More than a year after companies were banned from having costly customer service numbers, we found that some travel companies were still using them. Where have you spotted pricey 084 numbers?
At the time of investigation, coach companies Eurolines and Green Line’s websites showed higher-rate phone lines, starting 084 or 087. This is despite Consumer Contracts Regulations stating that all customer service lines must use basic-rate numbers, such as 01 or 03.
Eurolines has now changed its website and said the 087 number was incorrectly listed and that previous 087 callers were redirected to a cheaper number. Green Line apologised and promised to change its number urgently:
‘We wish to apologise to our customers for our oversight and to thank you very much indeed for bringing this matter to our attention.’
Calling your train company
Southern Railway and Southeastern Railway publish appropriate numbers online, but eagle-eyed Which? staff have spotted train posters still directing customers to 0845 numbers.
Southern said that posters should be up to date in a few months:
‘With some 1,200 Southern and Gatwick Express vehicles operating on the network […] we have had to update posters on a rolling basis, which means there are still some train posters that display 0845 numbers. We expect all of our on-train posters to be up to date over the coming months.’
Southern added that it notifies 0845 callers that there is a cheaper 0345 number available. If you feel you’ve been charged more than you should have, Southern asks you to email them with details of the time, date and duration of the call(s) to comments@southernrailway.com. Southeastern told us that it’s updating information on trains in line with ‘planned refresh work’.
Have you been forced to ring an expensive number to get though to a travel firm’s customer service line?
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