COMPANIES that force their customers to use premium-rate helpline numbers to rake in extra profits have been named and shamed in a new report.
More than 30 firms and government agencies are using more expensive 0871, 0870, 0844 or 0845 numbers for customer service or technical support lines. It can cost more than double the price of a call to a regular number starting with 01 or 02, accor
ding to a report by Which? magazine.
Those shamed include British Gas, Barclays and the internet service provider Tiscali, as well as government bodies such as the TV Licensing and the Driver and Vehicle Licensing Authority (DVLA). Some make millions a year from the windfall, researchers said, while just ten organisations were found to offer 0800 numbers that are free from a land-line.
Firms using premium numbers share revenue from calls with phone service providers – meaning the longer a customer is kept hanging on, the bigger the sum cashed in. For example, the DVLA made £3.4 million from its 0870 number in the last financial year.
Neil Fowler, the editor of Which?, said: "Why should you pay for the privilege of making a complaint or getting a problem fixed? It's unacceptable.
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."
The report investigated the most common landline charges and found a ten-minute call to an 0871 or 0870 number costs up to £1, while 0845 calls cost 60p and 0844 numbers 50p.
Ofcom, the regulator, announced plans to try to stop organisations making money from 0870 numbers by cutting the cost of calls so that they will cost no more than a geographic number such as 01 or 02, or a new 03 code.
Which? contacted a range of organisations to establish what numbers they are using, finding more than 30 still use expensive customer lines and some simply switched from 0870 numbers to other expensive codes.
The watchdog called customer helplines at broadband and utility companies and government agencies to find out how long callers were kept waiting to speak to someone. 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.
Orange has an 09 number (50p a minute) for broadband technical support for some customers. Nikon and Tiscali have switched from 0870 to 0871, which is just as expensive, while Apple, Sony and CarphoneWarehouse/TalkTalk use 0870 for some or all helplines.
Those praised in the report included Canon, RAC Insurance and Toshiba, which have switched from 0870 to 0800 or a (cheaper) geographic number. BT, which had 0845 numbers for technical support, has switched to 0800.
A spokeswoman for the Scottish Consumer Council said it was outrageous that customers were being charged at premium-rate numbers. "Good practice in complaint handling should be easy and fair and accessible to everyone," she said.
FACT BOXTHE following organisations were those identified by Which? as having expensive customer lines:
• 0871 – up to 10p per minute: Admiral Insurance, Bell Insurance, Diamond Insurance, Elephant Insurance, Nikon, Tiscali.
• 0870 – up to 7.9p per minute: Apple (tech support), Carphone Warehouse/Talk Talk, DVLA, Gladiator Insurance, Lexmark, Philips, Sony, Zanussi-Electrolux.
• 0844 – up to 5p per minute: AOL, Orange, Panasonic, Sky (free for Sky Talk customers from July), TV Licensing.
• 0845 – up to 3.95p per minute: Barclays, British Gas, Consumer Direct, Direct Line, Eon, Green Flag, Halifax, LloydsTSB, Miele, Npower, Philips, Scottish and Southern Energy, Scottish Power, TV Licensing, Virgin Media.
Roll of Honour – the following organisations were identified by Which? as having cheaper customer lines:
• 0800 – free of charge: Apple (helpline), BT, Canon, Churchill, Dyson, Norwich Union Direct, RAC, Scottish and Southern Energy.
• 03: Passport Office (from August).
• 01/02: Panasonic, Philips, Toshiba.
A ten-minute call from a BT landline to a regular number, such as 01, 02 or the new 03 code, costs 40p at most.
