What Does Calling Swiss Customer Service Lines Cost?

Many customers do not clearly understand the fees they are charged for calling customer service hotlines. The size of fees depends primarily on the prefix at the start of the phone number. Numbers beginning with the prefixes 084x and 090x are toll numbers.

Does calling from mobile numbers cost more than calling from landlines?

When you call a number which has a 084x or 090x prefix, you pay the same toll whether you are calling from a mobile or landline number. For a long time, mobile service providers added their own high markups to toll calls, but this practice is now forbidden in Switzerland.

You will not pay more to call Swiss toll lines from a mobile phone than from a landline, even if the customer service line has a warning that calling from a mobile phone can generate high mobile charges. These warnings remain present because many Swiss businesses are not aware that the rules governing markups from mobile service providers have changed.

The rates charged by your mobile service provider for calls to standard phone numbers depend entirely on which mobile plan or prepaid offer you use. Each plan has its own rates for calls to landline and mobile numbers.

What do calls to 0848 numbers cost?

Many businesses, including banks and insurance companies, use customer service numbers which begin with the 0848 prefix. You pay a maximum toll of 8.1 centimes per minute for calls to these numbers. This maximum price is stipulated by Swiss regulations and applies to calls from both mobile phones and landline phones. In practice, the per-minute price is slightly higher because telecom service providers often round charges up to the nearest 10 centimes.  

The fact that telecom users who pay for telecom plans with unlimited local phone calls within Switzerland have to pay customer service tolls in addition to their flat fees is a point of contention. When customer service lines have long waiting queues, tolls can quickly add up to more than negligible charges.

What do calls to 0900 numbers cost?

Some companies use 0900 numbers for their customer service lines. Calling this kind of number is typically expensive. The owner of the phone number is legally obligated to state the toll applicable to calls wherever the number is published.

Tolls vary broadly – from just a few centimes per minute to as much as 10 francs per minute or more. You may also be charged a flat fee per phone call. In some cases, you will be billed both per call and per minute.

What do calls to 0800 numbers cost?

The most customer-friendly businesses offer customer service hotlines with the toll-free 0800 prefix. You are not billed anything at all for calls to 0800 numbers in Switzerland, regardless of whether you call from a landline or a mobile phone.

Calls to numbers with the 00800 prefix are also toll free.

What do calls to 058 numbers cost?

Many businesses use numbers with the 058 prefix for their customer service lines. Most Swiss telecom companies – including Swisscom, Sunrise, Salt and UPC – charge the same rates applicable to calls to Swiss landlines when you call numbers with this prefix. If your telecom plan gives you unlimited calls within Switzerland, you will not pay any additional per-minute fees for calls to these numbers.

But some smaller telecom service providers charge special fees for calls to 058 numbers. For example, GGA Maur charges 15 centimes per minute for calls to this type of phone number.

What is the standard Swiss phone number prefix?

Many businesses use standard landline phone numbers for their customer service lines. You can recognize standard numbers by their area codes – many of which have been in use for decades. For example, standard phone numbers may begin with the area codes 031 (Bern), 061 (Basel), or 071 (St. Gallen). Since nearly 20 years, Zurich phone numbers have used one of two area codes – 043 and 044.

When you call a standard phone number, you are billed at the standard rate for calls to landlines. If your mobile plan or prepaid mobile bundle includes unlimited local calls, you will not pay any additional fees for calls to standard Swiss phone numbers.

What does calling foreign customer service lines cost?

When you use your Swiss SIM to call Swiss customer service lines while traveling abroad, you are billed at the standard mobile roaming rates applicable to calls to Switzerland. If your plan or bundle includes roaming allowances in its flat fee, these calls will generally be covered by the flat fee.

If supplementary per-minute or per-call tolls apply, you may pay the tolls applicable to toll numbers (0900 numbers, for example) in addition to mobile roaming fees.

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