About two months ago I wrote an article for the Welsh national newspaper asking CEO Ben Verwaayen about the horrifically bad service BT provides. Now it seems they and the industry are in a spot of trouble for the 0870 number scheme where you pay between .10 and .50 pence per minute for YOU to call a company to talk with THEM about YOUR account.

The dirty little secret is the company funds their telemarketing operation by the up to 50% of each call that is kicked back to them. Nice work if you can get it. Now these figures are under great pressure from the communications watchdog Ofcom who wants calls to 0870 numbers to cost no more than calls to geographic numbers.

The Telegraph reported: “On average, calls to 0870 numbers cost between 6p and 10p per minute in the daytime, from a BT landline, and 1p to 5p at other times. Ofcom wants this to be reduced to about 3.5p a minute in the day and 1p to 1.5p a minute at other times.

Ofcom’s proposals also include improving protection for customers calling 0871 lines, which cost anything from 5p to 10p per minute, by bringing them under the remit of premium-rate services regulator PhonepayPlus.

The plans are part of Ofcom’s wider review of “non-geographic” telephone numbers, after complaints over the lack of transparency about the cost of calls.

Many businesses and organisations use 0870 numbers to provide information including road traffic advice, customer service and financial advice.

Calls to 0870 numbers are currently priced in a way that allows organisations to share the revenue generated by per minute call charges. Ofcom’s proposals would effectively end this.

Businesses that wanted to charge higher rates for 0870 calls would have to make sure their customers knew the costs.

PhonepayPlus would also be able to investigate complaints about excessively long call queuing times.

Ofcom said it hoped to have the proposed changes in place by autumn.”

My original article that appeared in February in The Western Mail:

Mr. Ben Verwaayen
CEO British Telecomm Dear Ben,I want to thank your team for resolving a nagging problem. I read your profile in KLM’s magazine and was touched by your personal service commitment. Your senior people do a good job of handling customer issues… of course I might also jump if an order came down from the corporate office. I tried to call you, but the switchboard, transferred me to your Press Office. I became concerned efforts by him on my behalf might seem improper.I repeated my real questions were about BT’s internal communications process. Mr. Mann explained BT’s fault management policy and how quickly you move to ensure all service is promptly restored.  I was surprised when the engineer scheduled to arrive 24 hours later, was here less than one hour later. He explained he needed to climb 1.5 kilometres of telephone poles to resolve this nine-week old problem.An initial cable was replaced 04 February but a lightning strike nearby caused other issues.Mr. Mann and I had a follow-up conversation as a few questions came up; can every BT customer receive this level of service escalating to your office? They marked the main fault as resolved on the 4^th yet no one checked if things were sorted here.For three weeks I quietly fumed, waiting, as instructed, for it to clear and paying for a service I could not use. How can a fault show as resolved without checking with the customer? Since you own the lines, you used to “pay” for my customer query calls. Not over the last nine weeks. I was pleased to learn BT is doing away with their own 0845/0870 inbound numbers and will again provide free customer service calls.  Since you created the 0870 beast though, what can you do to influence other companies (to whom you pay a percentage of each call) who continue to charge ME to talk to THEM about MY account? Even Staples now charges me to place an order having done away after its inception with their 0800 number?!?While grateful my phone is operational, that engineer who magically appeared? From whose doorstep was he pulled because of the “squeaky” wheel? Can you assure me someone else did not endure a cancelled call to service me?151 is the main BT faults entry point. Mention the keyword “Broadband” under your breath and BINGO! Call this 0845 number for your passage to India where young kids read computer help screens in the middle of the night.Have you EVER found the specific answer to your question via a Help screen? Might you consider dedicating resources to 151 to ensure satisfaction before escalation?

I encourage you to try 151 the next time your service is interrupted. I can see the need for efficient appointment booking but can that come without a warning “if my equipment is at fault it will be £136 for the call out plus–plus,” especially when they have a computer screen showing this as the 4^th or 5^th call on this issue…?Please ensure strong blood pressure medication and snacks are by your desk as it will involve anywhere from 10-minutes to an hour with the likelihood of 1-2 dropped connections midway through meaning… you get to start all over again.They have my number on the screen, could someone please figure out we were not finished and call ME back? You would win a lot of hearts and minds with that simple gesture, it’s not like you’re paying for the call.  It may take awhile, but like Walt Disney, what if YOU experienced life from our end of the phone. My least favourite is the disembodied recorded woman’s voice chiding me with – “We Are Very Busy” (I’m not?) who then tries to get me to go to bt.com, which, I would do, if I had a working phone line with Internet access! Ben, can we at least agree to have your folks just stop, listen, examine the data in front of them, raise their hand and say, “I’m going to take responsibility, get to the bottom of your issue, resolve it and I won’t end this call or clear my screen until you are satisfied it is done.” What a wonderful world that would be. P.S. My February bill arrived then next day and I spoke to the 150 lady about the charge for diverting calls to my mobile. She read me the rule book… “I could have either the diversion or the line rental refunded but not both.” When I started somewhat disturbed to hysterically laugh she became a human being… then I spoke for 27-minutes to her colleague in India. My calls totalled more than six hours, entertaining BT engineers was extra.  Now nine weeks of line rental costs about £47. Sijesh in India said, “I’m sorry sir but the system only authorises me to refund you £6.” He was a toughie but I negotiated him up to £10. When I asked if this was BT’s final offer, he bumped it to £15, “absolute maximum” and said “a letter will be forthcoming.” Even if we call it even on the lost time, I’m still out £32.  

Save the letter, I’ll take a cheque please.