£5.74 to find a number? It’s free on the net
NEW rules aimed at cracking down on ‘ rip-off’ directory enquiry services have been used to hide a price hike – with customers being stung almost £6 for a phone number they can obtain elsewhere for free.
Industry watchdog Ofcom rolled out new rules two months ago demanding firms give a breakdown of the costs of their directory services – connection fees plus charges levied per minute.
But many providers used this shake-up as an excuse to push up fees – with market leader 118 118 putting up charges to £5.74 an enquiry. Previously this company demanded £4.45.
Yet customers can pick up numbers for free using websites such as thephonebook.bt.com and ukphonebook.com.
Even if you prefer to get a number by phone there are scores of other directory service offers – some charging less than a tenth of the most expensive price. For example, Simunix charges 55p an enquiry for its 118 365 service.
Dentist Kate Shackleton, 37, from Bury St Edmunds, in Suffolk, says: ‘These days there is no need to get ripped off using directory enquiries.
Most numbers are just a Google internet search away.
‘Far too many companies are exploiting vulnerable customers who prefer to use their phone.’
In April this year, a 79-year-old widow was hit with a £74 bill after a single call to 118 118.
The traditional 192 directory enquiry service was originally only offered by British Telecom, which charged 40p for each enquiry before being axed in 2003 to open the market to competition. The Number UK – which provides the 118 118 service and is owned by American directory enquiries giant Knowledge Generation Bureau – and British Telecom control 80 per cent of the market. They have a stranglehold due in part to spending millions of pounds on advertising campaigns. What is not widely known is that there are hundreds of other enquiry providers which also have a 118 prefix.
An Ofcom spokesman says: ‘We do not think competition is working as it should. We are demanding providers disclose charges as a first step – and now want more people to shop around.’
The software company Magenta Systems in Croydon, South London, provides a comparison table of about 400 phone directory enquiry services on website telecom-tariffs.co.uk.
Users must click on the ‘View Residential Tariff Costs’ link to the left of the page and then the ‘Directory Enquiries Codes – 118’ for access to the directory.
The Federation of Communication Services, a trade association, also offers a ‘how much does it cost?’ service which allows you to obtain a breakdown of charges from different directory enquiry providers at website link fcs.org. uk/how-much-does-it-cost/uboss.
A spokesman for The Number UK says: ‘Customers who use the 118 118 service value speed and convenience as priorities.’