Useless directory enquiries
Discussion
The first time I've had a problem with Directory Enquiries (118111) was last month when the car broke down. I made two calls: the first time they gave me completely the wrong number (thereby incurring another wasted call to discover the fact); the second time they said the place didn't exist!
I paid 65p for the first call (29secs) and 71p for the second call (65 secs).
It seems incredible that companies for charge for being completely useless - can I complain?
Whatever happened to 192? Gone down the same plughole as the railways, mutter.
I paid 65p for the first call (29secs) and 71p for the second call (65 secs).
It seems incredible that companies for charge for being completely useless - can I complain?
Whatever happened to 192? Gone down the same plughole as the railways, mutter.
it up? Pigeon said:
If they offer to "put you through" don't accept, because it costs a whole lot more than writing down the number and dialling it yourself.
I used 118118 a couple of times today and declined thier offers to put me through but i did get them to text me the phone numbers. Do they charge for that?
Article in todays Daily Mail - 118355 comes out as the best 
CALLS to directory enquiries have fallen by three million a week since the service was opened up to more than 100 operators.
Public confidence in the 118 system has been shattered amid complaints about excessive charges and customers being given wrong numbers.
Details of the 45 per cent drop in calls emerged yesterday – as a report from telecom watchdog Ofcom bizarrely hailed the services as a success.
Consumer groups, MPs and even some industry figures rejected the report, saying the system is shambolic and expensive.
BT’s monopoly of the 192 service was broken up last August by Ofcom’s predecessor, Oftel, which led to the launch of 120 rival 118 operators.
Oftel promised that the shake-up would deliver lower prices and an expansion in services. However, the change has proved a recipe for chaos.
Some enquiries are diverted
to call centres overseas, in India, South Africa and even the Philippines, where staff are apparently baffled by the names of well-known towns and stores and struggle to find the correct number. Ofcom said the number of people using 118 services has fallen from 66 to 57 per cent. A quarter of those polled are doing so less frequently and 9 per cent said they had given up altogether. BT said the number of calls to any directory inquiry service is down by about 45 per cent compared to before the switch – from 6.75 million to 3.7 million a week.
The Ofcom study admits that nearly one in seven number searches is inaccurate.
Research on behalf of the regulator found that typical calls to the 118 services lasted less than a minute. The cost of obtaining one number ranged from 27p to 65p.
However, the study found BT’s 118 500 service and The Number’s hugely popular 118 118 were among the most timeconsuming and expensive.
Callers to 118 118 were kept on the phone an average 60.6 seconds for a residential number at a cost of 58p. Some 86 per cent of numbers were right.
The average call to 118 500 for a residential number lasted 54.2 seconds and cost 54p. Accuracy was just 79 per cent.
Results for the third most recognised number, 118 888 from operator Conduit, showed the average call lasted 47.8 seconds and cost 46p. It was 81 per cent accurate.
The shortest call for a residential number was to Telegate’s 118 355, which lasted an average 35.3 seconds. The average cost was 30p and 94 per cent of numbers correct.
Despite public dissatisfaction, Ofcom claimed increased competition ‘is beginning to drive down price’ – when the reality is that such calls are more expensive.
The watchdog declared itself so satisfied that any intervention to impose higher standards would be ‘premature’.
But Allan Williams of the Consumers’ Association said: ‘The liberalised market still has a long way to go before it delivers on promises of better services and lower costs.’
The free online number hunt service, 192.com, called the Ofcom study a ‘whitewash’.
Chief executive Alastair Crawford said: ‘Consumers have been faced with a confusion of services and tariff structures. Worse still, this supposedly competitive market has come to be dominated by two players – 118 118 and 118 500.’
The Liberal Democrats said the study was inadequate as it took in only the 30 largest firms, rather than all 120.
In the watchdog’s league of 118 performers, Conduit’s 118 888 came last of 30, with an 80 per cent success rate in finding the correct number.
The Number’s 118 118 ranked joint 11th, while BT’s 118 500 was equal fifth.
CALLS to directory enquiries have fallen by three million a week since the service was opened up to more than 100 operators.
Public confidence in the 118 system has been shattered amid complaints about excessive charges and customers being given wrong numbers.
Details of the 45 per cent drop in calls emerged yesterday – as a report from telecom watchdog Ofcom bizarrely hailed the services as a success.
Consumer groups, MPs and even some industry figures rejected the report, saying the system is shambolic and expensive.
BT’s monopoly of the 192 service was broken up last August by Ofcom’s predecessor, Oftel, which led to the launch of 120 rival 118 operators.
Oftel promised that the shake-up would deliver lower prices and an expansion in services. However, the change has proved a recipe for chaos.
Some enquiries are diverted
to call centres overseas, in India, South Africa and even the Philippines, where staff are apparently baffled by the names of well-known towns and stores and struggle to find the correct number. Ofcom said the number of people using 118 services has fallen from 66 to 57 per cent. A quarter of those polled are doing so less frequently and 9 per cent said they had given up altogether. BT said the number of calls to any directory inquiry service is down by about 45 per cent compared to before the switch – from 6.75 million to 3.7 million a week.
The Ofcom study admits that nearly one in seven number searches is inaccurate.
Research on behalf of the regulator found that typical calls to the 118 services lasted less than a minute. The cost of obtaining one number ranged from 27p to 65p.
However, the study found BT’s 118 500 service and The Number’s hugely popular 118 118 were among the most timeconsuming and expensive.
Callers to 118 118 were kept on the phone an average 60.6 seconds for a residential number at a cost of 58p. Some 86 per cent of numbers were right.
The average call to 118 500 for a residential number lasted 54.2 seconds and cost 54p. Accuracy was just 79 per cent.
Results for the third most recognised number, 118 888 from operator Conduit, showed the average call lasted 47.8 seconds and cost 46p. It was 81 per cent accurate.
The shortest call for a residential number was to Telegate’s 118 355, which lasted an average 35.3 seconds. The average cost was 30p and 94 per cent of numbers correct.
Despite public dissatisfaction, Ofcom claimed increased competition ‘is beginning to drive down price’ – when the reality is that such calls are more expensive.
The watchdog declared itself so satisfied that any intervention to impose higher standards would be ‘premature’.
But Allan Williams of the Consumers’ Association said: ‘The liberalised market still has a long way to go before it delivers on promises of better services and lower costs.’
The free online number hunt service, 192.com, called the Ofcom study a ‘whitewash’.
Chief executive Alastair Crawford said: ‘Consumers have been faced with a confusion of services and tariff structures. Worse still, this supposedly competitive market has come to be dominated by two players – 118 118 and 118 500.’
The Liberal Democrats said the study was inadequate as it took in only the 30 largest firms, rather than all 120.
In the watchdog’s league of 118 performers, Conduit’s 118 888 came last of 30, with an 80 per cent success rate in finding the correct number.
The Number’s 118 118 ranked joint 11th, while BT’s 118 500 was equal fifth.
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