Can't text 61016

[miklcct]

I have just tried to text the British Transport Police (BTP) on 61016 but found out that my mobile provider doesn't support texting premium number at all, not even with an add on currently (which the provider says we may be able to do that in future).

How can I text the BTP then?

 

[Mojo]

You can email them [email protected], although if they are busy or short staffed it doesn’t get as much priority as the text number or calling them.

 

[jfowkes]

Hang on, the number that we're constantly told to contact if we need the help of the BTP is a premium rate number???

I was just faintly annoyed at the "see it, say it, sorted" stuff, now I'm actually angry. How dare they.

 

[AlastairFraser]

Hang on, the number that we're constantly told to contact if we need the help of the BTP is a premium rate number???

I was just faintly annoyed at the "see it, say it, sorted" stuff, now I'm actually angry. How dare they.

The phone number is free phone and is worth saving if you need it: 0800405040

 

[dk1]

I never knew anyone actually ever did lol. The repetitive announcements do my nut in.

 

[Neo9320]

Hang on, the number that we're constantly told to contact if we need the help of the BTP is a premium rate number???

I was just faintly annoyed at the "see it, say it, sorted" stuff, now I'm actually angry. How dare they.

Yeah this is news to me!

Messages will get longer soon enough.

“See it, say it, sorted. Charges may apply from your network provider”

 

[Starmill]

The text service has never been "free" (or included in your standard contract allowance) I don't think. The main reason I've never used it. I have a spend cap set so I can't!

 

[Mojo]

So is 101. It costs 15p while 999 is free.‍ FF

This hasn’t been the case for over two years now. The government announced in 2019 additional funding, and since 1st April 2020 calls to 101 have not been chargeable.

 

[Bertie the bus]

The text service has never been "free" (or included in your standard contract allowance) I don't think. The main reason I've never used it. I have a spend cap set so I can't!

How often do you need to contact the BTP to worry about a spend cap? I think I've only phoned the police, all forces, once in my life and that was to report stray dogs wandering in the road and likely to cause an accident.

 

[AlastairFraser]

This hasn’t been the case for over two years now. The government announced in 2019 additional funding, and since 1st April 2020 calls to 101 have not been chargeable.

Must have missed that, thank you for informing me. Will edit that.

 

[dk1]

How often do you need to contact the BTP to worry about a spend cap? I think I've only phoned the police, all forces, once in my life and that was to report stray dogs wandering in the road and likely to cause an accident.

I did wonder that

 

[AlastairFraser]

How often do you need to contact the BTP to worry about a spend cap? I think I've only phoned the police, all forces, once in my life and that was to report stray dogs wandering in the road and likely to cause an accident.

A spend cap works regardless of number to stop someone cloning your sim and calling loads of premium rate numbers as happens quite a lot in many scams.

 

[gnolife]

How often do you need to contact the BTP to worry about a spend cap? I think I've only phoned the police, all forces, once in my life and that was to report stray dogs wandering in the road and likely to cause an accident.

I have a spend cap of 0 on my phone. This stops absolutely all premium rate numbers

 

[Mojo]

How often do you need to contact the BTP to worry about a spend cap? I think I've only phoned the police, all forces, once in my life and that was to report stray dogs wandering in the road and likely to cause an accident.

A “spend cap” usually refers to an amount you set with your mobile company to prevent your phone bill going above a set amount. I’ve set mine to less than £1 as occasionally if I’m away from home a lot in a month I can sometimes exceed my data allowance inadvertently, and my network has a habit of only letting me know after I’ve already started paying £5 for 250MB or whatever crazy charge it is.

As to how often someone can report a non-emergency crime to BTP, dependent what shift I’m on I can quite often end up sending them an email 4 out of 5 days a week to report beggars on the subsurface lines of the Underground. Whilst it isn’t as bad as pre-Brexit there’s usually an uptick in tourist season.

 

[Berliner]

Hang on, the number that we're constantly told to contact if we need the help of the BTP is a premium rate number???

I was just faintly annoyed at the "see it, say it, sorted" stuff, now I'm actually angry. How dare they.

It depends on your network, it's not the BTP charging this outright.

According to https://www.btp.police.uk/police-forces/british-transport-police/areas/campaigns/61016-text-service/

"Your mobile service provider may issue a small charge to text 61016. The exact cost will depend on your network and tariff."

 

[Starmill]

How often do you need to contact the BTP to worry about a spend cap? I think I've only phoned the police, all forces, once in my life and that was to report stray dogs wandering in the road and likely to cause an accident.

Essentially never. The spend cap was actually so that if my data allowance was all used up I would simply be disconnected rather than incur charges. As such if I tried to, for example, place a call for which my network will charge me, it just won't work.

 

[John Luxton]

Could one not dial 999 and ask to be put through to BTP as one can the Coastguard?

 

[Mojo]

Could one not dial 999 and ask to be put through to BTP as one can the Coastguard?

999 is for emergency calls. Reporting things like beggars on trains or non-threatening antisocial behaviour should not be done by 999.

Conversely, when at work I have been informed by the BTP of things that people have texted in that really should have been reported to staff immediately or called through on 999.

When you call 999 from a non-railway phone (depending on the configuration calling 999 from a railway phone will normally connect straight through to BTP) you wouldn’t ask to be connected to BTP, but the incident would be logged with the local force and their control room would then transfer it through to BTP.

 

[AngusH]

There are mobile operators (Smarty is an obvious one) that provide unlimited standard calls and texts for a fixed monthly fee, but you have to add credit for premium numbers.

It's an obvious choice for people worried about excessive or runaway phone bills.

I don't know if the BTP number is included but I suspect not (not advertised as such, although 101 is)

In which case the user could be calling and texting perfectly normally every day and be unable to text the BTP in this situation.

I'm surprised actually that government numbers aren't free to use on all mobile networks as a license condition.


edit: corrected network to operator, because smarty is not an actual network....

 

[Mugby]

I believe that competitions advertised on commercial television which require entries by text are obliged to state that charges will apply.

Shouldn't the 'See it, Say it, Sorted' announcement also be obliged to say that charges will apply?

 

[TUC]

Is it actually a premium rate number or is it one that is technically chargeable as with any other text, but in reality will be covered by the unlimited/very large text bundles that many people have?

If it's the latter it's not really a problem as it's the sane as any other text. If it's the former then it is hard to see why BTP would go for a model which, even if a small amount, is chargeable even for those with text bundles, especially if calls to BTP are free (and I recognise that its the mobile provider setting the charge. The BTP is still in a strong position to put a different arrangement in place.)

As for those who are saying that someone could call instead, isn't part of the very point of texting that it can be done discreetly, rather than drawing attention to that it is you reporting the incident?

 

[Andy Pacer]

Is it actually a premium rate number or is it one that is technically chargeable as with any other text, but in reality will be covered by the unlimited/very large text bundles that many people have?

No it's not. I have the now often usual "unlimited texts" package but when I've text 61016 I have had a message warning me it's a premium rate text before I confirm I wish to send.

 

[DelayRepay]

As for those who are saying that someone could call instead, isn't part of the very point of texting that it can be done discreetly, rather than drawing attention to that it is you reporting the incident?

Indeed. When I've texted BTP it's been for that exact reason. I've reported people by text so they didn't know I was reporting them. I don't recall being charged for the messages.

If I couldn't use text, then there's nothing to stop me from going somewhere else e.g. into the toilet to make the call without being heard.

Question - can the local police via 101 take details and pass them to the BTP, as they do with 999 calls? Most people know that 101 is the police telephone number, but I bet very few people (apart from rail staff) know BTP's non emergency phone number.

 

[skyhigh]

Question - can the local police via 101 take details and pass them to the BTP, as they do with 999 calls?

Yes

 

[Edsmith]

I have just tried to text the British Transport Police (BTP) on 61016 but found out that my mobile provider doesn't support texting premium number at all, not even with an add on currently (which the provider says we may be able to do that in future).

How can I text the BTP then?

I've had exactly the same problem and so have many other people, I emailed BTP about it and their attitude was pretty much that it was a matter for phone companies. It's a quite ridiculous state of affairs and the only other option is to call 101 or 999 depending on the nature of the incident but then the whole point of the text system is for people who might be in a situation where they can't speak. It's absolutely farcical.

 

[Mojo]

I've had exactly the same problem and so have many other people, I emailed BTP about it and their attitude was pretty much that it was a matter for phone companies. It's a quite ridiculous state of affairs and the only other option is to call 101 or 999 depending on the nature of the incident but then the whole point of the text system is for people who might be in a situation where they can't speak. It's absolutely farcical.

As I stated above, and also as quoted on the BTP website, you can also Email them instead.

 

[father_jack]

I've had exactly the same problem and so have many other people, I emailed BTP about it and their attitude was pretty much that it was a matter for phone companies. It's a quite ridiculous state of affairs and the only other option is to call 101 or 999 depending on the nature of the incident but then the whole point of the text system is for people who might be in a situation where they can't speak. It's absolutely farcical.

Believe it or not but railway company work phones don't allow you to text 61016.........

 

[sor]

I wonder if this is just an overzealous definition. Someone pointed out that their phone warned them, but that's something (presumably Google?) built into the software, it doesn't actually mean its a premium rate number (though perhaps still chargeable at 10p or whatever a text would normally cost, so the people with spend caps can't do it)

i.e. it is interpreting all short codes as "premium" because many are, even though this specific one might not be. The bit from BTP about it depending on tariff could be standard blurb because not everyone has text messaging included in their tariff, eg PAYG users who really do pay as they go.

Another example would be 65075, which is the industry standard number that you can send "PAC" or "STAC" to to get a code if you decide to switch mobile networks. It is free to send messages to from any phone, but your phone may still warn you.

On top of the phone warning & spend cap, some providers allow you to turn off the ability to text or call "premium rate" numbers. I wonder if it's falling into this trap, again someone treating any 5 digit number as "premium".

Perhaps this is the sort of thing that Grant Shapps should *actually* be concentrating his attention on?

 

[DelayRepay]

I wonder if this is just an overzealous definition. Someone pointed out that their phone warned them, but that's something (presumably Google?) built into the software, it doesn't actually mean its a premium rate number (though perhaps still chargeable at 10p or whatever a text would normally cost, so the people with spend caps can't do it)

i.e. it is interpreting all short codes as "premium" because many are, even though this specific one might not be. The bit from BTP about it depending on tariff could be standard blurb because not everyone has text messaging included in their tariff, eg PAYG users who really do pay as they go.

You could be right - my Android phone warns me of possible charges if I reply to messages from the network provider (e.g. customer satisfaction surveys). However these messages are not actually charged for.

 

[AngusH]

Alas there was a petition, but it was rejected:

Petition: Make all network providers allow free texts to 61016 British Transport Police.

Make all network providers allow free texts to 61016 British Transport Police. Because some networks treat this as a premium chargeable message.

petition.parliament.uk