Are you oblivious to the exorbitant costs you are incurring when you phone customer service departments and help-lines?
Clearly you are according to the latest survey from Which?
In it they asked 1,000 people how much they would be charged for dialling so-called "revenue-sharing" phone numbers that start with 0870 or 0845.
Most answered wrongly or did not know the costs involved in calling 0870 -one of the most expensive numbers.
Companies that use 0845, 0844 and the higher-charging 0870 and 0871 numbers can share revenues from calls with the phone service providers! (meaning hugely inflated costs!!)
A 10-minute daytime call from a BT landline to a geographic number (starting with 01 or 02) could cost as little as 3p but the same call would cost you about 80p to an 0870 number!
Consumers spend more than £300 million every year dialling 0871 numbers, according to premium-rate regulator Icstis.
So just how widespread are the problems with 0845 and 0871 numbers?
Here are a few examples:
- People sometimes have to call a revenue-sharing number even to complain about a problem of a company's own making!
- Some banks, including Alliance and Leicester and Lloyds TSB, use 0870 lines to give advice to people with debt problems (now that is downright underhand!)
- The Department for Work and Pensions, made £268,000 last year from 0845 hotlines to advise those on low incomes about benefit and winter fuel payments (unbelievable)
- Researchers also found that many companies are boosting their profits by leaving customers waiting for calls to be answered....
- Which? called help-lines run by 8 broadband companies,5 energy firms and 5 government agencies and found energy companies (which use 0845 numbers) had the longest waiting times, at an average 3.5 minutes....
- Utility firm npower was the worst culprit, keeping researchers waiting an average of 7 minutes; a call that would cost you 24p from a BT landline, but up to £1.05 on a mobile phone!
Neil Fowler, editor of Which? said: "Revenue-sharing is a stealth tax of the worst kind. Tales of customers hanging on for ages at huge expense when they are trying to place an order, or even make a complaint, are numerous"
"Where once businesses paid to look after customers, it now seems that customers must pay for the privilege of businesses looking after them."
So wherever you can, avoid 0870 and 0845 numbers at all costs...because they are clearly costing you!
p.s Here are five tips on how to side-step the queues and the costs!:
- Log on to Web sites, such as saynoto0870.com, which list many well-known companies who use 0800, 0808, 0844, 0845, 0870 and 0871 lines and their equivalent (and cheaper) geographical numbers!
- If you cannot find the geographical number, when you do speak to someone at the company, ask them how you can connect directly next time.
- With many automated systems, it is possible to break out of the queuing system by repeatedly pressing 0, 0#, #0, 0* or *0.
- If prompted, say you are an "agent" or a "representative"
- Connect to sales first and then ask them to transfer you.