True, but it will do no harm to tell them. They offer Online Tracking, but only a 7p/min line for actual enquiries if the online tracking doesn't work. Is the link that I found the best one to quote, or is there a better one?
They in fact gave an 0871 number, and stated that it would cost 13p/min plus any network charges. So I sent them an e-mail message instead, it was and is outside their stated business hours anyway, so a 'phone call would have been pointless at that time. DX, to their credit, responded within a short time, on Saturday, with a credible response, whereas Samuel Windsor, not surprisingly, will probably wait until Monday.
I have just carefully read through the order confirmation message from Samuel Windsor, hoping to find a non-0871 number, but there are only three references to one 0871 number, with the 13p/min cost only mentioned on the last line of the message. A non-premium number quoted in this message would have satisfied the requirement.
FWIW I would point them to the specific regulation - regulation 41 of The Consumer Contracts (Information, Cancellation and Additional Charges) Regulations 2013
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which is short enough to quote:
"Help-line charges over basic rate
41.-(1) Where a trader operates a telephone line for the purpose of consumers contacting the trader by telephone in relation to contracts entered into with the trader, a consumer contacting the trader must not be bound to pay more than the basic rate.
(2) If in those circumstances a consumer who contacts a trader in relation to a contract is bound to pay more than the basic rate, the contract is to be treated as providing for the trader to pay to the consumer any amount by which the charge paid by the consumer for the call is more than the basic rate. "
and then probably point them to a Trading Standards site such as
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for
"Basic rate telephone helpline charges If you provide a telephone line for consumers to contact you in relation to a contract that they have entered into with you, you cannot charge more than a basic rate for this service. Therefore you can only charge normal geographic or mobile rates. A consumer should not pay more to contact you about his purchase than he would to phone a friend or relative.
Consumers who are charged more than the basic rate are entitled to claim any overcharge back from you.
You should check carefully whether your phone line does cost consumers more than basic rates. In addition to numbers beginning 09, other revenue-sharing numbers such as 084, 0871, 0872 or 0873 would not comply. Nor would 0870 numbers, which would vary according to the consumer's own phone tariff.
The following numbers comply with the Regulations:
a.. geographic numbers - starting 01 or 02 b.. non-geographic numbers - starting 03 c.. Freephone numbers - starting 0800 or 0808 d.. mobile numbers - starting 07 (except numbers starting 070, which are not mobile numbers) " (NB the inclusion of mobile numbers surprises some and can certainly be a trap for those who still use mainly landlines with call packages which don't include calls to mobile numbers. () But AIUI them wot decided didn't want to penalise entrepreneurs - mostly of course the folk previously known as self-employed.)
The DX site now shows the package as ready for delivery tomorrow, which is perfect. No response from Samuel Windsor yet, but it is still early(ish) on Monday.
The package arrived today, and to reference a discussion elsewhere, the driver took a picture of the house as he approached it, and my signature, as entered on his delivery device, was very legible.
And Samuel Windsor have accepted my feedback, and say that the issue raised has been passed to senior management for investigation.
Assuming the call is 5 minutes, it'd cost you 35p, hardly anything to get upset about. If ANY call including freephone takes longer than 5 minutes to get an answer, I hang up anyway. I can't be bothered wasting my time waiting for someone to pick up the phone.
What is upsetting is that they continue to use a money-making 'phone number when they are supposed to not make a profit from customers trying to get information about their deliveries. If the business handles lots of calls, that's a lot of money they skim from their customers. That's wrong.
Absolutely. This is something that should be taken into account when pricing a product/service sold. The (well-overdue) new law, however, does not allow companies to profit from receiving call from customers.
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