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| High-cost call 'culprits' named | High-cost call 'culprits' named |
| (about 5 hours later) | |
| A consumer group has published a list of companies and government agencies it claims are using phone helplines to make money at customers' expense. | A consumer group has published a list of companies and government agencies it claims are using phone helplines to make money at customers' expense. |
| Which? names more than 30 bodies it says are using 0870, 0871, 0844 or 0845 numbers to profit from their callers. | Which? names more than 30 bodies it says are using 0870, 0871, 0844 or 0845 numbers to profit from their callers. |
| These include Tiscali, British Gas, TV Licensing and the DVLA - which all take part of the cost of each call. | These include Tiscali, British Gas, TV Licensing and the DVLA - which all take part of the cost of each call. |
| Which? says the DVLA made £3.4m from its 0870 line last year. The DVLA says it plans to switch to a cheaper number. | Which? says the DVLA made £3.4m from its 0870 line last year. The DVLA says it plans to switch to a cheaper number. |
| Organisations using 0870, 0871, 0845 and 0844 numbers are permitted to receive a share of the call charge revenue. | Organisations using 0870, 0871, 0845 and 0844 numbers are permitted to receive a share of the call charge revenue. |
| Examples of this include pay-as-you-go internet services, which often use 0845 numbers, and other companies who may use the revenue to fund the cost of keeping call centres open 24 hours. | Examples of this include pay-as-you-go internet services, which often use 0845 numbers, and other companies who may use the revenue to fund the cost of keeping call centres open 24 hours. |
| However, other groups and companies, such as charities, also use 0845 numbers and do not take a share of revenue. | |
| These calls are charged at the standard local call rate of 3.95p/min from a BT landline, unlike calls to 0870, 0871 and 0844 numbers which all cost more. | These calls are charged at the standard local call rate of 3.95p/min from a BT landline, unlike calls to 0870, 0871 and 0844 numbers which all cost more. |
| Kept on hold | Kept on hold |
| Ofcom introduced 03 numbers last year, which cost the same as calling an geographic (01 or 02) number. Call charges from BT landlines 0800 - free0845 - up to 3.95p/min0844 - up to 5p/min0870 - up to 7.9p/min0871 - up to 10p/min | Ofcom introduced 03 numbers last year, which cost the same as calling an geographic (01 or 02) number. Call charges from BT landlines 0800 - free0845 - up to 3.95p/min0844 - up to 5p/min0870 - up to 7.9p/min0871 - up to 10p/min |
| The watchdog plans to stop organisations making money from 0870 numbers but Which? said none of the organisations it checked with had switched to 03. | The watchdog plans to stop organisations making money from 0870 numbers but Which? said none of the organisations it checked with had switched to 03. |
| Some had simply switched from 0870 to other higher-cost numbers, it said. | Some had simply switched from 0870 to other higher-cost numbers, it said. |
| The consumer organisation called customer helplines for broadband and utility companies and government agencies to see how long callers were kept waiting to speak to an agent. | The consumer organisation called customer helplines for broadband and utility companies and government agencies to see how long callers were kept waiting to speak to an agent. |
| It found British Gas, AOL and the DVLA kept people hanging on the longest, with average waiting times of around three minutes. | It found British Gas, AOL and the DVLA kept people hanging on the longest, with average waiting times of around three minutes. |
| One call to AOL was held for more than 15 minutes, at a cost of 75p from a BT landline. | One call to AOL was held for more than 15 minutes, at a cost of 75p from a BT landline. |
| Which? is calling for all companies to switch their helplines and technical support lines from expensive numbers to cheaper 03, 0800 or geographic numbers. | Which? is calling for all companies to switch their helplines and technical support lines from expensive numbers to cheaper 03, 0800 or geographic numbers. |
| HIGHER-COST HELPLINES 0871: Admiral Insurance, Bell Insurance, Elephant Insurance, Diamond Insurance, Nikon, Tiscali0870: Apple (tech support), Carphone Warehouse/Talk Talk, DVLA, Gladiator Insurance, Lexmark, Philips, Sony, Zanussi-Electrolux0844: AOL, Orange, Panasonic, Sky, TV Licensing0845: Barclays, British Gas, Consumer Direct, Direct Line, Eon, Green Flag, Halifax, Lloyds TSB, Miele, Npower, Philips, Scottish and Southern Energy, Scottish Power, TV Licensing, Virgin Media Source: Which? | HIGHER-COST HELPLINES 0871: Admiral Insurance, Bell Insurance, Elephant Insurance, Diamond Insurance, Nikon, Tiscali0870: Apple (tech support), Carphone Warehouse/Talk Talk, DVLA, Gladiator Insurance, Lexmark, Philips, Sony, Zanussi-Electrolux0844: AOL, Orange, Panasonic, Sky, TV Licensing0845: Barclays, British Gas, Consumer Direct, Direct Line, Eon, Green Flag, Halifax, Lloyds TSB, Miele, Npower, Philips, Scottish and Southern Energy, Scottish Power, TV Licensing, Virgin Media Source: Which? |
| The organisation's Nicola Frame told BBC News said a 10-minute call from a BT landline to a normal geographic line costs about 40p at most while the same call would cost as much as £1 for an 0870 or 0871 number. | |
| She said: "That doesn't sound like a huge amount, but when you think about how long people are hanging on the phone on some of these phone lines, it really adds up." | She said: "That doesn't sound like a huge amount, but when you think about how long people are hanging on the phone on some of these phone lines, it really adds up." |
| Whilst she acknowledged it was up to customers whether they called the higher-cost lines or not, she said it could often be hard to find a cheaper alternative. | Whilst she acknowledged it was up to customers whether they called the higher-cost lines or not, she said it could often be hard to find a cheaper alternative. |
| However, she said many companies did have cheaper phone numbers and it was worth checking for these before calling, or finding out whether a query could be made by e-mail instead of by phone. | However, she said many companies did have cheaper phone numbers and it was worth checking for these before calling, or finding out whether a query could be made by e-mail instead of by phone. |
| She said customers calling to complain about a faulty product or bad service who were kept waiting a long time on an expensive number should ask the company to refund the cost. | She said customers calling to complain about a faulty product or bad service who were kept waiting a long time on an expensive number should ask the company to refund the cost. |
| "A lot of the time people who are calling these numbers are making a complaint or asking for some support with the product and really we don't think customers should be paying big sums of money for that sort of help." | "A lot of the time people who are calling these numbers are making a complaint or asking for some support with the product and really we don't think customers should be paying big sums of money for that sort of help." |