Which? Slams High-cost Helplines

Companies which charge excessive amounts for their customer helplines have been named and shamed by consumer group Which? today.

According to the body, many corporations which serve millions of UK customers are levying high payments on their 0870, 0871, 0844 or 0845 phone lines. Included in what Which? termed the "hall of shame" were broadband provider Tiscali, British Gas and Barclays.

Due to concerns about the high cost of these lines, media reglator Ofcom introduced the '03' prefix last year, in order to make companies run helplines through these numbers and limit them to charging the same as a geographic number such as 01 and 02. However, many firms are keen to keep their old prefixes because they generate revenue, and none of the companies mentioned have yet taken up the option of switching to 03.

Neil Fowler at Which? said: "Why should you pay for the privilege of making a complaint or getting a problem fixed? It's unacceptable that companies and government agencies can make big money from people calling helplines. Check if there's a cheaper phone number or ask the company to refund the call cost - it's the least they can do if you're calling about a faulty product or bad service."

Which? also released case studies today to illustrate the high cost of the calls. For example a caller to internet service provider AOL's helpline, who made the inquiry through a BT landline, was kept on hold for 15 minutes at a cost of 75p per minute.