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New Numbers provided by SayNoTo1890.com reader
Thanks to the SayNoTo1890.com readers who provided these alternative geographical phone numbers for the companies referred to below. We have updated the respective pages with these new numbers also. These are not yet confirmed, so let us know if there’s any issues with the numbers.
- Perlico 1890 35 35 35 - Call 01 2933500
- Smart Telecom 1890 945 300 - Call 01 4699300
- Anglo Irish Bank (Personal Savings) 1850 44 22 22 - Call 01 6162494
- Tesco Direct Car Insurance 1850640640 - Call 0214527465
Yahoo! Answers - Resolved Question
A question recently posed on Yahoo! Answers by Big Boy in Co. Down was answered by John L.
The question was:
Hi does anybody know how do phone a 1850 number in ireland its not 003531850 thanks?
And the Best Answer from John L was:
Those are CallSave numbers, intended to be called only from within Ireland.The handy saynoto1890 web site has many of the real phone numbers corrresponding to 1850 numbers. With any luck, the number you want to call can be found there.
Source(s):
Pricewatch - Lo-call comes at a high cost
I mentioned this query to the Pricewatch section in the Irish Times from a reader that was published yesterday. This link (sub required) shows the original item on the Ireland.com website.
Stan Conroy in Dublin wrote to ask if we had noticed how many advertisers and service providers are increasingly using 1850 and 1890 “lo-call” contact numbers. “Nearly all government public services now use these numbers,” he says, and while on the surface it might seem like a good deal for consumers, it actually can work against people.
“Many telephone subscribers have Eircom or BT bundles (and there must be tens of thousands) which include ‘free’ local and national calls but with the notable exception of calls to 1850 and 1890, for which there is a charge. So for us 1850 and 1890 calls are anything but ‘lo-call’” he writes.
“1850 calls are charged at the local rate irrespective of duration while 1890 calls continue clicking up cost as the minutes go by.
“As most 1890 calls are to call centres this can build up to be significant cost. By the time you go through all the menus and then hang on for someone to answer, 10 minutes can easily go by, at a cost of about 50c, and that’s before you start to discuss your query. If you could deal with a call centre in 10 minutes that might be ok but experience tells me that it can be much longer and often means a call back to get all the information I require.
“Many of my non-public services are happy to give me a local number when I ask, for example, for AIB, BOI, Hibernian Insurance, Anglo Irish Bank.
“But State services have a reluctance or an inability to give out a local number.”
He accepts that the individual cost per call is not enormous “but the cumulative amount lining the coffers of Eircom etc must be significant”.
If anyone knows Stan Conroy, let him know this site is here 
Some SayNoTo1890 reader feedback
We’d love to get your comments and feedback on this site. And if you either know of some geographical alternative numbers that you’d like to share with everyone, or if there’s a particular number you’d like us to try to follow up and find for you, please e-mail us here info@saynoto1890.com.
I was pleased to read the article re “say no to 1890″ in the back of the Tribune Business section yesterday as this is something that has irritated me for some time. The issue does not only apply to mobile packages, but also to landline tariff packages. I’m on an all-in package for landline calls from Perlico, where all local and national landline calls under an hour are not charged separately from the monthly amount. However, this does not include the increasing no of 1890 no’s and to a lesser extent, the 1850 no’s. The same packages from Eircom, O2, Smart and probably others also apply the same rules, procedures and landline charges for 1890.
I have sometimes tried to get the landline no from some telephonists of the various 1890 places, to no avail, and I am highly surprised that this issue has not been taken up by the Consumer Assoc of Ireland. I also would have expected that some journalists would have written a few articles at this stage to publicise the issue - similarly to the periodic articles on petrol prices at different garages. 1890 is fine with me as long as people are given a choice. However, not only are people not given a choice, but it would appear that some organisations conceal their main landline no’s by ommission from phonebooks and also headed notepaper.
To be fair, the first journalist to write about this was Paul Kelly in the Irish Examiner. And today, Conor Pope in the Irish Times Pricewatch has printed a readers letter about the same issue. I believe also there was a letter written to the Consumer Association of Ireland Consumer Choice magazine in the last number of months also.
NTL / Chorus / UPC 1890, 1850 and 0818 Call Costs
We’ve updated the SayNoTo1890 Call Costs web page with the prices NTL / UPC / Chorus telephone customers are charged to call 1890, 0818 and 1850 numbers.
Click here to read more.
Old SayNoTo1890 Blog Link
The old original SayNoTo1890 site which used to be at saynoto1890.blogspot.com is now no more. This site, www.saynoto1890.com is now the primary source of alternative geographical telephone numbers.
If you had subscribed to our RSS feed on the old site, please use links on this page to resubscribe.
Tip of the Week - Sunday Tribune
From Eddie Lennon in the Money Talks section in The Sunday Tribune, May 18th, 2008
Tip of the Week
Phone users are being ripped off when the ake calls to government departments and large companies via 1850, 1890 and 0818 numbers. While mobile users who pay by bill have a block of “free” minutes credited to their phone each month, these minutes include standard land line and mobile numbers, but usually not other numbers.
Dialling these numbers can cost up to 49c per minute when calling from a mobile, and up to 8c a minute from a land line. Last week, the consumer awareness website ValueIreland.com published a useful list of land line numbers which you can contact as a cheaper alternative to the more expensive numbers. The list is available at www.SayNoTo1890.com.
Alternative number for O2 (Pay Monthly)
We received this from a reader last week.
- Although the O2 service for billed customers is free on 1909, someone might find it useful to have the landline version. 061 203501
The real cost of 1890, 1850 and 0818 numbers
We have published a new page on the site detailing the cost of calling 1890, 1850 and 0818 numbers from as many phone companies as we could find.
The Call Costs page, linked to here, and in the menu bar above, now shows the real costs of calling these numbers - particularly if your phone package has inclusive minutes.
Calls to 1850, 1890 and 0818 are not deducted from inclusive minutes on any phone minute packages provided by Irish telecoms companies (except for one).
This shows how beneficial it is that you are able to use geographical telephone numbers instead - it saves you money if you have an inclusive minutes package with your phone provider.
So, what can we do?
- The ideal thing we should be demanding is that our phone providers include these 1890, 1850 and 0818 numbers in their inclusive minutes packages.
- Failing that, we should share any geographical alternative phone numbers that we know of with everyone else to allow us all save money on these calls.
And that’s what this website is for. If you know of any geographical alternative phone numbers that can be used instead of 1890, 1850 or 0818 numbers, e-mail us here, and we’ll share them with everyone else.
Alternative numbers for Department of Social & Family Affairs
Thanks to one of our readers who sent on these geographical alternative phone numbers for the Department of Social and Family Affairs.
- Child Benefit 1890 400 400 Ext 44496 - Call 074 916 4496 or 01 704 3000 Ext 44496
- Treatment Benefit 1890 400 400 Ext 44480 - Call 074 916 4480 or 01 704 3000 Ext 44480
- Maternity/Adoptive Benefit 1890 690 690 - Call 074 916 4491 or 01 704 3000 Ext 44491
- Pensions Office 1890 500 000 - Call 071 916 9800 or 01 704 3000
- Information Service 1890 66 22 44 - Call 071 919 3300
Plus, another number for the Appeals Office 1890 747 434 - Call 01 673 2800
And finally, another couple of useful Government area numbers:
- Ombudsmans Office 1890 22 30 30 - Call 01 639 5600
- General Register Office 1890 252 076 - Call 090 663 2900
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