That’s certainly not a freephone number

I see EDF say this for their 0330 number on their website. But perhaps a bit long to put in the chatbox

"Calls to UK-wide numbers are included in any inclusive call plan you may have. If you don't have an inclusive call plan, calls are charged at a national rate. Please check with your service provider if you're unsure. "

So one option is just remove the freephone reference.

The vast majority of Pay Monthly mobile phone plans also offer unlimited minutes these days as well - as do a LOT of landline phone deals.

There’s really not much value in having it cost OVO something like three times as much to get basically the same result.

Thanks for confirming my suspicion. Why would the bot be saying it’s a freephone number?

This is what O2 say:

No mention of 033. I can’t find any mention of numbers like this on the O2 site, so I can’t tell whether it’s free or costs £1.50 per minute, or something in between. I suppose the £1.50 a minute would apply if I were unlucky enough to get connected to the South African support staff, as so many customers complain about. So I’m stuck.

OK, I just found this:
 

Explains why I couldn’t find 033 or 0330. It still doesn’t tell me what the cost is, though!

But if it’s not a Freephone number it’s not ‘free’ !!

Via O2

Thanks. So 03 costs the same as 01 and 02 - great. So I’d be charged at ‘our standard UK rate’. I still can’t find out what that is ...

Thanks to @Jeffus’s cheeky little leak, I’ve now completed my business with an exceedingly helpful and switched-on support agent, hopefully at no cost to me

I just have to wait for confirmation, but things are looking good so far. Now to lie down while the adrenaline levels return to normal

You will need to look at your own landline or mobile contract for that. 

For example many of even the cheapest sim only mobile plans include unlimited National calls and texts, the price simply varies depending on the amount of data in the plan. The unlimited plans include calls to National Rate numbers like OVO.

Are you calling from a landline or mobile and who is your provider?

If it is the O2 contracts you posted. Then calls to ovo are free

Confirming previous contributions 03 numbers are generally reserved for helplines. Recent legislation clamped down on premium rate 09 numbers for customer support. However 03 numbers are not free but charged at your phone suppliers standard rate for domestic calls. This is going to differ depending on your supplier and contract. 

03 numbers are usually included in your mobile "bundle", if not switch to another operator.

Landline telephone numbers seem pretty much obsolete these days but I was still provided with one when I took out my broadband contract. May well come in useful if bad weather takes out local mobile masts. A prediction becoming more and more likely.

But hey, I learned in grammar school how to generate electricity from a lemon, two pieces of wire and a torch bulb! *edited by moderator*

I finally found a charge sheet (!). It includes these details:
  

Standard rates

Assuming, then, that the OVO 0330 number counts as a landline, it would cost me 55p/minute to call it. No thanks!

Will @Emmanuelle_OVO or @Abby_OVO please try and get the misleading text removed from the bot’s response e“… please call us on 0330 303 5063 (freephone).]? 

Have you got zero inclusive minutes and text and data in your plan then?

Do you pay for every call and text you make other than freephone numbers? 

I don’t have a plan as such. There’s a little robot somewhere that sucks £10 out of my bank account and squirts it into my phone account when it’s at a low ebb, last on 28 July. I think I get a notification telling me how little is left each time I make a call, which isn’t often as you’ll understand at that price. I just checked, and the last call I made before yesterday’s was to 999 on 24 October; it looks like that was free, too.

Then you might want to shop around as those rates are very high. Just in case you have to make calls for any reason.

For example asda who use Vodafone.

I assume you have to make a chargeable call or text every so often with O2 to keep any credit. With Asda for example it is every 180 days.

You may find cheaper than Asda, it was just the first one I looked at.

There is no monthly fee, free minutes etc with this plan. Voicemail is free which can be good in case ovo ever leave you a voicemail. You may find some plans charge for voicemail. You pay for voicemail with your O2 plan.

VOIX, giffgaff and Tesco are more expensive than asda for example and all charge for voicemail.

https://www.voxi.co.uk/charges

https://www.giffgaff.com/pricing

https://www.tescomobile.com/help/payments-and-charges/call-charges/call-charges-for-pay-as-you-go

The alternative is 1p mobile where you pay 1p a min but this would work out a minimum of £30 a year so this may be too expensive.

https://www.1pmobile.com/1year-SIM

https://www.1pmobile.com/classic-sim

Hey @Firedog 

Thank you for flagging that to us. I’ve checked all of this with the team.

Like Jeffus mentions, with some phone providers you’re covered by any free minutes you might have in your contract for a number of different phone lines, including our 0330 303 5063. So if you’ve not got such a phone plan, the line is then charged at your standard rate.

We do now plan to remove the mention of 0330 303 5063 as being a freephone, as it’s not clear from this the terms of how this would be free. 

That looks interesting, so thanks for digging it out. Off to do some research ...

I am not sure this meets your needs but just for comparison with plans with inclusive minutes.

99p a month for 6 months then switch elsewhere. So £5.94  for 6 months.

300 min a month but voicemail comes out of this allowance.

https://www.lebara.co.uk/en/msm/p/441223.html

There are a number of options out there. 
I use giffgaff who piggyback on O2 and it’s a ‘no-contract’ offering where you buy a month of access. I pay £6 per month and have a package of calls and texts included plus 2Gb data and I can change it every month or miss a month or two if it’s not needed. 

Ovo number is unavailable since monday

It’s on your end - works for me.

Hey @Sparkygirl68,

I just tested it and it also works for me. Could I ask what number you’re dialling? It should be 0330 303 5063. We’re also on WhatsApp - 0330 175 9695 where you can chat with one of our advisors. 

Follow this link to find all of our contact options from email to live chat .