I know it is a commercial service, but the aim of this site is to stop people being ripped off by phone providers for calling 08xx numbers.
is it worth mentioning the 0800 buster service on the home page of the website? even if it has a disclaimer stating that you do not endorse the site.

or even ask them if they want to sponsor this site as well!

The aim of 0800buster is to stop mobile users from paying really expensive rates for calling freephone numbers from mobiles and hence being ripped off on carrying what is meant to be a free call.

0800buster provides geographical numbers to use from mobiles which are either included in any inclusive allowance or if outside any inclusive allowance, are charged at geographical rates.

0800buster is similar to dial-through international providers that allow you to call internationally at a lot lower rates than making the same international call directly from your own landline provider like BT, VirginMedia, etc.

I've used the Localphone service, a 'parent' organisation of 0800buster, for many years with no problems so I think it can be safely relied on. I tend to provide it over the 020 numbers as I don't really know who provides those numbers.

bbb_uk wrote on Apr 11^th, 2010 at 12:55pm:

The aim of 0800buster is to stop mobile users from paying really expensive rates for calling freephone numbers from mobiles and hence being ripped off on carrying what is meant to be a free call. 0800buster provides geographical numbers to use from mobiles which are either included in any inclusive allowance or if outside any inclusive allowance, are charged at geographical rates. 0800buster is similar to dial-through international providers that allow you to call internationally at a lot lower rates than making the same international call directly from your own landline provider like BT, VirginMedia, etc.

To be fair (and as mentioned in #2 above), this particular service is a spin-off from one of the dial-through international providers. Contrary to what is suggested on its website, for those who pay for calls to geographic numbers, there is a charge, although this may be less than that for calling 080 numbers. It should also be noted that 0808 80 numbers and some other 080 calls are in many cases exempted from charges by agreement.

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SilentCallsVictim wrote on Feb 19^th, 2010 at 1:09pm:

There are many providers of dial-through services on geo numbers to call 080 and other "reverse revenue sharing" numbers. Many have been mentioned in various threads in the forum. Essentially they are performing the same role as personal injury claims companies; they provide "customers" with a "free" service because they get paid by somebody else. As the service is only the connection of a telephone call, it may not be easy to distinguish between them. If anybody wants to promote one of these over another, then the "Call Providers" area is the place to do it. I would personally love to see some charity set up such a service, so that one could feel more comfortable about who else was benefiting from the call. For landline callers with inclusive geographic calls they too could put their 080 calls through such numbers so that the charity could benefit at the expense of their telephone service provider and the person being called, but at no cost to the caller.

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SayNoTo0870 is indeed a commercial operation - whether or not the income from advertising and other sponsorship exceeds the operating costs. Members are free to promote and attack commercial operators in the telecoms world. I know that some would disagree, but I feel that the site itself would probably wish to remain neutral on such arguments.

A more enterprising proposal would be for SayNoTo0870 to set up such services for itself. Alternatively, it could be bought out by Localphone Ltd or some similar enterprise. A more commercial approach might lead to the data being voluntarily added to the database of alternative numbers from being distributed by others for profit.

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At the risk of raising too many issues in a single posting, there is a further point.

If Ofcom's current proposals for mobile operators to rely less on income from call charges come to fruition, there may be the possibility that call recipients will be happy to meet the cost of calling 080 numbers from mobiles, so that these could be truly offered as "free to caller".

SilentCallsVictim wrote on Apr 11^th, 2010 at 2:10pm:

If Ofcom's current proposals for mobile operators to rely less on income from call charges come to fruition, there may be the possibility that call recipients will be happy to meet the cost of calling 080 numbers from mobiles, so that these could be truly offered as "free to caller".[/color]

I suppose that Ofcom and its chums in the mobile telecoms companies would no doubt love a world in which even the cheapest Pay As You Go Phone was inflicted with a minimum fixed quarterly charge as large, unfair and disproportionate to those who only make a few calls a month as BT Line Rental is.......

After all we know that the MBA course for managing telecoms companies quite clearly demands that all uncertain revenue streams instead be changed in to guaranteed revenue streams that a customer has no choice about paying (and preferably cannot opt out of paying for at least the next 18 months).

Actually what I am saying is not as far fetched as it may sound and in Spain all the main three Pay As You Go mobile operators now dock a standard monthly charge from your Pay As You Go credit balance in return for which you receive free or cheaper calls you may not want.  Fortunately a small band of MVNO operators who piggy back on the main networks (the Spanish equivalent of Tesco Mobile, Asda Mobile etc) are resisting this pernicious trend (which is especially unfair to foreign property owners who only use their Spanish mobiles for a few weeks a year)  These companies go by names such as Simyo, Pepephone and Yoigo.