Open letter: Real, non-premium rate numbers for your 0871 numbers?

[Perfectionist]

After getting very sick of the after-sales support from OCuk (who I bought from originally due to cheaper prices - I know, I know, don't tell me), I sent a system back for a refund recently after being plagued with problems over the course of a year sending it back three times with shoddy, clearly not tested overclocking that failed after two days of receiving it, graphics glitches, and power failures.

One of the main sticking points for me was paying 10p/min to be put on hold, sometimes racking up more than £2 just being on hold, before the call itself even started! I was basically paying another service charge, especially since I had to make calls more than once due to the poor state of the system. I know that 0871 numbers funnel part of the cost of the call to the owner of the number, when "a third of people in the UK have called 0871 numbers but were unaware what this would cost them, according to research by PhonepayPlus" (Guardian).

Now, I am considering buying a 3XS system, probably one of the high end ones, BUT however: I'm not willing to possibly go through what I have been put through again by this other company - it's extremely dishonest and reeks of a total lack of respect for their customers by charging them twice for the call and for the "service charge" that is taken by you from the call - we have already paid for the system and are entitled to a level of basic customer support and returns as part of our legal consumer rights without needing to pay extra for them. So, before going through any purchase with you, I would like to know if these real geographic phone numbers I found on http://saynoto0870.com/ for your company are definitely correct, and will not be blocked out any time in the future (as OCuk did to their "customers")?
Tel: 0 1204 474 747
Cust sup/sales: 0 1204 474 747
Fax: 0 1204 474 787

I notice that on the bottom of http://3xs.scan.co.uk/ and indeed the main http://scan.co.uk where these numbers are listed and very prominently displayed (obviously, you want as many people to call these numbers as possible because they are making you money) you do not mention that they are charged a premium rate nor that this additional service charge when making the call is being paid to you. Not even on the special contact page at http://3xs.scan.co.uk/contact.asp ! I hope you are aware this may actually be breaking the law due to the regulations laid down by the new PhonepayPlus government regulator of premium call services:

[ The Guardian - '0871 phone numbers join the premium league' ]
Those operating them are obliged to make it clear how much it costs to call them, and if there is to be a delay in getting through to the service, the consumer should be able to make an informed decision as to whether to stay on the line.

which requires among other things you to:

[ PhonepayPlus: Code of Practice: 5 General provisions applicable to all premium rate services ]:
ensure that there are in place customer service arrangements which must include a non-premium rate UK customer service phone number and an effective mechanism for the consideration of claims for refunds and their payment where justified.

Anyway, if you are happy to say these lines are correct and will remain working I am happy to purchase from you, I have done so before just not a full system. Otherwise I will be looking at setting myself up for the grind of learning to build my own PC as I'm not sure I should open myself to the risk of more hassle than actually testing stuff myself anyway, even though this is not the kind of thing I enjoy. On your"why buy from us" page the things that I am definitely happy with if this is true is:
# They use a rigorous build process to ensure the systems built are tested to a set standard. (We’ll share these results with you)
# Systems are fully stress tested and QC checked prior to despatch.
- Because this is certainly something that is not done at Overclockers from what I saw!

Thank you for reading and I look forward to your reply.

[Phage]

They're in the phone book.
http://www.thephonebook.bt.com/publi...ton&Range=xloc

[GheeTsar]

<snip> Otherwise I will be looking at setting myself up for the grind of learning to build my own PC as I'm not sure I should open myself to the risk of more hassle than actually testing stuff myself anyway, even though this is not the kind of thing I enjoy</snip>

Hope you get the answer you are looking for, but if not don't be worried about building your own - it's easier than you think and there are people here there that will give you advice and help if you run into difficulties.

[Perfectionist]

Thanks GheeTsar - and yes I'm aware Phage, those are the same numbers actually in my post that I got from saynoto0870.com, but I actually brought this up about 2 years ago when I was thinking of purchasing from Scan when I was having problems contacting Scan outside of the 087 numbers (one thing I remember is the customer support number never working, and then reception being quite rude bluntly refusing to put you through to them) and the thread got deleted - hoping this won't be repeated now that it is a legal requirement!

[Phage]

Were you aware that you sound confrontational in these posts ?

[Ben @ Scan]

Hi Perfectionist

We have dedicated system support telephone numbers for 3XS System customers that also have an answer machine if we are on calls, if you call for support and leave a message we will call you back

These are 0871 4724743 & 0871 4724756

Regards

Ben

[Perfectionist]

Sorry but could I have a reply to my post please? That is not what my question was at all, it seems you only read the subject...

[Philipp]

Perfectionist

I am having someone look into this, In the mean time feel free to PM me your contact number and call you.

Further more my direct email is philipp@scan.co.uk

Cheers

[Mossy]

There are also plenty of free ways to contact Scan for example through our webmail service or even forums such as Hexus.

[Perfectionist]

Thanks very glad to hear it's looked into, someone at your company is obviously aware of the new regulations since you changed from 0870 to 0871 sometime between Dec 2007 and Jan 2008 and when you did that you would have had to register with the newly-created regulator (PhonepayPlus again) and agree to the Code of Practice mentioned from what I read! Private messaged you as requested though I would prefer discussion in the open if possible.

[Philipp]

Got your PM, (content the same as above post).

If you need any help or advice with a 3XS system feel free to contact me via PM or email even if its just asking for a call back.

Best Regards

[Perfectionist]

Thanks, good to know - I think I was wrong about having to register 2008 by the way, I just had another look at the newspaper link and it took effect 1st August it seems.

[Mossy]

Last time I was buying PC related stuff I tended to use a mix of http://froogle.co.uk/ and google with sites like ******* , ****** , etc as well as checking Scan and other sites (of course when you take into account the free postage can beat competitors)

Though maybe worth buying all from Scan regardless if it's less hassle on refunding faulty parts? I haven't bought PC components from them before yet, though I had a faulty monitor refunded a while ago it took over a month for them to actually send the money back (3008wfp, £976.35) having to phone them quite a few times to chase it up, with more money taken from my account than I actually paid for at first then only a 10%ish refund! (I guess some accounting error? Don't think I was ever told why I had to go through this - for one item):
11Dec08 - SCAN COMPUTERS INT - Paid out £1137.32 (why? my invoice was for £849 before vat, after £976.35)
(12Dec08 - sent it back with RMA due to faulty screen)
16Dec08 - SCAN COMPUTERS INT - Paid In £160.97
(17Dec08 "RMA Status Notification - Completed" email - "We can confirm your returned goods have now been fully processed and replacements issued / refund processed.")
Of course this was not true - Much phoning and being put on hold on premium rate 0870 numbers (now replaced by 0871 as per my letter to Scan on the subject) with a non-advertised normal number for customer support that never worked and on the main line a receptionist bluntly refusing to put through to anyone useful (warehouse or sales only I recall) until finally
14Jan09 - SCAN COMPUTERS INT - Paid in £976.35 (correct original amount of monitor)
- I just hope things have changed since then, I know at least the number issue is being "looked into" (quote from on forum) - thank god the government did something right setting up a watchdog and code of practice for people that want to use premium rate numbers for customer support. I'm pretty sure what they did then would be illegal now due to the code of practice (in the letter thread I mentioned) requiring a genuine geographical customer support number to be available.

Post Moved

[Perfectionist]

oops delete this post please sorry (just tried to do it myself but it's been disabled), was getting a quote for another post and sent the actual post to wrong thread due to tab confusion

[Betty_Swallocks]

TBH I always avoid dealing with companies who only use any kind of 08 prefix numbers, whether they're free 0800 numbers or profit making ones.
The reason is that ALL of these calls cost me money. Either adding to the company's profits or just being charges on my phone contract bec because they are not included in my bundled minutes.
I pay a lot of money for my phone contract. I'm not paying any extra to make a normal call.
I deal with Scan reasonably regularly because I'm happy with the service and because I have a landline number I can call them on when I need to without worrying about how much my phone bill will go up by.