Directory enquiry calls can cost €5.50 for one second

People in Ireland can pay more than €5.50 for a call to directory enquiry services that lasts just one second.

That is one of the findings of research carried out by the Consumers Association of Ireland.

It shows that there has been a dramatic rise in the cost of using phone-based directory enquiry services.

A one second call can set a consumer back between 60 cent and €5.50, thanks to minimum costs and set-up charges baked into the pricing structure.

• A one-minute call to 11811 costs €3.42 from Eircom landlines;

• A one-minute call to 11850 costs €5.58;

• A one-minute call to 11890 costs €3.40;

• A one-minute call to 11888 costs 60 cent.

The survey of call costs was revealed in the CAI's Consumer Choice magazine in its September edition. The same article reported on consumer paid €19.40 for his call, after being connected to his number by the enquiry service.

"If you want to cut your costs, go online," said the CAI's CEO, Dermot Jewell. "If you find yourself stuck, use a number that very few of use have ever heard of - it's 11 888 - and that is as low as 60 cent for that one-second call."

The Association said the cost of such calls had doubled in the past five years.

However, Nicola Byrne, chief executive of the 11890 service, said that the €3.40 cost only applies to calls from an Eircom landline, and "nobody, anymore, rings from."

"The elderly do, and we give them the service, we don't get them off the phone … we charge for the full minute, we don't do a per-second billing."

She also said the €3.40 cost was not the price the service charges, but the price Eircom charges.