FINE Gael city councillor Jim Long was so “horrified” at the cost of three directory enquiry calls on his mobile phone that he plans to contact Communications Minister Pat Rabbitte to ensure the issue of hidden charges are highlighted to the public.
Cllr Long was heading into a meeting last Friday morning when he received an international call on his mobile phone. With no time to take the call, the councillor hung up and went about his normal business.
Minutes later, however, he was left feeling totally flummoxed when he got a text message from O2 informing him that he had overspent by a sum of €10 over on his monthly phone plan.
“I thought I was charged the €10 for the incoming call and I went totally ballistic. When I got home I contacted O2 online through their live chat and received the full details,” Cllr Long explains.
“I was then even more horrified to learn that because I went through 11811 I had been charged €2.99 for a local call to my solicitor. In total it cost me €10 euro for three local calls. This in my opinion is a total rip-off,” he claimed.
Cllr Long is now vowing never to use the 11811 directory enquiries service again.
“If I had made the call at home on a landline it would have only cost 22 cent for three minutes. These hidden charges need to be highlighted and I’ll be contacting the Minister in relation to this,” Cllr Long concluded.
An O2 spokesperson explained that calls to Eircom’s 11811 and other directory enquiry services are charged as premium rate services. He also advised customers to check the rates before using any of these services.
“Calls to 11811 cost up to €2.30 per minute depending on which price plan the customer is on. Should the customer ask to be connected to a number there is an additional call set up charge of up to €2.30 as well as the per minute charge depending on how long the call lasts. The costs of premium rate services are available at O2.ie,” said a spokesperson.
