Here in the UK there are some in-country telephone numbers for which I have to pay a premium to the call recipient even though all my in-country calls are supposed to be free. For example if I phone Barclaycard on 0844 811911 I pay Barclaycard money for the privilege of waiting on the end of the phone for their 'next available operator' . The longer I wait the more I pay them so there is a positive incentive for them to keep me holding as long as possible. I really hate this practice.
Fortunately there is often a way round this since the charge does not seem to be able to made from calls made from outside of the country and there is usually a number to dial if phoning from abroad. In the case of Barclaycard the number is +44 1604230230 where the +44 is the country code so I just replace that by 01 .
And my next gripe - why do companies insist on me providing a mobile number as well as my land line number?
Edit
having ordered some components from Farnell a couple of weeks ago just now I have received an email containing
If you would like to speak with somebody from Farnell element14 on any matter, please do not hesitate to call us at 08447 11 11 11.