Hello Dave

Thank you I am pleased to be a member.

I do agree with you, the whole concept of this website is exactly as you have stated. 

The cost of premium rate phone calls are made purely for profit not service. Service should be a priority to ensure customers are happy, resulting in return business. In the case of Dr's surgeries charging patients premium rates, they should be ashamed of themselves as so many of their patients are on benefits. Especially the elderly on pensions, they cannot afford to pay these high charges, nor should they have to. My elderly fathers surgery uses an 0844 number & he complained on a form they asked patients to fill in regarding the service they provide. As well as having to press different numbers for different departments he has to sometimes wait as he is in a queue! All I can say is that I think it is disgraceful!

Jennie

Dave wrote on Aug 9^th, 2009 at 2:16am:

And 0843, 0872, 0873 070.

sherbert wrote on Aug 9^th, 2009 at 10:45am:

Most people feel that companies should be able to absorb the cost of a certain amount of after-sales services as an overhead. The canny consumer will wish to push this as far as they can. There is plenty of excuse (and justification) for this in the IT industry where nobody knows quite what they are selling and buying.

Overhead costs have to be met out of the gross profit earned on sales. That is how those providing services to a company that do not directly produce income are able to pay their mortgage.

Whilst some would see use of premium rate telephone numbers as an effective way of levying a proportionate fee for properly chargeable assistance, there are many who disagree, and that position is generally reflected by SayNoTo0870. There are many other ways of collecting such a charge, however use of this proportionate and administratively established method has an obvious appeal. The significant variation in the fee paid, according to the (originating) telephone service provider, and the actual cost often being unclear ("other providers charges may vary" cannot be regarded as adequate, as it is an explicit confirmation that relevant and necessary information is not being provided) are two of the major disadvantages. Sadly these facts are often exploited to misrepresent and even hide the charge.

I have always seen there to be a vast difference between cases such as that addressed here and those such as the NHS service provider (e.g. a GP), which has no justification whatsoever for imposing any charge on someone accessing its services. There are features in common, but I see the important issues as being quite distinct.

The whole reason for becoming members of this website is surely to object to premium rate calls! The people at the other end of the line we speak to are not the ones who impose these high charges, they only work for the company or surgery. I agree that companies should absorb the costs in their profits.

I used to live abroad & tried to ring my parents Dr's surgery on their 0844 number & it would not work.  In the end I somehow managed to ring a normal landline number which was another department in the same building & they got the person I needed to speak to to come to the phone! I have tried numerous times to find another number but there does not appear to be one available to the public.

I also had a normal number for my building society, now when I call that number an automated message tells me I have to ring an 0845 number as the other number is no longer available!

If I take anything to a shop to be repaired, of course I expect to pay. This is not the same as getting advice over the phone. By spending hundreds of pounds on a laptop & buying an extended warranty, I feel I should be entitled to free phone advice if there is a problem.

I think I will just agree to disagree with you.

I agree with Jennie - after sales telephone numbers should, in my view, be charged at a standard rate or included in packages ie no premium.  The company has already made a nice profit out of the purchase price, they offer an extended warranty then charge you to use it via a premium rate no!  That I call sharp practice verging on deceit.  If they want to behave like that, then at least the customer should be able to chooe a repairer and the originating company pay the cost of the repair.

Thank you Barbara for your support. I stand by what I have said previously.

I have ALWAYS purchased extended warranties, this is my 3rd laptop over a period of years. Having lived abroad an International warranty has proved invaluable as my 2 previous models went wrong whilst abroad & were written off. The warranties enabled me to replace the faulty laptops with equal, if not better models & makes. on my regualr visits to the UK. So I would always purchase an extended warranty.

Sherbert I am not wasting my money as one laptop was nearly 5yrs old & the other was nearly 3yrs old. I kept both of them as they were 'written off' whilst abroad. I sold the first one explaining it's fault to the buyer & the second one was only written off last year & we keep it as a spare as it works well apart from a line down the side of the screen ( the reason it was written off).

By taking out an international warranty it covers everything whilst I am abroad. Had I been on the UK they would have taken the laptops from me to be repaired & I would have been without one, as sometimes repairs take weeks!

I am quite happy to pay for a warranty, especially when I lwas living abroad when I bought all 3 over an 8 yr period!

Thanks for the info though.

SilentCallsVictim wrote on Aug 10^th, 2009 at 7:41pm:


And so am I. This is the first person I have heard of, that is happy with one.

The only time I ever took one out the insurance company that issued the warranty went belly up and that was it.......never again for me.