London phone numbers

[SoupDragon]

I've just been processing ticket applications for a PTA event and am sooo annoyed with the number of people who say their phone number is 0208 654 blah blah blah. No it's not. It's 020 8654....

Petty and pedantic, yes, but it's simply incorrect to put it as 0208.

Bah!

[prettybird]

I agree! I always make a point of writing and saying the number correctly - yet so many Londoners don't seem to realise the relevance of the way their number is put together.

I'm not even in London!

[Tinker]

How many digits are there in London numbers now? Most other larger cities are 0121, 0131 etc so 0208 would seem correct to me.

[SoupDragon]

I can accept non-londoners getting it wrong but surely they've noticed that they have to dial 8654... to get any one local??

I toyed with the idea of putting a correction slip in the envelope along with their ticket but decided not to

[SoupDragon]

There are 8 digits plus 020

When the codes changed, a 7 or 8 was added to the front of the number and the code for all London changed to 020 (rather than 0171 or 0181)

[WendyWeber]

Er - no it isn't - I get mad at people who say 020 8xxx xxxx

It's 0208 (outer London) then xxx xxxx

or 0207 (inner London) xxx xxxx

So ner

(It used to be 01; then it was 071 or 081; then it was 0171 or 0181; but whatever, it was followed by xxx xxxx, as it is in all the big cities)

[SoupDragon]

You're wrong, wendy.

[Tinker]

Hmm, I agree with WW. The point of the 7 and 8 is to denote area surely?

[mollymawk]

Ooh, I am soooo happy there is someone else (in fact two someone elses) who is (are) pedantic about this!

[LadyMuck]

I'm guessing that that point will get across now that new London numbers are 020 3 (covering both the old 0171 and 0181 areas). But if they have put the 020 bit in then at least you would get the right number if you dialed it. There is only a potential problem if they leave off the 0208.

[SoupDragon]

My phone number was 0181 651 1234 (not really but you get the gist) Locally, I would have had to dial 651 1234.

Now it is 020 8654 1234 and locally I have to dial 8654 1234

[LadyMuck]

But clearly I'm an optimist!

[WendyWeber]

Me? Wrong? Never!

[WendyWeber]

Oh, locally - the world revolves around sodding London again

[SoupDragon]

Yes, you are wrong wrong wrong wrong wrong wrong

[mollymawk]

But the code can't be "0208" because you never chop that bit off when you are dialling from inside the same area. You just chop off the "020".

[Tinker]

So 8 is like an office 9. Hmm, is there a How to Say London Phone Numbers Act of Parliament?

[ChasingSquirrels]

no idea, didn't even know london no's had changed.
but PTA things WOULD be local - surely?

[WendyWeber]

NOT NOT NOT NOT

prrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrp

[SoupDragon]

No, 8 is part of the phone number.

[WendyWeber]

Does anybody else struggle with mobile numbers when they are given

07xx xxx xxxx

rather than 07xxx xxxxxx?

I literally cannot retain them the first way.

[tired old woman]

[Tinker]

But the 0208 bit is the bit that is relevant to the vast majority of the UK. So those in the London club just dial 7 or 8 to get their outside line to each other. I know all of that is quite contradictory but I know whta I mean

[SoupDragon]

Oh yes, I corrected the typing of all those on my database too, Wendy

[Tinker]

No, am teh same WW re mobiles - need 5 digits first to make any sense to me

[WendyWeber]

mollymawk, the rest of the country (ie the majority of the population of the UK) doesn't drop the 020 though.

When a Londoner is giving their phone number to anyone outside London, they do tend to drop the 020, which means that if the person they are speaking to isn't intimately acquainted with London numbers they will subsequently get it wrong.

[SoupDragon]

No, Tinker, it's not!! It's the 020 bit that's relevant! The dialling code for all of London is 020. Not 0207, 0208 or 0203.