18866 terms of agreement

Yeah. :-)

Yeah. :-)

Yeah. :-)

So you feel that the figures behind their business model add up?

As I already said, I don't give a tinker's dam.

I couldn't care a monkey's toenails if their business model adds up or not. As long as I can get untimed inland calls for a flat 1p per call I'm a happy bunny.

Who cares (apart from you and your little gang of merry men)? Just enjoy it while it lasts!

A few years ago I used a dial-up ISP who was offering free dial-up, it didn't last more than 9 months, but boy was it good while it lasted.

"Colin Reddish" wrote in message news:9Ye0d.49$ snipped-for-privacy@newsfe3-win.ntli.net...

Lack of a UK based bank account perhaps?

So don't use them if it bothers you that much.

So if you're a happy customer, why complain? If you have trouble adding up your 1p's, use a calculator.

No I don't.

Are you telling us you've been involved in a scams? If so please give more information.

Maybe it's because they're unable to satisfy the bank concerning the DD guarantee?

Yes, in those cases where there was no risks involved that was fine. Those companies were usually offering free internet as part of a package in which they hoped to make money on another part of the package. They all failed though, or started charging for the internet access.

But a lot of people paid annual subscriptions to ISP's who dissappeared shortly afterwards.

Who can tell? None of us have access to those figures.

If you go down to your local Argos store, you can pick up a catalogue. Hundreds of pages, full colour printed and totally free.

Pop into your local Ikea store, and you can collect one (or several dozen) free pencils.

I expect that these items cost money. Does that mean we should start claiming that Argos and Ikea have a business model that does not add up?

I'm struggling with the logic of this. The double negative tend to make it hard to parse.

If it said "I don't think you can ever have learnt much information about phones from me"

I'd agree, I don't think I've learned anything from you.

However, you wrote "you can't" which is the opposite, so I disagree. The spare "about" was presumably a typo, because it makes no sense wherever you put it.

Your reference to tpc.int is an interesting one. They seem to get by without charging anything, and have done for several years, despite the cost of delivering the faxes. I doubt they get more than 1p advertising revenue for each. But maybe I'm wrong about that.

I can think of several reasons why 18866 might work from overseas, not least the fact that they are not UK-based, and never were.

The Cayman Islands are a tax haven, AFAIK, and they may well be able to offer these rates partly by not paying taxes.

You use the word "scam" and I used the phrase "without a reason". I have not been involved in a scam and I have not said I have been. As you ask for more info then here is an example for you.

The reason for setting up one overseas company (this one based in Mauritius) was transfer pricing. We used the company formations part of OCRA in the West End to do the company admin and handle recurring annual filings: "Advice on the selection, establishment and maintenance of an offshore or onshore company, trust, or international tax planning solution." More expensive than most such services but reputedly more reliable too.

So why don't they get one?

Iain. Yikes! I have left a confusing typo in what I wrote.

I meant to write, sincerely, that I don't think you [Iain] can ever have learnt much information about phones from me [Stefan]. There. I hope that restating of it makes it clearer. In fact, from reading your web pages some time ago and from what I have been able to learn from them, I have long held you as one of the more knowleadgeable inhabitants of u.t.m.

I don't know much about ad valorem taxes but it seems a little odd to me that 18866 charge its UK customers VAT. I vaguely thought that ISPs (sic) based overseas did not charge VAT to their UK-based customers and I know many UK-based ISPs felt it was a very unfair arrangement. By extension, I would have thought that non-EU telcos were in a similar posiiton and they too did not have to charge VAT. As I say, I don't really know.

OTOH I am aware this is an area which was under review by UK authroities in the last year or two and maybe a Swiss-based company does in fact have to charge VAT on services which it provides in the UK.

Maybe some of the regulars in uk.finance can answer this.

If Argos and Ikea made all their money from catalogues and pencils that would be a fair comparison.

Oliver.

Why do they need to go to the expense of getting one, given they seem to be doing enough business without it?

Customer satisfaction? The fact that some customers prefer the DD payment method?

Oliver.

But 18866 clearly don't make all their money from 1p calls either.

The vast majority of my 18866 bill by value is calls to mobiles.

They don't "need" to of course. But if they did that would give greater assurance to cautious potential customers and they would do even more business. Provided of course, that that is their business objective.

They're all phone calls though.

Oliver.