BT 118505 and 118500

We needed to obtain a telephone number in China, so naturally we phoned BT's 118505 for overseas phone number enquiries. They were most unhelpful and after a period of days we phoned 3 times. Well when the bill came in we got charged the sum of £50+VAT for these calls ti enquire about a number - which they were most unhelpful, did not find the number etc and we got charged and exorbitant price for a very lousy service.

Any, cutting a long story short hubby phoned up to complain and he told them that because they never gave a prompt at the beginning of the calls to say how much per minute the calls were going to be, BT have cancelled all the charges so they have credited us back with £50+VAT from the account.

A result...............

[Amethyst]

Re: BT 118505 and 118500

Did they explain how the bill had come to over £50 ?

[TUTTSI]

Re: BT 118505 and 118500

The bill itself came to about £60 more than normal, when hubby checked the breakdowns it showed that 3 calls totalled £50 + VAT. Since there was no prompt at the beginning of the call to say how much per minute they would be charging, the bill statement showed as £3.50 - £4 a minute and they took there time in dealing with this matter and still were unable to give us the information we required.

The good news is that after to speaking o/h spoke to BT this is being credited in FULL.

Did they explain how the bill had come to over £50 ?

[Amethyst]

Re: BT 118505 and 118500

118505 - no announcement at all before you get through to operator
118500 - announcement saying monitored or recorded calls etc nothing on how much - before you get through to operator

published amounts

118500 = * Calls to 118 500/404 cost 59p per call plus £2.39 per minute, or part thereof, from BT landlines (excluding BT payphones). Mobiles and other networks may vary.
118505 = Calls to 118505 cost 99p per call plus £3.49 per minute from BT landlines (excluding BT payphones). Mobiles and other networks may vary.

'kin 'ell !

Well done getting those charges back from BT, they really should do better.

Are there rules regarding the 118*** numbers telling you how much it is per minute before the operator answers ? I know they do have to tell you the rate for if they put you through to a number before they do, but not sure about just making an enquiry ?

[Amethyst]

Re: BT 118505 and 118500

From OFcom consultation -
1.15 Finally, we have also considered options for additional consumer protection measures, such as pre-call announcements, for calls to these numbers. While we would welcome stakeholder views, our analysis suggests that at the SC levels proposed no additional consumer protection measures (above that imposed by PPP) are required.



And a lovely balanced article in my favourite newspaper:tinysmile_aha_t: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/arti...enquiries.html this month

[Amethyst]

Re: BT 118505 and 118500

Bit more on the 118500

PhonepayPlus have fined BT a stack for misleading consumers and therefore consumers who have used 188500 since around Sept 2011 might be able to reclaim the cost of those calls to 118 500.

Code Compliance Panel .......
Having regard to all the circumstances of the case, the Tribunal decided to impose the following sanctions:
• a formal reprimand;
• a fine of £225,000; and
• a requirement that the Level 2 provider must refund all consumers who claim a refund, for the full amount spent by them on the Service, within 28 days of their claim, save where there is good cause to believe that such claims are not valid, and provide evidence to PhonepayPlus that such refunds have been made.

Full tribunal minutes attached

[Hurricane Puffrose]

Re: BT 118505 and 118500

Tuttsi,
may I ask which mobile provider you use?
might be able to find you a cheaper way to call China.. well, as I work for em.. why have a dog and bark yourself *woof* :doggieyes:

[TUTTSI]

Re: BT 118505 and 118500

Rose, We normally speak to our son who lives in China on Skype or Viber and or by dialling a number first 18866 where we have very cheap rates from our landline. In this instance we were not using our mobiles, we were trying to locate a phone number in rural China because our son had gone off the radar and we were very worried. In the end we found the number of his place at work as I found a photo outside the school with him in it where he worked and the phone number was on the facia. Fortunately before we phoned that number he actually made contact, I was also going to report him as a missing person as we were that worried.

Tuttsi,
may I ask which mobile provider you use?
might be able to find you a cheaper way to call China.. well, as I work for em.. why have a dog and bark yourself *woof* :doggieyes: