Alpha Telecom

harvestmoonuk_london

Alpha telecom have gone into liquidation, and had this reply from liquidator's..
I refer to your below email and would advise you that the above company was placed into Liquidation on 31 May 2012.

At the time of Liquidation I was unaware that you were a creditor of the Company. I had been informed by the director of the Company that a third party had taken over the customer base and as such there would be no creditors for prepayment of phone charges. To date it is uncertain whether this transfer has taken place.

I will of course notify you if and when this transfer occurs, but in the meantime please complete and return the attached proof of debt form for your claim to be lodged in the liquidation and to be notified of all future correspondence.

Should you have any queries please contact me.

Kind regards
Rachel Brewester

to conatct Rachel Brewester email her at rachel@bcassociates.uk.com
I have filed a claim with them need more people to do same.
hope this helps people who are owed money.

wantmemoney

http://www.phonepayplus-services.org.uk/output/search-adjudications.aspx

26 April 2012
Information provider N/A
Service provider Alpha-Telecom Limited (UK)

Thursday 26 APRIL 2012
TRIBUNAL SITTING No. 98 / CASE 1
CASE REFERENCE: 03379

THIS CASE WAS BROUGHT AGAINST THE LEVEL 2 PROVIDERS
UNDER PARAGRAPH 4.4 OF THE CODE

BACKGROUND

Between September 2011 and October 2011, PhonepayPlus received a number of complaints from members of the public who reported receiving an unsolicited phone call saying, “hello, hello, can you hear me?” before ending abruptly, or in a missed call, from an 070* number. Several complainants returned the call to the 070* number and unintentionally incurred a premium rate charge.

Sanctions Imposed
Having regard to all the circumstances of the case, the Tribunal decided to impose the following sanctions:

• A formal reprimand;
• A fine of £25,000 (for which the providers are liable jointly and severally); and
• A prohibition on each Level 2 provider from providing or having any involvement in, any premium rate service for a period of 12 months from the date of publication of this decision.

Alpha didn't pay the fine.

05 July 2012
Information provider NA
Service provider Alpha-Telecom Limited and Adrian Richards t/a Excelsior International

Thursday 05 July 2012
CASE REFERENCE: 08350/ 08356

Level 2 provider: Alpha-Telecom Limited and Adrian Richards t/a Excelsior International
Type of service: N/A
Level 1 provider: N/A
Network operator: 2Communications Limited

BACKGROUND

Services provided by Alpha-Telecom Limited and Adrian Richards t/a Excelsior International, the Level 2 providers, were the subject of a PhonepayPlus investigation and adjudication (case references 03379 and 02103 respectively) which resulted in sanctions being imposed by a Tribunal on 26 April 2012. The sanctions imposed by the Tribunal included a fine of £25,000, for which the Level 2 providers were jointly and severally liable, and a prohibition on each Level 2 provider from providing or having involvement in, any premium rate service for a period of 12 months from the date of publication of the decision. In addition, administrative charges of £4076.70 and £3782.70 were subsequently invoiced by the Executive to Alpha-Telecom Limited and Adrian Richards t/a Excelsior respectively.

The Level 2 providers did not respond to the initial investigation or the formal breach letter sent to them by the Executive.

SANCTIONS

The Tribunal concluded that the seriousness of the case should be regarded overall as very serious.

Sanctions Imposed Having regard to all the circumstances of the case, the Tribunal decided to impose the following sanctions:

• A formal reprimand; and,

• A prohibition on the Level 2 providers from providing, or having any involvement in, any premium rate services for a period of 5 years (starting from the date of publication of this decision), or until the breaches are remedied by payment of the original fine and the original and instant administrative charges, whichever is the later. The prohibition is to run concurrent with the 12 month prohibition imposed by the Tribunal on 26 April 2012.

RubberTyre

Have we heard anything more from the liquidators? Anyone?

tcava

I noticed a new Alpha Telecom website www.alphatelecomuk.com does anyone know if it has any relation to the old Alpha Telecom as I lost about £30 when they went into liquidation?

bod1467

Doesn't matter really - it could even be the same people, but the new company will not have inherited any of the old company's liabilities. (Or if they have then the scammers are very stupid - I sincerely doubt they are honest and hold genuine customer care close to their hearts).

BernadetteChurch

I've just received this email from a company called Bibitel:


Exclusive Offer to former Alpha Telecom Customers (and you think we may have forgotten you!). BiBiTEL, a successful telecommunications brand is offering FREE accounts to former Alpha Telecom customers. We offer one of the lowest rates on the market and would love to invite you to try our services by doubling your credit.

We have made the service even better and hence it took us a lot longer than anticipated. With our patented Bibitel SIM-SKIN you can now make international calls from your mobile without having to even dial the access code. You just dial as normal from your contact list and the Bibitel SIM-SKIN does the rest. CLAIM IT FOR FREE worth £9.95!

With the Bibitel Account you can add NINE ADDITIONAL NUMBERS, be it Mobile or Landline to share the same account/credit.

Exclusive ONE-TIME Offer
for former AlphaTelecom Customers
Top-up your Credit and we will double it!


I like that they say they haven't forgotten us, but make no mention of our money which disappeared along with AlphaTelecom!

terra_ferma

Looks like a marketing gimmick, maybe someone bought their mailing list, a valuable asset for a competitor.
However unless they have taken over the company what they are doing sounds like a possible breach of data protection.

rolu1

I am amazed that in a lawful country, somehow people can get away with such overt scam practices. This company knew they were going to shut down, if not already so, but continued to aggressively solicit for top ups from unweary customers. This is stealing. It is fraud and someone should be prosecuted. somebody from have made money from such activities and should be made to cough up.
Where can one go to report such?