"Commuters checking whether Tube trains are on time are being "ripped off" by having to phone a premium rate number, it was claimed today.

A five-minute call to the Transport for London customer service line - relied upon by many to find out about problems on the Underground - costs up to £2 from a mobile phone.

London Liberal Democrat leader Caroline Pidgeon, who uncovered the higher rates, said the calls should be free or at least equal whether people are using a mobile or a landline."

Full story here: http://www.thisislondon.co.uk/standard/article-23933897-tube-commuters-ripped-of...

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Not any more!  Where's it gone now?



And, someone ought to put Boris right as he keeps incorrectly waffling on about "0207" numbers.  Fool!

That's excellent news but it doesn't seem to have reached the TfL website yet, which still lists the 0843 number. (http://www.tfl.gov.uk/contact/4417.aspx and others)

Why not just change back to the 020 number?

That would mean incoming calls would be at no cost to TfL (whereas 0343 calls will cost them money).

kasg wrote on Mar 26^th, 2013 at 7:32pm:


I believe Heinz was pointing out that TfL will be charged a per call or per minute rate from it's number supplier as it's now using an 03 number as opposed to an 08 number, which it received revenue per minute.

I don't believe Heinz was suggesting TfL would have been penalised for changing the number.

kasg wrote on Mar 28^th, 2013 at 11:11am:

Apologies Heinz, I agree totally that it's most likely that TfL would loose face if they moved back to a 020 number.  I assume the "contract" connected to the 0843 number can now be amended and after a possibly large number of complaint's they have in some ways relented.

I have just seen in the South London Press dated Fri.3rd May that there is 0343 222 1234 number for refunding money left on unused Oyster Cards also the deposit on unused Oyster Cards.

Within a few weeks this can be refunded from any Tube Station

I posted this on the sayno FOI Thread which Google found, before I realised that there was another relavant TFL thread here.

Apologies for late notification of the fact that this issue is covered by a fair telecoms campaign news release, in response to that of TfL on 26 March. No campaigner succeeding in securing media coverage of this issue (to my knowledge).


CJT-80 wrote on Apr 3^rd, 2013 at 3:26pm:

This indicates that there is either confusion about the question or deliberate malpractice going on, as TfL deals with 2 separate issues at the same time.

Firstly, it is engaged in a project to consolidate all customer service enquiries onto a single number. Secondly, that number has been migrated (in parallel) from 0843 to 0343.

The Oyster service, previously on a 0845 number, was the first to be transferred over. Other services, on 0845 and 020 numbers, will follow. The phasing of this may be fairly described as having the effect of managing demand for the main number.


For the services that have always been on the 222 1234 number, the situation is totally different. There is no need to manage demand between the 0843 and the 0343 versions of the same number, as it is met in exactly the same way. The only issue is one of cost. It makes a difference of around 5p per call minute (VAT inclusive) for TfL and generally more, often much more, than that for callers.

There is no justification whatsoever for continuing to aim to impose a Service Charge through continuing publication of the 0843 222 1234 number, which is now simply an expensive alternative for exactly the same service that is accessible via 0343 222 1234.


One may forgive a modest delay in updating material relating to the contact number for Oyster as this cannot be done until the transfer is seen to be complete and working. The out of date example quoted above does not however sound as though it is taken from old stock of printed material that was distributed before the change and not recalled.

If TfL is "managing its costs" by seeking to retain the benefit of a Service Charge it claims to have withdrawn, then this warrants serious attention.


It may be that confusion is a widespread problem for staff of TfL, a body run by the Mayor of London. I suspect that whoever wrote the line at the foot of the TfL media release, quoted below, is most seriously confused:

Quote:

One could ask for a list of the telephone companies who are billing calls to 0845 370 9876 as if they were to a 0343 number, and calling it "local rate". It is suggested that all have signed up to this, however one generally finds that those who go to the trouble of making such arrangements are unable to secure agreements with 100% of call providers. (On sight of a most comprehensive list, I would happily withdraw my allegation about the author of the piece.)

As the point has been raised, one could ask how the arrangement will change when the number is "discontinued". 

Having mentioned the Mayor, dare I say that confusion is often used deliberately to disguise a true position.