Just for information.

I've just had a chat with the International Operator
section of BT (It's good to charge lots!)

Now, there's a fee for connecting an international , or for
that fact, a national call.

These are:-

£5.50 for International
and
£4.50 for National

Ignoring the fact that this is , in my view, quite
a lot, the issue comes when letting customers know the charges.

I've had several conversations with both the Operatores and the complaints
handling dept leading to the following interesting aspect.

The operators are told to say. "There may / will be a charge, are you prepared
to accept this?" However are explicitly told NOT to state the amount unless,
"Directly pushed for the number"[sic].

Interesting huh?

Personally I think it's deceptive (ignoring the actual charges) to
train staff explicitly to avoid the question unless 'pushed'

Opinions?

DaveA

While I could tolerate them not stating the exact amount if it was reasonably...say 2 pounds.....anything more than that I would consider purposely hiding if they didn't state it.

yes. deceptive.

I agree that's deceptive!
Please tell me this only gets charged if you use a live operator to connect your call? We have a few International Tollfree lines from the UK. I'd hate to think our customers are getting charged on the back end for calling us after we setup a toll free line.

At least they raise the fact of a charge, unlike some directory enquiry type lines where they say 'would you like me to connect you directly?' However, I agree with you that the cost of a charge should be stated up front. It would have a minimal impact on average talk time and would avoid customers feeling deceived. It doesn't sound like anyone has really explained why they choose not to state it unless asked, which supports the impression of deliberate deception.

And what is the charge for? Does it really cost that much to flick a switch?