Three scraps charges for 0800 calls from mobiles

[Michael Browne]

Mobile operator's new customers will benefit from today, and existing users can sign up for free service without extending existing contract

 

The cost of calling 0800 numbers from mobile phones will be made free for customers of Three from Tuesday, while charges for helplines run by hundreds of banks, utilities, insurance companies and broadband providers will be slashed.

 

Mobile networks make an estimated £600m a year by charging their customers up to 40p a minute to ring numbers which begin with the digits 08, and which are often free or a fraction of the price to ring from landlines, according to research from YouGov.

 

Britain's smallest operator Three, with 9 million customers, has abolished charges for 0800 numbers for all customers and cut the cost of any other number beginning with 08 and 05 to 5p a minute. The tariff will apply to all new contracts, and existing customers can sign up without having to extend their existing contracts.

 

Telecoms regulator Ofcom has already announced an end to charges for calls to 0800 numbers from mobiles, but this will not be enforced until 26 June 2015.

http://www.theguardian.com/money/2014/mar/18/three-scraps-0800-charges

[Conniff]

They wouldn't be if they weren't order to by Ofcom. 3 is no different from the rest.

[Francesco]

@conniff & CAG

 

It's even trickier than that, with the new plans Tethering is now reduced to 2gb per month even for "All you can eat" data plans.

 

They are giving a little bit with one hand and taking a lot away with the other, that's on top of their very recent 25% price increases.

 

"No Extra for 4G", I should think not, they struggle to provide it, their 3G is usually faster in most areas.

 

They will claim that they don't make promises on signal strength, just that 4G is on 'rollout' and coverage will vary.

They should be compelled (along with other carriers) to state minimum service levels.

Consumers might then have the option to cease contracts when they fail to deliver.

At the moment many people are locked in to expensive two year deals and there is get-out for No Service.

[OlafJensen]

Well I,m with 3 and have just rang their customer services. I asked about these 08 numbers and they said I have to pay more to upgrade for these numbers.

[hrdubwd]

Long discussion with Three ...

1. Only applies to existing 24-month contracts.

2. Can be offered now if I take a 24-month contract - with a new phone! Obviously more expensive that way (and would be a waste of a good phone!).

3. No way for SIM-only.

It was claimed that they were trying to do something "for customers". I pointed out that clearly they were not interested in keeping customers happy. No answer to that.

Insulting I called it, to which the reply was "not the intention", but of course it is the actuality.

The oddity of a new 24-month contract running beyond the compulsory date was not recognized as having any ironic content.

 

Ho hum.

 

BWD

[Conniff]

Don't sign up for anything. Ofcom has told the mobile operators to stop charging for these numbers and comes into force in June 2015 and that means all 0800, 0808 and 116 numbers, so don't think 3 are offering you anything, they are trying to make a buck while iron is hot.

 

This is not the mobile companies being nice, it is the mobile companies obeying a regulator.

[hrdubwd]

Thanks, but I am not that daft!