SayNoTo1890.com

Back in April, we posted some observations from the UK about how their LoCall and CallSave equivalent numbers were being advertised - making them look like ordinary numbers rather than numbers that were likely to cause consumer pay extra in some cases.

My speculation back then was that it was possible that we could have the same thing here in Ireland with the 0818 range of numbers. By quoting the numbers as 081 8….. it might look like some other type of mobile number maybe.

And here’s the first example of that that I’ve seen (apologies again for the crappy photo quality - N95 phone strikes again):

As a comparison for prices, assume you’re an O2 mobile customer, and you think that this is just another mobile number (081) rather than the “universal access” number (0818).

Calling this number will cost you 35c per minute instead of being deducted from your bundle of minutes - and that could give you a nasty surprise on your bill.

The cost of calling 0818 numbers from most of the Irish telephone service providers is detailed here.

We had an e-mail this evening from a reader who was wondering if there was a geographical alternative for the NRA company eFlow?

This company is also providing tags for the forthcoming barrier free tolling on the M50. Their contact number on their website is 1890 50 10 50, but there doesn’t appear to be a geographical alternative number anywhere on their site.

If you know of an 01 alternative (they’re based in Dublin), then please either post a comment here, or e-mail us throught the Contacts link so that we can share it with everyone.

Send in by a regular reader of the site, here’s the geographical alternative for another company supplying tags for the forthcoming barrier free tolling on the M50.

• TollTag.ie -0818 22 01 08 - Call 061 311 422
  

Following on from our post about the EazyPass 1890 number, here’s the geographical alternative for another toll tag provider for the upcoming barrier free tolling on the M50.

• eTrip 1890 25 24 36 - Call 01 8613200

Check out the Other page linked above for further information.

In advance of the introduction of barrier free tolling on the West Link Bridge on the M50, we’ve had a couple of enquiries from people asking about the geographical alternative for the EazyPass people. And here it is (the Other page has been updated above also):

• EazyPass 1890 67 67 68 - Call 01 4691257

PR: wait… I: wait… L: wait… LD: wait… I: wait… wait… C: wait… SD: wait…

For some reason that doesn’t make sense to me yet, whenever you make a call to ComReg, be it looking for information or trying to complain about something, you’re helping ComReg make money for themselves. They’re there supposedly to be of service to consumers, yet you call them and they make money from your phone call.

From a SayNoTo1890.com reader, we were provided with the following snippet of an e-mail from a ComReg employee:

The Locall number we advertise is a minor source of revenue for us – the bulk comes from levies imposed on those firms we regulate.

If that’s the case, I wonder how much money other Government organisations are making from making us consumers ring them on their 1890.

I say I don’t understand this because normally businesses who have these 1890 numbers end up paying the balance of whatever the call would cost. It’s normally only 0818 numbers that a business would make money one.

A reader has been in contact with us regarding their communication of their displeasure regarding 1890 and 1850 call to with ComReg.

A couple of items came from this communication - including the following ridiculous last line:

Should you have any other queries or require any other assistance from me you can call our Consumer Team on 1890 229668.

However. earlier in the e-mail, they did provide an alternative geographical number for anyone wishing to contact ComReg:

• ComReg 1890 229 668 - Call 01 8049600

The Government page has been updated above.

We recently received a couple of e-mails from readers who were wondering if we had geographical alternative numbers for a few 1890 and 0818 numbers.

We don’t immediately have geographical alternatives for the numbers concerned - but we’re still looking.

Does anyone else know what the alternate numbers might be for these particular numbers? Please post a comment in response below if you do.

• Halifax - 1890 882 701
• CheapCalls.ie - 1890990707
• CheapCalls.ie - 0818998787
• CheapCalls.ie - 0818998484

Many thanks to those readers who have e-mailed in over the past couple of weeks with some new numbers. These are the numbers provided - and the relevant category pages above have also been updated.

Quinn

• Health Insurance 1890 700 890 - Call 025 42100

Allied Irish Bank

• Finance and Leasing 1890 474747 - Call 01 7726630

ValueIreland is back in the country after 3 weeks away on holiday in the west coast of the USA. Blogging will resume in earnest later on in the week.

Thanks to those who e-mails and posted comments in the past few weeks - I promise I’ll get around to responding during the week also.