Say no to 0870

It never stops amazing me how companies insist on being helpful by providing 0845 contact numbers, or worse still 0870 numbers. Ofcom has done a pretty good job of regulating the use of these numbers so that the price you pay for them is restricted. Indeed to quote their site from here:

Maximum rates for BT customers are listed below.

• 0800 and 0808 Freephone, free of charge for BT customers
• 0845 calls are charged at up to 3.95p/min for BT customers.
• 0844 calls are charged at up to 5p/min for BT customers.
• 0870 calls are charged at up to 7.9p/min for BT customers.
• 0871 calls cost up to 10p/min for BT customers.

The problem is that many people use mobile phones as their key method of voice communication now. When you call an 0845 or 0870 number from a mobile be prepared to get your wallet out. Most providers (I think it is all providers but I haven't analysed every tariff in the market) charge high rates for accessing these numbers, and do not include these calls in the bundles of minutes you buy.

The following charges apply to contract users. Pay as you talk cost more:

My provider, O2, charges 20p/minute to call 0845, 0870, and outrageously 0800 numbers too. I don't believe they pay a termination charge when I make a call to a freephone number (0800) but they still charge me 20p/minute. Vodafone, Orange and T-Mobile also charge 20p/min for the 0845 and 0870 numbers.

So, since I often find myself making business calls on my mobile phone, I use the Saynoto0870 website a great deal. This great idea allows you to search for an 0845 or 0870 number and more often than not it will return a landline equivalent. That landline number is cheaper, and is included in my bundle of minutes.