0844 Numbers Are We Being Conned ?
filmfan7
Posts: 3,429 Forum Member
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A lot of service providers are using the charged 0844 numbers instead of the old 0845 "free" numbers ...i feel this is a big con as we origionally paid extra to have the 0845 free from our phone providers and now buisnesses are "moving the goalposts " to switch the new charged 0844 numbers ..and when you phone a call center one can wait ages to be answered so this just makes the phone bills bigger ...ive complained to Talk Talk my provider to make 0844 numbers free ! what do you think about this ?
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0845 numbers have never been free, so what's the difference?
All these non-geographical numbers are a con, unless they are part of your call-package or are genuine freephone numbers. Usually they are just an excuse to charge you a lot more money, compounded by the use of long call-queues.
Anyway I normally use http://www.saynoto0870.com/search.php which 50% of the time can find an equivalent landline number.
Ie Lloydstsb phone banking details "If you need to call us from abroad, or prefer not to use our 0845 number, you can also call PhoneBank® on 00 44 1733 347 007 (or 01733 347 007 if calling from the UK)." It means if i call phone bank from my mobile it uses my free minutes instead of 0845 charges.
It's a way of deliberately confusing people so they end up making calls to numbers thinking they are free or on a low call rate. The original 0845 and 0345 were used so you paid a local rate no matter where in the country you lived. Then they started to increase them. I know some companies have gone back to using 01 or 02 numbers since most have those numbers free to call from their landlines or mobile (depending on the contract you have).
I told the Student Loans that I'd have to cease payments back in June because of impending redundancy, I cancelled the direct debit, all sorted.
They sent me a text a few weeks back saying "We need to contact you, please can you call us on 0844 whatever.."
I thought, hold on, if you need to contact me, why not just phone me? Cheeky buggers. They called me a few days after.
This.
I understand you can apply for your own 0870 number. Then when they do call you, you get cashback depending on how long they're on the phone!
Well normally you pay a supplement to the phone provider for "free" 0845 numbers ! what they give you with one hand they take it away with the other ! ..as someone has pointed out on here one can find differant numbers for some buisnesess which are under 0845 01 02 etc ..but you have to search for them ,bit like a puzzle !
0870 and 0845 numbers are 'free' with BT in the sense that they're part of a call package.
Thise numbers are portable numbers, I used one myself once, if you have a small business you are likely to either move premises often as you expand or just move office services e.g you might employ an answering service.
With a portable number you can keep all your business cards and stationery the same whilst re-directing the new number to you portable one.