Does OCUK having an 0871 number put you off calling them?

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MissChief

MissChief

MissChief

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In light of a thread about business to business support where some negative comments about the cost of calling an 087* number were aired I wondered if anyone has gone to pick up the phone and looked at the number and thought against it?

Does having an 0871 number (which, in case anyone isn't aware is actually a number that generates revenue for the business when you call it, making it potentially profitable to have a customer on hold:eek:) put people off? I know sites su as www.saynoto0870.com have rapidly risen in popularity but does it actually stop someone from calling?

The main thread was about business to business support and how other businesses won't let staff call these numbers on company lines and how there should either be a standard number which is likely to be free on mobile contracts and whatever landline package the company has or even a freephone number, especially for support.

It's worth remembering that on most landlines will charge as 0871 numbers are rarely included. Some call providers have moved to include 0870 calls in some call packages though.

Sky charge 7.6p/min (12.5p connection) daytime
BT charge BT 7.95p/min (13.1p connection) daytime
Virgin charge 10.22p/min (14.94p connection) daytime

if you were a business and were calling from a site, on your company mobile on Vodafone:
Non-geographic numbers starting 0844 or 0871 35p a minute (one minute minimum call charge)
Non-geographic numbers starting 0845, 0870 14p a minute (one minute minimum call charge)

O2:

0870 Pay monthly 20.4p/min, PAYG 25p/min
0871 Pay monthly 35.8p/min, PAYG 35p/min

As you can see, the two most common mobile companies for business (my opinion!) charge a pretty penny for calls to these numbers. It should also be said most mobile companies charge for calling FREEPHONE numbers, although i believe this may be changing.

Should a business support line have an alternative? Should a standard number be easily available? Should companies try to hide these numbers? Does it bother you that OCUK (and others it must be said, I don't want to single out OCUK!) still use these numbers? The temptation to reduce staffing levels to increase call queues (win win!) must be great!
 
If a business was solely operated or business was conducted through an 0871 number then I'd take my custom elsewhere. I hate these numbers and most businesses today have freephone, VOIP numbers.
 
I rarely think about it.....but I will from now on. I think that customer support should be something that is expected, not simply another service to be charged for.
 
It puts me off big time and in my opinion is bang out of order for any business who gives a damn about there customers.

Sky a prime example and I worked for them. By using a 087 They come across as though they do not give a rats about keeping you on hold for any amount of time. Sometimes when busy its upto 30 minutes.
Overclockers new owners will hopefully sort it out and get a local number as well because at the moment it also comes across like they are using it to make a quick couple of quid from you on hold.
 
Yes it does bothers me. No chance i will ring any 0845/0870 numbers.

I don't have a landline at home. So i have to ring from my mobile. I will make sure i can get an alternative number that i can ring, so Saynoto0870 is one of my top bookmarks.
 
Sho said:
Yes it does bothers me. No chance i will ring any 0845/0870 numbers.

I don't have a landline at home. So i have to ring from my mobile. I will make sure i can get an alternative number that i can ring, so Saynoto0870 is one of my top bookmarks.
Click to expand...

oli356 said:
When I can't find the number I need on there, unless I NEED to phone them, I won't.
Click to expand...

I remember that OcUK used to have a working number that was on saynoto0870.com but then they disconnected it so now you *have* to use the 0871 number. :(
 
I seem to remember when I needed to contact OcUK before I spent ages looking for a local number and in the end called the wrong department on purpose and they put me through.

If I can't get through on a local number than I would seriously consider shopping elsewhere.
 
I spent close to 15 quid on the phone to overclockers about an order they kept screwing up.

Why should i have to pay for someone elses mistakes?!
 
Maybe a bit unfair to have OcUK in the title if this is a general question, but yes, I'd assume any business for which that was their sole pont of contact was a bit iffy.

In OcUK's case they fund a forum which probably handles 99% of the questions anyway, so for them I don't mind.

But for a business where I expected them to mess up or for me to have a problem, then I'd walk away.
 
30 minutes I was on hold on Friday, number 1 in the que the entire time and then hung up because I couldn't afford to wait any longer.... quite frankly disgusted with this sort of behaviour from a company like OCuk, in the years I've been using them I've never had anything like this happen before!!!!

It does make you feel like your nothing more than money to them when something like this happens, I expect it of companies like sky etc, not the valued customer I have always felt like here!
 
i refuse to call ocuk for this reason..

infact they lost a sale last week because of this, there was a problem with my payment at the checkout and i needed to call them to sort it out

but out of principal i will not pay to call to make a purchase.
 
Hi Guys,

this thread will be forwarded to management and we will be looking into this, as points have now been raised we will lock this thread. Once we have any updates we'll let you know.
 
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