40p/min to call a freephone number?

[RedRasper]

There is 0808 as well for free numbering (at least from bt landlines!)

I seem to recall one of the reasons for charging for 0800 numbers was because of all the phone card companies using 0800 numbers and so people were calling them from mobiles and saving a fortune and the operators were moving out. I remember it usedto be a cat and mouse game where you'd get an 0800 for a bit it would then get blocked so you'd ring the phone card company up for a new one and so on!

[aashraf]

Dear all,

You can use the following two override numbers for 0800 numbers from your mobile. This call will be charged at the normal rate.

0200 2220900
0200 2220700

Kind Regards

PS. Only works with the 0800 numbers.

[housefan]

can i suggest you pay via internet banking,its free and it take the same three days to get to them, just a thought

[stephen7372]

To avoid this in the future you can set up an account with www.18185.co.uk and us a call through number should cost you normal mobile rate plus 4p/min

[wondermouse]

I agree with Brucey.

How can an 08000 number NOT be an 0800 number? I think you should take this up with the regulator and Trading Standards as it's clearly misleading. Try writing to Which? Warchdog and your local MP too as this sort of hidden rip-off has to be stopped.

[Ric]

It is very underhand, but they do cite that calls other than 0800/0500 may be charged at up to £2.50/min on their website... not sure about the small print you received with your PAYG sim?

I still reckon you could get the call cost refunded on the basis that it is not included in the list of 08/09 call charges they list here: http://www.t-mobile.co.uk/content/pd...ll_charges.pdf and therefore you assumed it would be standard rate.

[Brucey]

I don't have the link (as I downloaded the file), but this is what the pricing brochure for my tariff says:

All numbers prefixed by (inc VAT)
0870, 0871, 0844, 0845(1), (2) 40p per minute
0800/0500(1) Call charges from Free to 10p
0808(1) Call charges from Free to 10p
All other 08(1), (3) Call charges from Free to £2.50

(1) All number prefixed by 08 or 09 are not included in your allowance.
(2) Certain numbers starting with these prefixes are charged at more than this. All chargeable calls will be subject to a 40p minimum charge unless otherwise
stated.
(3) Please call go to www.t-mobile.co.uk/08-09PAYG for specific and detailed up-to-date information about these charges.

Something else I've noticed, looking through the bits of paper that came with my phone, is the "standard" 01/02 tariff has gone up to 15p/min when it used to be 12p/min. Not a very big issue, but they never told me about this - by text or letter.

On a side note, anyone know how you can unlock a Sagem MY501C without paying £15 to this "outfit"?

[Brucey]

My email to T-Mobile:

Dear D,

Thank you for your reply, however I still believe that I have been overcharged for this call.

My reasons for this are:
1. At the start of the call, I was told "The number you have called we be charged at your standard rate" by T-Mobile. This implied the call would be charged at my "standard rate" of 15p/min.
2. The Everyone pricing table, states "0800/0500(1) Call charges from Free to 10p". The footnote for (1) is "All number prefixed by 08 or 09 are not included in your allowance." At no point does it state that a 0800 0 number is not an 0800 number, it implies ALL numbers starting 0800 will be at this rate, therefore this is very misleading.
3. Having trawled through the 268 page document that is the 08/09 pricing guide, I cannot find a call rate suitable for the number 08000283899.

In addition, whilst looking through the literature that is available online and that I have to hand, I noticed that the "standard" call price is 15p/min. When I joined T-Mobile this was 12p/min. I believe that I was not informed of this change. Could you let me know when this happened and how I was informed of the matter.

Could you also let me know the fee to have my telephone unlocked from the T-Mobile network.

Regards

Mr B B

I've just heard back from them:

Good morning Mr B

Thanks for getting back in touch with me regarding the call charges for 08000 numbers.

I'm sorry the recorded message at the start of the call advised you that you'd be charged a standard rate, therefore implying you'd be paying the standard rate for your calls. I appreciate your feedback over this Mr B as it allows us to put things right. In the meanwhile, due to this misunderstanding I'm happy to refund you the full cost of the call as a gesture of our commitment to you. I've applied a credit to your account of £1.27 inc VAT. Your current balance including this credit is showing as £x.xx inc VAT.

I can see from your comments how misleading you feel the pricing guide can be, it certainly isn't our intention to mislead our customers over something as important as pricing for calls and I'm sorry you feel this way. I've checked the 08/09 pricing guide, and as you've said I can see nothing relating to the number you've dialled. Again, thank you for your feedback, I'll definately be raising this and passing these comments forward.

I've looked into your concern regarding the call charges for your Everyone price plan. You've mentioned that the call charges used to be 12p inc VAT per minute, now they're 15p inc VAT per minute. At no point on this price plan were call charges ever 12p per minute Mr B. I've checked you've not changed price plans and can see you've always been on the Everyone price plan.

... Continues to answer some other questions I asked

At least they've recognised the fact that both the pricing documents and recorded message are misleading.

With regard to the 12p/min thing, I am sure it was 12p/min. Some phone websites still show 12p/min as this tariff. When I'm home at the weekend, I'll be checking the documentation that came with my phone.

Thank you everyone for all your input.

[stephen7372]

To avoid this in the future you can set up an account with http://www.18185.co.uk/mobilerates.php and us a call through number should cost you normal mobile rate plus 4p/min