Hi All
We Just sent this Email to London's Mayor:-
"Dear Mr Livingstone
Like everybody else, I was appalled and saddened to hear of today's explosions in London.
My wife and I were both born in London, though we now live in Lincolnshire but we were also very sad to see that an 0870 telephone number was issued for casualty enquiries "Casualty hotline: 0870 1566 344"
Let me make this very clear, calls to 0870 numbers during the day always cost about 8p per minute. This compares with calls to numbers starting 01 or 02, costing about 3p a minute. Indeed, if someone uses BT Option 3, calls to any 01 or 02 number are free of charge for the first 60 minutes
0870 numbers always cost more to call because a percentage of the call charge is given, usually to the person who's number it is, which I guess in this case is a Government department
I feel this is totally unacceptable if people are concerned for loved ones, they may be on a very limited income and can ill afford to pay such 'phone charges
We're not alone in feeling like this, there's a whole web site about it
www.saynoto0870.com
Within a short time of the number being released, the sayno site was full of protest about the use of the number under these circumstances
So may I urge you, as the Mayor, to ensure that all the extra call revenue obtained on the number is given to a suitable charity and to take steps to ensure that if such an event re-occurs, a standard 01 or 02 number is used
After all, years ago, before 0870 was invented, the Post Office as was, was always able to arrange such a number at short notice
We look forward to receiving your reply
David & Lyn Laine
Crowle Lincolnshire"
Sent to mayor@london.gov.uk mayor@london.gov.uk