Very.co.uk calling number I didn't provide.

CaptainAwesome

Basically, I opened an account with very.co.uk yesterday giving the address all my bank cards etc are registered at, which is my mothers address. As I am at university I live at a completely different address during term time and asked for this one to be the delivery address along with giving the home phone number here as well as my mobile.

Today I've had a call from my mother telling me Very rang her landline this morning asking for me in regards to a "catalogue that they wanted to know where to deliver to".

The problem here is that I 100% did not give this phone number, nor is it anywhere in my account details.

Is this normal practice or should I be worried Very are breaking some sort of data protection here?

Evilm

I'm not sure if you should be worried or not but I believe this is a fraud check.

I had one from them when my first order with them was for a Collect+ order ( so pick up rather than delivery) and not to the 'billing address'. They only tried to contact me on the landline that can be conclusively linked with my credit record. Once they verified it was a genuine order they released it and I picked it up the next day.

FYI - I have recently closed my account with them because I got annoyed at getting an email and a text message every month telling me to check my statement and ensure I pay my balance when I didn't have a balance!

When I first complained (asking them to set it to only contact me when I did have a balance) they changed that to a email and a text message saying "You won't be getting a statement as you haven't spent anything". I complained again and they closed my account... and still sent me an email and a text message about not getting a statement! Cue another complaint!

I'm waiting patiently to see what they do next month!

fluffnutter

I've heard nightmare things about credit accounts with Very. Are you sure you really need one?

Evilm

You can't order without one. At least not online and they resisted all attempts to pay on the phone when they did the fraud check.

I paid it off the day after the item arrived and requested they drop the high credit limit they gave me to sub 3 figures!

CaptainAwesome

Not NEED, but they are the only people (along with Littlewoods, John Lewis at higher prices) that stock the TV stand I wanted and I've opted for the Take 3 option, meaning no interest and only 3 months of payment.

I was just shocked they'd gone to the effort of finding a number I'd not supplied then making it fairly obvious to the mother that I'd had an account. She didn't care, but I imagine this could create a lot of problems for people in similar circumstances that didn't want other people knowing about their spending habits etc.

Delivery_Driver

Its good sense to check up.A lot of people try to order items and have it delivered to a fake address, so they are doing nothing wrong in verifying yours.
If your phone isn't ex-directory I don't see any problem.

zzzLazyDaisy

I don't think it is access to the phone number that bothers OP, but the fact that they phoned a contact number that he had not provided and then proceeded to discuss his spending with a random woman on the end of the phone. Okay it was a TV stand and his mum. But it could have been something of an intimate nature :eek: or something he didn't want her to know about!

I understand what the problem is - opening an account at one address and then having goods delivered to a different address is the MO of fraudsters. Some on-line shops get round this by refusing to send the first delivery to an alternate address, and only once the customer has paid and been established as genuine at the billing address, will they deliver to another address.

CaptainAwesome

The number is ex-directory, something I probably should have mentioned.

This thread was more me looking for answers as to whether this was a normal practice as it's not something I've heard about until now.

Delivery_Driver

So much mail order fraud about, Very are doing the sensible thing and checking up.I'm not sure about them calling you on ex-directory though, that seems a bit dodgy.

Very.co.uk_company_representative

Hi CaptainAwesome,

As others on this thread have advised, we do carry out multiple checks especially on new accounts to verify that the information given to us is correct to protect us and other customers from any fraudulent activity.

I can't say how or where we have got your mother's home telephone number from if it is ex-directory but our Underwriting department will have further information if you wish to call them. Their direct telephone number is 0844 811 1218 and they are open Mon - Sat: 8am - 9pm and Sun: 9am - 9pm.

Alternatively if there is anything else you wish to discuss or look into feel free to email your details to us at Network@VeryHQ.co.uk and we'll do our best to help.

Regards

Chris

Very Network Team

catch_me_if_you_can

Evilm wrote: »

You can't order without one. At least not online and they resisted all attempts to pay on the phone when they did the fraud check.

I've ordered a few times and paid by credit card. It's well hidden but the option is definitely there! HTH