How Calling a Freephone Number In France Could End Up Costing You a Fortune.
Yesterday I had cause to call an 0800 (freephone) number in France - to discuss the replacement of my old electric meters etc., with new.
I had plenty of minutes left on my pay-as-you-go plan and so was surprised to get the message that I did not have enough credit to place the call. I called EE who explained that, though I could call UK numbers from France using my plan's minutes, a call in the other direction was classed as international and so would cost £1.50.
I added credit and placed the call which was answered by an automated message saying the office was closed - this was fortunate as it meant the call only lasted 54 seconds. Had I ended up on hold (quite likely) I can well imagine the call could have lasted 20 or 30 minutes and, had that been the case, I would have been billed from £70 to over £100.
The sharp eyed amongst you will think I've got my numbers wrong - surely I mean £30 - £45 - or may even think, being a freephone number, the call shouldn't cost anything.
Checking my account statement, my 54 second call to a French freephone number cost £3.50.
My first thought was that perhaps 0800 numbers are not freephone numbers in France but are in fact premium numbers. I called EE to ask if this was the case. To cut a long story short, was told that the message I was hearing in French was explaining the call costs and therefore this was a premium number. WRONG.
I wasn't convinced and so did some more research which confirmed this was a freephone number.
I called EE back to tell them that I had been misinformed on my first call (which they charged me for) and that I believed I had been overcharged.
The good news is that they refunded the £3.50 AND they told me of a free add-on that provided international calls to many countries, including France, at just 3p a minute (not £1.50). If it is a free add-on, why don't they simply add this to all plans, rather than requiring customers to stumble across it? The cynic in me thinks he knows why.
The bad news, and the main message of this post, is that 0800 numbers are 'Service Numbers' and the EE terms and conditions state that call to overseas service numbers will be charged at £3.50 per minute. Ironically, had this been a premium service number (rather than freephone) I would have received a message advising of the inflated cost.
I have to say I am very disappointed in EE - not for the fact that they charge international rates for freephone numbers (I can sort of accept this) but because:
I had plenty of minutes left on my pay-as-you-go plan and so was surprised to get the message that I did not have enough credit to place the call. I called EE who explained that, though I could call UK numbers from France using my plan's minutes, a call in the other direction was classed as international and so would cost £1.50.
I added credit and placed the call which was answered by an automated message saying the office was closed - this was fortunate as it meant the call only lasted 54 seconds. Had I ended up on hold (quite likely) I can well imagine the call could have lasted 20 or 30 minutes and, had that been the case, I would have been billed from £70 to over £100.
The sharp eyed amongst you will think I've got my numbers wrong - surely I mean £30 - £45 - or may even think, being a freephone number, the call shouldn't cost anything.
Checking my account statement, my 54 second call to a French freephone number cost £3.50.
My first thought was that perhaps 0800 numbers are not freephone numbers in France but are in fact premium numbers. I called EE to ask if this was the case. To cut a long story short, was told that the message I was hearing in French was explaining the call costs and therefore this was a premium number. WRONG.
I wasn't convinced and so did some more research which confirmed this was a freephone number.
I called EE back to tell them that I had been misinformed on my first call (which they charged me for) and that I believed I had been overcharged.
The good news is that they refunded the £3.50 AND they told me of a free add-on that provided international calls to many countries, including France, at just 3p a minute (not £1.50). If it is a free add-on, why don't they simply add this to all plans, rather than requiring customers to stumble across it? The cynic in me thinks he knows why.
The bad news, and the main message of this post, is that 0800 numbers are 'Service Numbers' and the EE terms and conditions state that call to overseas service numbers will be charged at £3.50 per minute. Ironically, had this been a premium service number (rather than freephone) I would have received a message advising of the inflated cost.
I have to say I am very disappointed in EE - not for the fact that they charge international rates for freephone numbers (I can sort of accept this) but because:
- They do not make clear freephone numbers will be charged for
- They do not make clear that , as Service Numbers, they will be charged at an inflated rate (it is in the terms and conditions, but even took customer support several minutes to find this)
- The wording in the terms and conditions makes it easy to assume that, if you are going to be charged for a service call you will hear a warning message
- The free add-on that provided 'standard' international calls at 3p rather that £1.50 is not clearly advertised (or, better still, provided as standard).
Comments
Post a Comment