03 number for non-emergency calls, and I thought they were using that as a way of raising money like 0845 calls do. What about texting the BBC on 61124, even that seems to be charged as an out of package call - low premium rate calls and texts - they all seem to be a rip-off of some kind.
Cheers, loonykev

03 numbers are charged the same as 01 & 02 numbers. 0800 numbers are free from a BT land line.

Yes loonykev, it is hard to believe because it is rare, but the Met do get some things right, as do Ofcom.

Calls to 03 numbers must be charged on exactly the same basis as calls to 01 and 02 numbers. This means that they must be included in packages in exactly the same way. Revenue sharing is prohibitted, so they cannot be used as a ripoff.

Sorry to have to repeat what has been said in this forum many times, but it is understandably difficult to believe that there is sometimes good news.

Just for the record, there are some 080 numbers that are free from all mobiles, but I do not want to test credulity too far.

There are plenty of targets left, so we need not feel that we are being out of work.

I'm staggered to learn that 03 numbers are charged as 01 & 02. Since the BBC Breakfast number changed to an 03 number, I have avoided phoning them, thinking I was going to be charged extra. This begs the question - Why don't they just use an ordinary geographic number? There would be no confusion then, I can't be the only person thinking that 03 numbers are charged extra. Thanks for that information, I can now start calling BBC Breakfast again.
Cheers, loonykev

The BBC still use a 0871 number for "Question Time"

loonykev wrote on Dec 8^th, 2008 at 6:13pm:

This might sound like a stupid question from a newbie, but is there much difference in the cost of calling an 0845 number against an 03xxx number, especially when called from a mobile? And what about 0800 from a mobile, aren't they all charged as out of package landline calls?

If you have mobile 'inclusive minutes' (to UK 01 and 02 numbers) you can make 'free' calls to 080 numbers too by using one or other of the 020 0222 0700 or the 020 0222 0900 gateways (whichever works on your network).

jimjim wrote on Dec 9^th, 2008 at 2:41pm:

The BBC still use a 0871 number for "Question Time"

I believe you will find that this number is operated by the independent production company that makes "Question Time". That is however no reason why the BBC should allow it to be used.