Premium rate phone lines

Re: Premium rate phone lines

patrick murphy — Mon, 10 Jun 2013 16:39:02 GMT

I am unreasonably tight with phone bills, read every one of them, so saynot0870 is a requirement, but if I remember correctly, you can buy one on their site!

Re: Premium rate phone lines

Bob Russell — Fri, 07 Jun 2013 09:20:37 GMT

[quote user="Martin Atkinson"]

[quote user="An On MRCVS"]the individule had a phone bill for £6.60 [/quote] She should be so lucky, I've just had a mobile bill for nearly £90 for one daughters' phone she used in France and expect far more than that from one who used hers in the USA! Seriously: what really annoys me is insurance companies that expect us to fax histories or call them back on premium rate numbers.

[/quote]

I know off topic but a £90 mobile bill is nothing. For two months with Tesco Mobile (supposedly unlimited minutes) my wife managed to get nearly £900 each time in internet charges!

Despite Tesco waving £700 of each of these we changed companies very quickly as they would not put a limit on the bill. It turned out that some app or apps were constantly 'dialling' in.

Refuse to dial in on these numbers and they will give you a landline number. If they won't threaten to send the history by post!

Re: Premium rate phone lines

Braden Collins — Fri, 07 Jun 2013 00:55:55 GMT

After being woken up at 1:30am by a client who's cat had had a problem for "months", I could be tempted to have a premium line for calls that don't result in a consult after hours. During the day I wouldn't dream of it. It would scare client off and I want clients to ring my clinic. If the nurses can give them free advice on the phone it is a great service to offer and builds loyalty, or they make an appointment. Clients simply don't get the option of speaking to the vet for advice without a consultation.

Re: Premium rate phone lines

Martin Atkinson — Wed, 05 Jun 2013 14:44:10 GMT

Re: Premium rate phone lines

An On MRCVS — Wed, 05 Jun 2013 08:46:29 GMT

Thanks for all the comments - it is reassuring to knwo that my thoughts are shared by the majority. It was just a diffiuclt weekend on call and I had it in the neck form several people not least a referral centre that had given me advice for a trickky case as the individule had a phone bill for £6.60 afetr speaking to me. I must confess I understood their anger.

Re: Premium rate phone lines

Gillian Mostyn — Tue, 04 Jun 2013 12:38:45 GMT

Yep - we do charge the equivalent of a consultation for telephone advice with unregistered exotics owners. Usually encourages them to just bring it in, which is the idea behind it. We have probably only had a dozen or so people actually just pay for the advice over the last few years - which is always husbandry related as they are warned beforehand that we cannot give specific medical advice or treatment.

Would I use premium phone lines? Never. Shows a complete lack of respect for your clients, their time, and their money.

Re: Premium rate phone lines

Martin Atkinson — Tue, 04 Jun 2013 12:38:34 GMT

[quote user="Clive Ansell"]Last time I rang my accountant for tax advice I received a £36 bill for his time.[/quote] Time to change your accountant I'd say Clive. Mine charges a flat rate for the year no matter what he does, including personally supporting me during a HMRC investigation on time.

Re: Premium rate phone lines

Michael Woodhouse — Tue, 04 Jun 2013 10:14:23 GMT

Think it was Gillian who charges a consult in advance via credit card for advice on exotics over the phone. Something like that could be workable OOH.

Re: Premium rate phone lines

Clive Ansell — Tue, 04 Jun 2013 09:24:35 GMT

one of the independent OOH clinics I used to work for tied with idea, but dropped it in the end as they thought it would be unworkable. They wanted to introduce it just for telephone calls involving a vet, but for general calls and advice. In the end they came to the conclusion that if a client wants a detailed discussion about their pet OOH they should either make an appointment for a traditional consultation, or go to their own vet when they open, plus the only suitable advice for a sick or injured animal OOH is "you need to see a vet"

On balance I guess it would be unpopular and unworkable, but there still needs to be a mechanism for charging for professional telephone advice.

Re: Premium rate phone lines

Bob Russell — Tue, 04 Jun 2013 09:17:35 GMT

Nobody trusts or understands the charging structure for these numbers. Many of our incoming calls come from mobiles and the charging structure is even more opaque! Freephone numbers that are not free, local rates that are not local, minutes that might be inclusive but you are never sure!

I hate them and avoid wherever possible.

The only one I like is the one that allows my wife to talk to Thai mobiles for 1p per minute!!

Re: Premium rate phone lines

Arlo Guthrie — Tue, 04 Jun 2013 08:39:56 GMT

[quote user="John Flynn"]Still, don't think it would go down well with the punters...[/quote]

Speaking as a punter, I couldn't agree more. And not because of the charge itself, more because of the ghastly impersonal nature of the pre-recorded message which prefaces the conversation.That's not the kind of scene setter I want before a discussion with my vet / doctor / AA counsellor etc.

Re: Premium rate phone lines

John Flynn — Tue, 04 Jun 2013 08:19:46 GMT

I can see some logic in having a premium-rate number separate from the main reception number. Clients who wish to speak to a vet can be advised to phone back on this number perhaps? I'm not really sure it would work, but I can't see anything morally repugnant about the idea - would be no worse than charging for your time in a face-to-face consultation.

I had a colleague who attended a "communications" meeting provided FOC by a drug company to help boost business. They recommended that every phone call should end in the offer of an appointment. Many situations and queries can be sorted out over the phone without the inconvenience of dragging a pet down to see in person, so I think a means of charging for such advice could be beneficial... I certainly wouldn't begrudge dealing with phone calls as much when the client was talking on their time at my profit!

Perhaps anyone with a complaint coudl also phone that number to discuss in more detail

Still, don't think it would go down well with the punters...

Re: Premium rate phone lines

Clive Ansell — Tue, 04 Jun 2013 08:15:09 GMT

I don't think it would be fair for routine telephone calls to book appointments or for general advice. However, I could see a place for it where professional veterinary advice is given particularly in OOH clinics.

We must be the only profession body that hands out professional advice free of charge at midnight that ought to be charged for. Last time I rang my accountant for tax advice I received a £36 bill for his time.

Re: Premium rate phone lines

Mark Holmes — Tue, 04 Jun 2013 06:43:42 GMT

Out of hours I think they could be justified. Particularly if you tell clients it's to discourage people calling for flea treatment at 2 in the morning. Otherwise terrible

Re: Premium rate phone lines

Evelyn Barbour-Hill — Tue, 04 Jun 2013 00:51:57 GMT

[quote user="Mark Hedberg"]But yes, as a rule people don't tend to like premium lines, at least so the feedback went. Clients go where they feel welcome, and premium lines don't exactly yell 'welcome'. [/quote]

No, they shriek "money-grubbing b******s!"

What a horrible idea.

Re: Premium rate phone lines

Birte Toft — Mon, 03 Jun 2013 23:27:41 GMT

In my current job, all the practices in the region share the on call work. The OOH phone number is premium rate, and I guess that's what pays for the the phone system and the admin stuff. (I don't really know how it works, I just log my phone on and off the system as required on my 1 in 30-ish rota.)

As a client I don't think I would bother with a practice that didn't have a local phone number. Our OOH clients don't seem to mind, but then they don't have much of a choice, and our OOH charges are pretty steep as well. There's a recorded message that states the cost of the call, and if clients get put off and hang up before the call is connected, we would never know. It can be convenient for cutting short those long and rather pointless late night conversations some clients are so fond of having. A quick reminder that this call is costing them a small fortune usually does the trick, and makes me sound nice and caring rather than rude and abrupt.

Re: Premium rate phone lines

Mark Hedberg — Mon, 03 Jun 2013 22:28:57 GMT

Well...premium lines annoy me personally. In the interests of full disclosure at my employer (training provider) we do have a premium line but we only got it because we moved a few miles a few years ago and needed a consistent number. Now we're in the new building in Godmanchester we give out the land line to everyone and their postman (on the website and everything) so I think hardly anyone uses the 0844 number to contact us.

But yes, as a rule people don't tend to like premium lines, at least so the feedback went. Clients go where they feel welcome, and premium lines don't exactly yell 'welcome'.

OOH lines? Food for thought, but probably not.

Re: Premium rate phone lines

Michael Woodhouse — Mon, 03 Jun 2013 22:13:38 GMT

Never seen a practice using them.

As a customer if I was choosing a practice a none local number would put me off.A premium rate number even more so.

I have joked a premium rate line would be good when someone keeps me talking for 10 minutes!

Re: Premium rate phone lines

Stephen Courtney — Mon, 03 Jun 2013 22:10:48 GMT

Terrible idea, and probably something the RCVS would be unhappy about. Impossible to defend to a client, but perhaps acceptable if you only have customers....I hate this idea.