Got an expensive call on your phone bill and don’t know what it is. Read on.
All WightFibre home phone lines provide free evening and weekend calls to 01, 02, 03, 0845 and 0870 numbers as standard. (BT, Sky & TalkTalk only provide free calls at weekends as standard – AND WightFibre’s line rental is also lower than everyone elses). But other numbers are chargeable and these are typically Premium Rate numbers.
Premium rate numbers are charged for in the same way as a phone call, through your monthly bill. These services, which include support lines, chat services and competition lines, tend to cost more than a normal phone call (between 10p and £1.53 per minute/call).
You can recognise different types of premium rate numbers by the first few digits.
For example:
118 is for directory enquiries. Prices range from 60p to £6 per minute depending on the service you require and which mobile provider you use.
- With 0800 reverse, the person receiving the call pays for it.
- 0843, 0844, 0871, 0872 and 0873 numbers are generally customer helplines, technical support lines, chat lines and sales/booking lines. Prices vary between landline and mobile networks.
- 090 is mainly used for competitions, TV voting, horoscopes and chat lines. These numbers will either be charged by the minute (on mobiles, prices range from 50p to £2.50 per minute) or per call.
You can check numbers on your phone bill on on the PhonepayPlus website. This will tell you the name of the company to whom the phone number belongs.
