Topic: A nice little earner .......... Posted: 11 March 2010 at 7:04am
Brit' passport holders in Southern Africa can no longer submit passport renewals to their local high commission or embassy but have to send them to the British High Commission in South Africa. Not only do they now have to pay international courier fees but if you want to ask any questions about your application, you have to call an 0208 number (at the usual international call rates - usually significantly higher than those from UK and without access to any calling plans to minimise costs) and when it is answered you have to provide a credit card number so that you can be charged 69p a minute + VAT for any advice or answers you might get.
Another little earner for UK PLC ............ or the private company that's managing all this for NuLiebour and on whose Board some party luminaries will no doubt sit after they are turfed out of Westminister in May!
Is this sort of activity now beoming prevalent for UK-based services too - will NHS Direct have to be paid for or the non-emergency police nukber be on a premium rate number ....
Maybe I'm just getting even more grumpy than usual but it all seems like the thin end of the wedge!
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Posted: 11 March 2010 at 7:16am
Originally posted by OldAfricaHand
Brit' passport holders in Southern Africa can no longer submit passport renewals to their local high commission or embassy but have to send them to the British High Commission in South Africa. Not only do they now have to pay international courier fees but if you want to ask any questions about your application, you have to call an 0208 number (at the usual international call rates - usually significantly higher than those from UK and without access to any calling plans to minimise costs) and when it is answered you have to provide a credit card number so that you can be charged 69p a minute + VAT for any advice or answers you might get.
Another little earner for UK PLC ............ or the private company that's managing all this for NuLiebour and on whose Board some party luminaries will no doubt sit after they are turfed out of Westminister in May!
Is this sort of activity now beoming prevalent for UK-based services too - will NHS Direct have to be paid for or the non-emergency police nukber be on a premium rate number ....
Maybe I'm just getting even more grumpy than usual but it all seems like the thin end of the wedge!
Just a pointer as to the way they are thinking, should they hold on to power in May.
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Posted: 11 March 2010 at 7:39am
Slightly off topic, but many doctors surgerys are now using 0844 and 0871 numbers to contact them with the usual 'six' options, appointments, prescriptions, see the nurse, etc etc. It took sixteen minutes the other day to get through. The Doctors get half the cost of calls and BT the other half. One receptionist told me that they had been told to let thephones ring because it makes money for the surgery. The Goverment have told doctors that they must use local numbers at the cheap rate and stop using the expensive 0844 and 0871 numbers, but many surgeries appear to be ignoring the instruction.
Edited by Maverick22 - 11 March 2010 at 7:40am
Light travels faster than sound, thats why some people appear bright, until they open their mouths. A Chicken crossing the road, poultry in motion. .
I really resent the 0844 doctors' surgery number. It's taxing sickness. As for getting a letter from your GP, the costs start at £18 plus.
Outrageous! In the private medical sector here in SA (& Botswana) we pay around GBP3 for a consultation and that covers letters etc. We pay private insurance of about GBP60 per month - which is good value (& most employers pay half the cost)
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Posted: 11 March 2010 at 9:56am
Originally posted by M&MBM
I really resent the 0844 doctors' surgery number. It's taxing sickness. As for getting a letter from your GP, the costs start at £18 plus.
A lot of pensioners have a mobile phone for emergencies only i.e, ringing the doctors. I dread to think of the cost of a 16 minute call on a PAYG phone.
Light travels faster than sound, thats why some people appear bright, until they open their mouths. A Chicken crossing the road, poultry in motion. .
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Posted: 11 March 2010 at 12:07pm
Thank goodness I moved to Wales. Not only do we get free prescriptions but there is a normal telephone number to the doctor's surgery. This is the Labour policy of screwing the public so they can get lots of money for themselves going too far. When they prey on the sick, they are really scraping the bottom of the barrel. What price this Labour government supporting the NHS now?
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