£75 to make a complaint to Three!

spud17

Am I missing something?
Three Complaints are mentioned,
then

I spoke to Vodafone.

phillw

I wonder what the ASA would make of it as the google result is an advert & it does not clearly say that it's an expensive way to phone the number.

Never call an 08xx number, that is what saynoto0870.com is for. Which if you type the scam number from google you get 0800 3504916 (I haven't tried ringing it....).

The three web site has:
From your Three phone.* 333
From another phone.** 0333 338 1001
From abroad.*** +44 7782 333 333

Which is the first time I've noticed a phone from abroad number that isn't 01/02. It would certainly put me off ringing that, although supposedly it's a Three mobile phone number.

Ian011

To clear the confusion expressed a few posts back...

The OP had some issues with Three and called their customer services from a Vodafone mobile. That is why the next call was to Vodafone customer services to discuss the massive bill for that earlier call.

Yes, the website promoting the fake phone numbers should be reported. Where these services operate on 087 or 09 numbers they are regulated by PSA. Many providers avoid the regulation that applies to Call Connection Services by using 084 numbers. ASA deals with complaints about those.

Google's algorithm isn't as clever as perhaps it could or should be. Given the various regulations that require landline numbers, 03 numbers or 080 numbers to be used for most purposes and ban the use of premium rate 084, 087 or 09 numbers, Google should be aware of those restrictions and adjusting the display of numbers to suit. There should be an inherent bias towards displaying official numbers.

Both Three and EE advertise an 07 mobile number for contacting customer services. They do this to take advantage of the higher Termination Rate income available on these numbers. However, such usage contravenes the National Numbering Plan and a forthcoming revision to the wording will clarify this and bring such usage to an end.

ryan121

It clearly states on that website:

Please note that we are not associated with any of the companies on this website. We provide a call connection service. All calls to this number cost 7 pence per minute, plus your telephone providers access charge.

Google has done nothing wrong as that is not an advert. Information that is also easy to find:

When a user asks a question in Google Search, we might show a search result in a special featured snippet block at the top of the search results page. This featured snippet block includes a summary of the answer, extracted from a webpage, plus a link to the page, the page title and URL. A featured snippet might look something like this on the page:

Google is a search engine that shows search results and ads that relate to your search. They have done exactly that. The first link below the snippet is the official support page for three with a list of their numbers.

phillw

ryan121 wrote: »

It clearly states on that website:

Only if you go to the website, which would fail under ASA rules. A normal person wouldn't expect their results to be hijacked by scammers (*) and so won't be looking for the small print where they admit to be scammers. (* or the scammers wouldn't have setup the web site).

They have upheld complaints against similar google search results.

https://www.asa.org.uk/rulings/search-me-ltd-a14-261870.html

ryan121 wrote: »

Google is a search engine that shows search results and ads that relate to your search. They have done exactly that. The first link below the snippet is the official support page for three with a list of their numbers.

For this site to get to the top of the list then they are doing something which could be construed as advertising. It looks like an advert, therefore it is an advert. What google did wrong was that they removed the disclaimer from the advertisement of the service.

There are probably other interception of communication and privacy points of law that could be successfully argued in court if you paid for a fancy barrister.

The easiest thing to do is click feedback and report it for being misleading or inaccurate as it is not the three contact number which it purports to be.

If enough people complained to the office of fair trading, ofcom and the asa and submitted legal complaints with google then maybe these crooked companies might disappear. There was moderate success with the EHIC scammers.

[Deleted User]

Ian011 wrote: »

Google's algorithm isn't as clever as perhaps it could or should be.

In recent years I've become more convinced that Google's search algorithm is doing exactly what it is supposed to do.



Make Google money.

pmduk

To clarify, an 'SME' is a someone in a network's call-centre, often a floorwalker, with more experience to assist agents. It stand for Subject matter expert.

redux

pmduk wrote: »

To clarify, an 'SME' is a someone in a network's call-centre, often a floorwalker, with more experience to assist agents. It stand for Subject matter expert.

Some of us may not have encountered this use before (well, I hadn't).

It also stands for small and medium-sized enterprise.

pmduk

Hence my explanation of the acronoym.

Ian011

phillw wrote: »

Only if you go to the website, which would fail under ASA rules. A normal person wouldn't expect their results to be hijacked by scammers (*) and so won't be looking for the small print where they admit to be scammers. (* or the scammers wouldn't have setup the web site).

Where these so-called Call Connection Services operate on 087 or 09 numbers, they are subject to strict regulation from the PSA.
See: http://psauthority.org.uk/-/media/Files/PSA/For-Businesses/Guidance-and-compliance/Explore-our-guidance/Guidance-files/24_Notice-of-SC-for-ICSS.ashx?la=en

While there are a number of such services operating on 087 and 09 numbers, it seems the vast majority now operate on 084 numbers, presumably to escape PSA regulation.

phillw wrote: »

If enough people complained to the office of fair trading, ofcom and the asa and submitted legal complaints with google then maybe these crooked companies might disappear.

I would estimate that perhaps less than one in ten-thousand people make a complaint to the regulators. This may be why Ofcom said in 2016 that there is no evidence of consumer harm.

Ofcom has extended CPRS regulation covering chatlines, internet dialler-operated services, and "adult" services to cover all such services irrespective of call cost or prefix used. Where those services operate on 084 numbers they are covered by the regulations the same as those operating on 087 or 09 numbers and PSA can take action against them.

The Call Connection Service scam could be closed down, or at least greatly reigned in, by extending the regulation of these services in the same way. Complaints to regulators will provide the evidence of consumer harm that is needed to precipitate this change.