118 Numbers price hike

[m419]

118 directry services have had price hike, very quiet because they didn't inform anybody.

They keep changing there prices very often and I think its time we went back to the old 192 system provided by BT and Cable and Wireless.

118500 Operated by BT now costs 40p per call THEN 99p(A pound) per minute!!!

118505 Operated by BT providing international numbers now costs £2.74 per minute with a connection charge on top!

118118 Operated by The Number originally costed 9p per minute plus a connection charge of 14p, NOW it costs 35p per minute withn a 85p connection charge.

Telewest's 118180 and NTL's 118878 have remained the same since launch in 2003. 118333 Hutchison 3G also remains the same.

[fireman328]

Boycot the numbers where possible and contact Ofcom of the price hikes.

[dilligaf1701]

Wow I didn't realise 118 had gone up so much, makes me glad I don't pay for my directory enquiries services I can tell you.

[Paul M]

I havent used any 118 number since they came into existance. You can find pretty much any number online.

[Sirius]

Originally Posted by Paul M

I havent used any 118 number since they came into existance. You can find pretty much any number online.

Ditto

[m419]

If you do need to find a number in an instance, try the following low cost and efficient services:

UK National directory enquiries costing no more than 35p per call, just one flat fee:

118390 COLT
118099 Cable and Wireless
118288 Kingston Communications (27p)
118111 TalkTalk (Formerly OneTel)
118321 Tesco/Cable and Wireless
118707 BT (29p)

UK national Directory Enquiries costing between 40p and 60p per call:

118878 NTL Virgin Media (Search for up to 2 numbers) 40p per call
118770 Telewest Virgin Media (Multiple search) 50p per call
118000 Orange (Up to two numbers) 59p per call

Services with onward connect:

118500 BT 40p connection plus 99p per minute
118180 Telewest Virgin Media 25p connection and 30p per minute
118333 3 Directory Services 59p connection and 26p per minute
118402 O2 Directory services 60p per minute
118759 Sky 69p connection plus 25p per minute

The above costs and services are applicable from BT landlines, 118118,118180,118770,118878 are available from all Virgin Media lines

The cost of calling the above numbers cost the following on the following mobile phone networks:

T-Mobile: All cost between 70p and £1 per minute there are no flat fee prices.
Orange: 59p per call then 20p per minute for 118000, all others: £1 per minute
O2: 118402 costs 60p per minute, all other services cost £1 per minute
3: Do not use any but 118333, it will cost you a fortune
Vodafone and Virgin: You are recommended to use 118888 others will cost you between 70p and £1 per minute.

BT Payphones: 118141 costs 20p per minute from BT Payphones, minimum call charge is still 40p

Spectrum Interactive Payphones(Formerly New World/NWP Spectrum): Most 118 numbers cost 60p per minute including BT Payphones 118141 service,minimum call charge from Spectrum Payphones is 40p for cash calls and £1 for Credit card calls.

Infocus Public Networks (formerly Infolines Public Networks): Although standard phone calls have a minimum charge of 10p from there payphones, its advisable to insert a minimum of 60p for 118 calls.

Hope that helps,

The costs will change, they always do.

Free ways of searching

www.118500.com
www.118118.com
www.192.com
www.yell.com
www.scoot.com
http://www.ukphonebook.com/ (Simunix) 118800
Your BT phonebook,Thomson Local,Yellow Pages,Europages or Businesspages

[dilligaf1701]

...And if you do have a disability such as mine (I know a couple on here do) you can get it (well directory enquiries anyway) free by dialing 195 and asking to register.

See here.


p.s. it's also worth noting that you don't actually have to be registered wiht a sight problem to be able to qualify for the scheme.

[m419]

Yes! Sorry forgot to mention the 195 free service which is available to the following:

Those on DLA Benefit and Attendence Allowance and those suffering from any sort of disability or old age.

However, you may have to register twice as there are two companies providing this service,BT and Cable and Wireless. Cable and Wireless offers it for Virgin Media,Cable and Wireless,T-Mobile and Virgin Mobile lines, BT provides it for all other lines and networks.

Did you know that it is just one database that supplies ALL 118 and 195 companies with the same information, so we could be paying a pound a minute for something you could get for just 35p! Crazy!

I think a big petition should go to Ofcom and demand we get rid of 118 and reintroduce the 142,192 and 153 services again.

And the funny thing is, alot of companies are now blocking all 118 numbers except there own service, what was the point in getting rid of 192 if your going to offer one service! So therefore the scheme has failed, and advise all non-BT phone firms to do the same to wipe out these con artists.

[Matth]

Saw the advert without paying much attebntion, and did a double-take... did that REALLY say 99p/min

http://www.moneysavingexpert.com/pho...enquiries-free - Guess this is a little out of date.

Wonder if these are still usable.
The Number, 0800 118 3733

Pros: More than one number request. Cons: Advert played immediately, automated system.

Technically to use this service for free you must first register online on 118.com, so it can add you to its advertising database, though it often works without.

wap.thephonebook.com - for a lightweight mobile search (on VM, that's one 30p internet day, so long as you actually have GPRS or better - WAP without GPRS or 3G is a connection charged at time rate).

[m419]

There is also 0800-100-100

Also if you are a Vodafone customer, accessing Scoot on 333 is a chargeable call and costs 60p per minute. If you are an O2 customer,accessing Talking Pages can no longer be done through 888 and you now need to use 118247.