Elite has the answer to excessive call costs from cell phones to 845 numbers:

http://www.elitetele.com/Phone-Numbers/08-Numbers/0845-Phone-Numbers/

0845 Controversy In Sefton

A UK council is under fire from local residents for having a memorable 0845 phone number. Sefton council originally chose the number because it would be ‘easy to memorise’ and from a landline, calls are charged at a local rate.

Sefton Citizen’s Advice Bureau (CAB) however, say that as some people cannot afford a landline, they call from a mobile instead and are charged a lot more. The Sefton CAB are urging the council to change its number to a less expensive 0300 number.

A piece of advice – if you can’t afford a landline, do what we used to do in the olden days. Namely, find a pay phone.

And another gem from the same page:

Doctors Expensive 0845 And 0844 Phone Numbers To Be Banned?

People are once again kicking up a fuss over phone numbers. There’s now talk of banning the 0844 and 0845 numbers that apparently a fifth of 8000 GP Practices are using. And lest we forget, the 0845 NHS Direct number too!

Well, let’s take a look at 0844 and 0845 shall we? 0844 and 0845 numbers are not, contrary to popular belief, premium rate numbers. Let me repeat that – 0844 and 0845 numbers are not premium rate! It does not cost the national debt to ring them and I seriously doubt that people would actually appreciate a local number for NHS Direct.

With 0844 and 0845 numbers, GP Practices can gain Network Level Services. This means that call recording, call statistics, call reporting and call re-routing to contact centres are all features available to GPs because they have an 0844 or 0845 number. So imagine the line’s busy when you ring your doctor – we can divert you to a contact centre or to another GP Practice. Calls can be recorded for legal reasons and training purposes. Listen to me when I say, 0844 and 0845 numbers are not the enemy! Instead, they enable your GP to offer you a better service – and let’s face it, we’d only complain if they didn’t.

So I'm guessing this is good advice in inverted commas?

http://ww2.elitetele.com/telecom-news/phone-numbers/0844-no-big-deal/13138

0844 No Big Deal

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BBC Chiefs have been criticised. Well, they’re always being criticised. This time though, it’s been said that the BBC  “exploits viewers” by capitalising on 0844  numbers.

Firstly, 0844 numbers are like the timid mice of the 08 phone number world. It’s pennies in a world of pounds! Secondly, if people are stupid enough to ring in to a TV show then they deserve to be charged! Call me crazy but if you’re going to make a fuss about something, at last make sure it’s something worthwhile! And I’m not even talking war or pestilence- just maybe what passes for TV nowadays?

Phone numbers happen to be big business. Deal with it.
>>

idb wrote on Mar 17^th, 2010 at 12:05am:

A piece of advice – if you can’t afford a landline, do what we used to do in the olden days. Namely, find a pay phone.

Is that so you can then enjoy paying 20p per minute instead of 2p per minute to call an 0845 number.  Clearly I have missed somewhere how that is cheaper than the 1p per minute charged by payphones to call a number starting 01, 02 or 03 (although subject in all cases to the 40p minimum payphone call charge). :-? :-/ ::)

See www.bt.com/pricing/current/Call_Charges_boo/3545_d0e5.htm

More from Elite...

'0844 is a prefix that companies use on their phone number so callers pay local rate, wherever they are calling from in the UK. 0844 is not as well known as the prefix 0845, but 0844 does the same job. Companies may choose 0844 as an alternative because the number they want has already been used by 0845. Also, they can make callers aware that 0844 is local rate by saying ‘all 0844 calls at local rate’ so the caller knows for sure that the call to 0844 will be cheap.
Many companies offer their customers local rate 0844 calls because it improves business, and gives them a national presence. A customer calling 0844 will have no idea where the company is based, and may presume that because they have a 0844 that they are a successful and national company. The 0844 prefix will attract their business because they want to be sure that the company will treat them in a professional manner, and the 0844 number does give them extra credibility.
Companies often get bad press if they are known to have bad customer service, and they do not have an 0844. If callers have to spend extra money just to make a complaint because there is no 0844, they may not give their return business. An 0844 number puts the relationship on a better footing in the first place, as the customer does not feel cheated by telephone charges because of the 0844.
Whether a company has 0844 or 0845, the result is the same. The company could be in Aberdeen but with 0844 the caller could be in Cornwall and still pay local rate when calling 0844. Callers are also more likely to call an 0844, so businesses can use that 0844 opportunity to build a better customer relationship'

The rubbish spouted by whoever writes this is unbelievable...

Surely all firms have to do, as some do already, is offer their callers (customers!) a choice of an 08, or an 01/02/03 number?  Especially as BT includes 0845 & 0870 numbers in their call package, but not 0844.  Doesn't this make sense?

JoP wrote on Apr 11^th, 2010 at 5:20pm:

Surely all firms have to do, as some do already, is offer their callers (customers!) a choice of an 08, or an 01/02/03 number?  Especially as BT includes 0845 & 0870 numbers in their call package, but not 0844.  Doesn't this make sense?

Not to the companies that use 0844 as the revenue share is greater than 0845. They need to keep their snouts in the most profitable trough.

And if you are not with BT?

Some more "facts" from Elite Telecom - http://freeyak.com/uncategorized/the-importance-of-numbers

A comment has been added. I will quote it below, as it is likely to be removed - great importance is attached to only "facts" being published.


Quote:

It is indeed vital for all of the facts to be considered when looking at this issue. Not everyone has telephone service from BT without the benefit of an inclusive call plan. Thode who do are the only group who pay for calls at the unusually low regulated rates which BT alone has to charge for calls to 0844 telephone numbers, in addition to an unregulated setup fee. Other telephone service providers generally pass on the cost of the revenue share that they have to pay on, by applying a premium to the call charge. Because of the revenue share, they, along with BT, could not possibly afford to cover 0844 calls in the inclusive packages which are now the primary element of telephone call charging. Users of 0844 numbers are indeed not credited with the formal recognition of providing a "Premium Rate Service", however their callers generally pay premium rates. The only stipulation of the Department of Health directions to NHS bodies and the revisions to the GP contract, which emerged from the consultation, is that patients accessing NHS services should not pay more than the cost of an equivalent call to a geographic number. NHS providers cannot charge patients for the service they provide, no matter how good it may be. If that means (as it does) that they must give up 0844 numbers, then so be it. Those who wish to argue that patients should pay for NHS services according to the quality of service provided (the published view of the BMA GPC) are free to do so. Those who believe that all telephone companies should be forced to subsidise the cost of the extra facilities on 0844 numbers (in the way that BT alone is currently required to do) are again free to advance that argument. If it were to be applied in regulation then we would all have 0844 numbers.

If the information is untrue and is posted on the website of a business, then a call to Trading Standards may very well be in order.