Phone scam hits thousands

ROGUE salesmen are switching thousands of phone users to new suppliers without permission. Up to 15,000 people a month receive letters saying their landline accounts have been taken over by firms they may never have heard of.

They are victims of the spiralling problem of 'phone slamming', which takes advantage of a loophole in the law. Salesmen need only their name, postcode and phone number. They do not have to obtain a signature or any evidence of consent, provided the customer is sent a letter giving them a ten- day 'cooling- off ' period to cancel the switch.

Many people throw away the letters, thinking they are junk mail, and it can be weeks or even months before they discover what has happened. The problem is similar to the epidemic of mis-selling in the gas and electricity industries three years ago.

Many of the salesmen work on a commission basis for agencies employed by phone companies to bring in new business. In some cases, they have posed as representatives of a customer's existing supplier to get the details they need. Some customers agree to be sent information about a new supplier, only to discover they have been switched to it. Those who buy other products can sometimes be duped into agreeing to switch their landline through clauses in the small print.

BT, which has 70% of the landline market, says more than 100,000 of its customers have fallen victim to slamming, although most have since switched back.

Anthony Williams bought a mobile phone from Carphone Warehouse - and found himself being signed up to the firm's TalkTalk landline service without his consent. Williams, 39, a baker, said: 'Shortly after I bought the phone someone called offering me TalkTalk. I said I wasn't interested but they phoned again and I said if they wanted to send me some information I would talk it over with my wife.

'They said they couldn't send the information unless they had my bank details, so I gave them. The next thing I knew, I got a letter from BT saying they were sorry I was no longer going to be a customer, and a letter from TalkTalk saying I was going to be one of theirs as of 12 April.

'I was flabbergasted. I phoned BT and thankfully they said they could cancel the switch, but when I checked with my bank TalkTalk had set up a direct debit. So I had to cancel that as well.'

Williams, a father of three from Bristol, said he later received another call from TalkTalk trying to sign him up. He declined. He complained to the industry regulator Oftel, via BT, and has now received an apology from TalkTalk.

A spokesman for TalkTalk said: 'We have apologised for any confusion which arose when the sales call was made. Mr Williams cancelled the contract within the ten-day period so the matter has been resolved. TalkTalk prides itself on following all the rules, so this is something we take very seriously.'

In a few cases, customers who have been switched find themselves with lower bills. But some companies have fixed monthly rates, ideal for heavy phone users but more expensive for many customers. Others charge more than BT for mobile and overseas calls, even if their domestic calls are cheaper.

Ofcom is now trying to clamp down on the slammers by insisting all suppliers have an in-house code of practice, in line with strict guidelines, by 26 May. Any firm breaking the rules after then can be fined up to 10% of its turnover, and Ofcom will name and shame the worst offenders.

A spokesman for Ofcom said: 'It's clear that customers are being signed up without their consent. By imposing mandatory codes of practice and with new powers to fine companies, we hope to stop it.'

BT, however, says the measures do not go far enough. Spokesman Mike Jarvis said: 'We would like to see a mandatory code of practice which applies to all firms, rather than allowing each to draw up its own code. Our evidence suggests the problem is getting worse, not better.'