SayNoTo1890.com in Irish Times Pricewatch
Following on from a story in the previous weeks edition, Conor Pope referenced SayNoTo1890.com in his Pricewatch column on Monday May 18th.
The article, Just Say No Lo , went as follows:
Just say no Lo
Our item about lo-call numbers attracted a large response from readers who were similarly annoyed by the practice of mobile and landline operators not including 1850 or 1890 numbers as part of their bundled minutes and charging as much as 35 cent a minute for calls to them.
“This is the first time I have encountered anyone who has the same sentiment I have about these numbers,” writes a reader by the name of Valerie. She has an Eircom bundle which gives her free local and national calls but not free lo-calls. She has a plan to circumvent the problem, however.
“Being retired, I check websites first to see if they provide numbers for people ringing from outside Ireland, then ring that landline number. It works. It drives me crazy when I’m told it’s lo-call when I actually have the option of it being a free call. My view is that it is another way of conning the public and I’m amazed no one has taken this up with Government departments,” she concludes.
Another reader named Richard said the best way around lo-call numbers was to use the alternative local number.
“It can be a little bit of work finding it, but I normally use the excellent Say No to 1890 website www.saynoto1890.com/a-to-z/ ”.
He was just one of a number of readers to cite the website, which has also featured on this page in the past.
And a third reader from Kerry says that, when it comes to over-priced 1890 calls, the “worst culprit is the Government”. He says it is “nearly impossible to contact any Government department”, but when he called Comreg and his local TDs he got the runaround.
Nice to get the mention, and nice to see that the reaction of the users of the site. Click here to read more updates about SayNoTo1890.com.
One Comment
I live in Donegal and I had to call an Ins Co in Dublin yesterday – they have no ‘local’ number listed just the infernal LO-CALL, so I had to use it. I am with another phone co and I knew about being charged for these ‘Non-Geographic’ phone calls. I asked for a ‘real’ number, they told me to call any of their Offices on a listed (directory) number and they would deal with it. Just another thing to remember. Also, when I get the chance to phone an alternative ‘Irish’ Lo-Call number which is going through to either UK or N/Ireland I go the same +44 route as I too have free calls to UK. Examplss would be airlines, ferry services, etc. Beat ‘em at their own game, folks…