2pints-mate 0 Posted March 14, 2007 Share Posted March 14, 2007 I hate the feeling of being totally ripped off. Unfortunately I just had to call a support line for a company and it cost 50p a minute. That is just a ludicrous cost and I resent it. It was something that I needed a quick answer for and they had not replied to my multiple emails asking them for help. So I had to resort to the phone (as I am sure other people do when they don't reply to mails). The call took about 10 minutes as much as I was trying to hurry it on. I feel angry and my wallet has been violated. Link to post Share on other sites
YellowSnow 0 Posted March 14, 2007 Share Posted March 14, 2007 I will tell you a secret, call up as a company directly to the the headquarters of the vendor. I do it for work but if I have a personal question I do it too. You will be amazed at the great reply you get for the price of a local call. Say some thing like I have 100xyz switches, how do I configure them for abc. In reality you have one. Link to post Share on other sites
2pints-mate 0 Posted March 15, 2007 Author Share Posted March 15, 2007 Quote: Say some thing like I have 100xyz switches, how do I configure them for abc. In reality you have one. Am I missing something? Link to post Share on other sites
big-will 7 Posted March 15, 2007 Share Posted March 15, 2007 50p a minute!? That does sound 'bend over please' level rip off. I would not do anything with a company that charge that for their support. I'd stay well clear. Link to post Share on other sites
Mantas 3 Posted March 16, 2007 Share Posted March 16, 2007 It could be worse, you could be skiing in Australia. Link to post Share on other sites
egglesby 1 Posted March 16, 2007 Share Posted March 16, 2007 You don't seem keen on that Mantas. There have been some scandals this last week in the UK with tv phone in shows keeping lines open for longer to get more cash. I think they are cheaper than that though, 50p a minute does sound a totally over the top charge for a call. What was it for 2pints? Link to post Share on other sites
grungy-gonads 54 Posted March 18, 2007 Share Posted March 18, 2007 They can set those lines at what they want I believe. I have heard of premium call lines at over 1 pound a minute. That makes your help line almost seem cheap! Link to post Share on other sites
bobby12 0 Posted March 19, 2007 Share Posted March 19, 2007 Yeah 50p doesnt seem so bad really, often companies use that as their 'revenue model' or whatever, so they can undercut others and get the money back later. I think its fair enough, if you dont need support then why pay for it? If you need the support, buy from a pricier company that offers free support. By '100 xyz switches' I think yellowsnow means pretend you bought 100s of the product so they think you are a good customer. Link to post Share on other sites
rach 1 Posted March 20, 2007 Share Posted March 20, 2007 I can see that, but they should at least not make the calls longer on purpose as lots of them seem to do. I'll have to try and root out that article I read a few months back on that. Lots of call centres go to India as well, I remember my dad having a rough time understanding one last summer. His hearing is not perfect and the very strong Indian accent and less than perfect English did not help. He got very frustrated. Link to post Share on other sites
brit-gob 9 Posted March 27, 2007 Share Posted March 27, 2007 Something on the phone line costs here http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/business/6434249.stm "At present, you can be charged in two different ways - by the minute, or a one-off connection charge. The maximum charge per minute is £1.50, while the top one-off charge is £1.50, and you can stay on the line as long as you like." Big business it seems. Link to post Share on other sites
samurai 0 Posted March 27, 2007 Share Posted March 27, 2007 do those company fees apply to IP phones? when I call home to the states, I use my IP phone, like 3 yen a minute. toll-free numbers are no longer free, but 3 yen a minutes is practially free. I wonder if it works the same for those company fee calls. Link to post Share on other sites
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