Rac have passed on mobile phone number

queenbee22

Last week I called Rac breakdown (and was satisfied with the callout service) however they have passed the number on to firms ringing about my 'accident'.

Two hours after i called roadside assisitance the calls began, and i recieved 36 in the first day. This was awkward because i was at work, and was harrassed on my personal mobile. Wednesday i turned the phone off (whilst at work) and my daughters school couldn't get through when she was ill.

I have called Rac who have said that this is not within their usual practice. However some companies have actually said they have got my number from Rac in relation to the accident i had.

I have spoken to people at their membership and customer care departments who have said they are unable to help. Apparently they have no legal department to deal with this.

I am confident of my ground, my mobile phone records would show an amazing surge of 0845 type numbers.

I would like to put a complaint in. Is there a relevant Data protection body? Also i would like Rac to pay for me to have a new mobile phone number. Please can somebody help me?

Valli

Write a formal letter of complaint to the RAC telling them that after you used their services on (date) you started to get calls from companies (name some firms if you can), some of whom, when asked, said they had got your number from RAC.

tell the RAC that these calls (a) came at inconvenient times when you were unable to take calls and (b) caused you further inconvenience re daughter's school. Tell them you were obliged to turn your phone off to halt the deluge of calls.
Add in that you did not give your permission for your number to be passed to third parties.
Tell the RAC you aren't happy about this; it will cost you £X to change your number and you would like them to pay for your mobile number to be changed as the calls are still coming in.

Keep a copy of the letter and good luck with it all.

agrinnall

If the RAC don't respond to your satisfaction you should investigate whether a complaint to the Information Commissioner is appropriate.

http://www.ico.gov.uk/for_the_public.aspx

Valli

agrinnall wrote: »

If the RAC don't respond to your satisfaction you should investigate whether a complaint to the Information Commissioner is appropriate.

http://www.ico.gov.uk/for_the_public.aspx

saved me a job - I was going to look for the same link;)

ta!

MothballsWallet

You can also tell the RAC that you did not give them express permission to pass on your number (as far as you can remember), so you want them to suppress your details from marketing under Section 11 of the Data Protection Act.

dacouch

http://www.rac.co.uk/popup/privacy-policy/

browneyedbazzi

To add to the above, some mobile providers will change your number free of charge if you're having problems with calls. It's worth giving yours a call and asking if they'll do this for you.

Even if they do I would write to the RAC as mentioned above saying you believe they unlawfully passed on your details etc and saying that you are considering raising a complaint with the ICO. When I did the same to an insurance company I received a very apologetic letter in the post accompanied by a cheque.

I'm not generally one to encourage people to go after compensation, but in situations like this where companies are profiting by unlawfully pimping out their customer's data I think it needs to be done in order to teach them a lesson and stop the practice.

queenbee22

Thank you, everyone for taking your time to reply. Your responses have made an enormous difference. Thanks.:j