Why You Need To Say No To 0845?

If you recently have looked rather surprised at the cost of your latest phone bill, you might want to investigate a bit deeper to find out what the reason for the high cost could have been. It is very well possible that you have used so called non-geographic numbers. Non-geographic numbers are what they say they are. Their cost are not calculated based on where you are calling to, but based on a fixed, expensive, rate. This rate is usually considerably more expensive compared to any standard calls you might be making. And on top of that these non-geographical calls are hardly ever included in special promotions or free call package deals you might have set up with your phone provider.

There are quite a few of these non-geographical numbers but the most outrageous ones are the numbers that start with 0870 – ‘National Call’, 0845 – ‘Lo-Call’, 0871, and 0844. For quite some time now there are campaigns going to say no to 0845 numbers. However, in order to understand the say no to 0845 numbers you need to understand what these numbers actually entail. Therefore a short description of the four most notorious numbers is listed below:

- The 0870 ‘National Call’ number can cost you up to 10p/min. The costs differ per provider but to give you an insight, cheapest is BT with their standard package at a cost of 5.25p/min. You think that is expensive? The cost for Virgin are even higher, namely 10p/min and these numbers are never included into any free allowance packages.

- The 0845 –‘Lo-Call’ number will cost you up to 7p/min. Many people might get confused due to the name given to this number Lo-Cal; note that it does not refer to local calls at all. The usage of these types of numbers started quite a few years ago when particularly small businesses were sold the line that their number would look much more professional if it would start with 0845. However, none of these businesses probably realized that nowadays these numbers cost their customers money. Lately you do see that the 0845 numbers are part of ‘free call’ packages more often.

Say No To 0845 And Other Numbers:

- The 0871 number is likely to cost you up to 11p/m. This number is frequently used by companies and services who have made a deal with their provider ensuring that their provider gets a percentage of the actual calls coming in.

- And finally the 0844 number which will cost you on average 6p/min., Although this number always has a fixed cost between 1p and 6p/minute it might be considerably cheaper than the 0871 number. The main problem is that you will never find it in any free call packages. So if you frequently need to use these numbers your phone cost can still go up very fast.

This explanation has hopefully given you an insight to why there is an ongoing say no to 0845 numbers campaign out there. However, you might still have the unanswered question as in why are these numbers of benefit for the companies using them? The answer is simple: money. These non-geographical numbers will make a company that uses them money. You can find even the big brand names such as Argos, Sky, Carphone Warehouse, Vodafone, Barclaycard, all of them use these numbers. So while you try to find, out information about a certain product you might want to buy from them, they are already making money from you before you even purchased a single item.

As a result of the say no to 0845 campaigns a lot more information regarding these numbers and the amounts of money companies can make by using them has come to the surface. Many telecom providers will put special business offers out that state that a company can earn 1.5 p/m by using for instance a 0845 number. You might find companies that will not be willing to admit they are actually making money from your call, and even state this on their company information. But in those cases, it usually means that it is the provider who actually earns that money, meaning you still end up paying for it.

Say No To 0845 Campaigns:

The say no to 0845 campaigns have not only shed light on the money making schemes of these numbers, but they also made people aware of alternative ways to reaching certain companies without actually using the 0845 numbers. For instance, look out information that companies might give for people to contact them when abroad. Those numbers will start with +44 and there is nobody that will stop you from using that number even from within Britain. The positive side of that is that that number is most likely included into any of the ‘inclusive’ number deals you might have for your mobile phone or land line.

Another option is to call another department of that company. A quick search through the phone directory or company’s website might reveal other numbers such as for instance the sales department. Those numbers are much more likely to be numbers that can be called at a normal rate or even might fall into your free call package. When connected to the sales department, simply ask them to connect you to the information or any other department you are actually looking for.

So, there is to it, it where comes to why they always say no 0845 or no 0845. Now you know and understand what happen and the real story behind "say no to 0845".