Cost of phoning PCS

[SimonM]

In another thread, a customer complained about having spent an hour on PCS's premium rate phone line.

Maestro responded with

Can I just make a quick point about our phone lines. They are not premium rate. They are what is called lo-call. A maximum of 5p per minute.

Now in practice, both the above statements are true. 0844 numbers were given the title Lo-Call in the days when most calls to any landline that wasn't designated as Local did indeed cost almost double that. It's also true that numbers that are officially designated Premium are mostly 50p+ per minute.

But things have changed. For many people, calls to landlines beginning 01, 02 or 03 are included in their call package, so the marginal cost of a call is zero. So now 5p/min becomes, in everyday English if not in official terminology, a premium cost line.

I don't know if PCS receive any of the 5p/min, but even if they do, it will be a tiny fraction of the cost of having someone available to talk to you on the phone. It may still suit their business model to have a modest per minute charge though, just to encourage people to think before they ring & concentrate their minds a bit during the call.

I don't see much benefit in having an 0800 number. This would be expensive for PCS & of minimal benefit to customers. An 01/2/3 number feeding a hosted VoIP system for general & sales calls would be worth considering, even if the 0844 number is retained for Technical Support.

I've set up something similar for our own organisation & would be happy to share experiences if it is of any interest.

 

[PCS]

Thanks for the feedback, we will consider this should we make any changes in the near future.

 

[PokerFace]

I don't know if PCS receive any of the 5p/min, but even if they do, it will be a tiny fraction of the cost of having someone available to talk to you on the phone. It may still suit their business model to have a modest per minute charge though, just to encourage people to think before they ring & concentrate their minds a bit during the call.

That's a good point, having a small charge is fine, but it would be nice to see a maximum call charge also.

 

[LFFPicard]

Although this may be true the distinction between lo-call and premium can not be made in such a way.

You said that in everyday english 5p/min becomes a premium rate number. This is only considered by the customers ringing from a provider who has 01/2/3 in there local rate package. Some suppliers do not have these benefits and if I remember correctly Bt infact have started to include 08 numbers in their "lo-call" packages. So the distinction between premiuma nd lo-call is a hard one dependant on what provider the customer is talking from.

There is also the law that states you mustdeclare the line a premium rate line when a call is connected. I used to work in a major computer callcenter and remember the two variations of greetings I had to say depending on weather they rang on the national number or premium number, and I also had to state the call can last no longer than 15minutes unless the customers agrees to continue the call at 14minutes.

 

[shades]

Lo-call from mobile phone

Hi - does anyone know if the same charges apply when calling a lo-call number from a mobile phone or are the charges higher? My carrier is Vodafone if that makes any difference.

Thanks
Mark

 

[JSG10]

Mobile carriers have their own set charges. You'd have to look at their charges to find out call charges.

 

[shades]

Well I bit the bullet anyway. Even if there were additional charges it was well worth it. Didn't have to wait long, and the chap who answered the phone couldn't have been more helpful.

 

[SimonM]

For the avoidance of any doubt, my post wasn't intended as a complaint, just as an explanation as to why some customers might consider the 0844 number to be premium rate. As a Technical Support service, it's incredibly good value.

You could question it's use for general & sales enquiries, but the PCS business model is geared around minimising costs & there is very good provision of on-line information & customers are rightly directed to use the on-line facilities as the primary method of contact & information. The big problem with splitting Technical Support from other enquiries is getting customers to ring the right number! (been there, still wearing the t-shirt).