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High-cost call companies shamed

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Garnet Roach garnet@consumerchoices.co.uk

A list of companies that use high-cost helplines to make money at their customers’ expense has been published by a leading consumer group (29-05-08).

The list of 30 companies and Government organisations using 0870, 0871, 0844 or 0845 numbers to profit from their callers was released by Which? today and included a number of broadband providers.

Organisations using these numbers are currently allowed to receive a share of the profits, “that means that the longer a customer stays on the line, the more the organisation earns,” said Which?

Telecoms regulator Ofcom plans to stop companies from receiving a share of profits from the top-tier 0870 numbers. Charities also use 0845 numbers but do not receive a share of the profits.

Tiscali (www.Tiscali.co.uk), AOL (www.AOL.co.uk), TalkTalk (www.TalkTalk.co.uk), Orange (www.Orange.co.uk), Sky Broadband (www.Sky.com) and Virgin Media (www.VirginMedia.com) all made the Which? “hall of shame”.

One call to AOL was held for more than 15 minutes, at a cost of 75p from a BT landline (www.BT.com).

Neil Fowler, Which? Editor, said: “Why should you pay for the privilege of making a complaint or getting a problem fixed? It’s unacceptable that companies and government agencies can make big money from people calling helplines.

“Check if there’s a cheaper phone number or ask the company to refund the call cost - it’s the least they can do if you’re calling about a faulty product or bad service,” he advised.

Although not “premium rate” numbers, these “high-cost” numbers can rake in big revenue for companies, with the DVLA - which operates a 0870 number - making £3.4 million from its phoneline last year. It now says it plans to switch to a cheaper number.

Michael Phillips, BroadbandChoices.co.uk product director, said: “When choosing your broadband provider it’s important to look at the cost of calling both customer services and technical support, as technical support lines are often far more expensive.

“Some providers also charge a different rate for different types of technical support,” he warned. “For example, two of Orange’s technical support lines are on 0844 numbers, but if you have a problem with your Broadband Starter or Home Starter broadband or you’re a MAC OSX user then you’ll have to call the premium-rate 0905 number at 50p a minute.

"Virgin Media also charges 25p per minute, with a 10p connection fee, for calls to its premium-rate, 0906 broadband technical support number."

Related article - Hidden costs of broadband.

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