Some premium rate phone lines will normally
only be available when customers specifically request them.
Thousands of premium rate numbers are opened up
for service every day, only a few of which are of interest or
relevance to the people of Guernsey. There would be a high
administrative cost for opening up all those numbers and thus
Sure’s policy is only to open up some numbers on request.
Director of Customer Operations, Mark McConnell
explained:
“We open up premium rate numbers which we know
will be highly popular, such as Big Brother, Children in Need and
so on. For other numbers, which may be very short run competitions,
or promotions, we will only open them up if requested to by the
bill payer.”
The policy is also designed to protect
customers against running up unexpectedly high bills. It also
prevents children accessing services without a parent’s consent, or
where the content is inappropriate for young people.
Premium rate numbers beginning with 09 are
charged at the service provider’s advertised rate, and can often
cost £1.50 a minute or more. In many instances these will only be
made available if requested by the bill payer, however Sure would
not refuse access to any service that is legal and
appropriate.
Mr McConnell said the policy was in place to
protect customers, and was in keeping with a responsible
operator.
“We have had a lot of complaints in the past
from customers regarding premium rate phone lines. Usually it is
because either they or someone else in their household have dialled
one of these services without appreciating the high call charges,
and as a result they have received a much higher bill than they
were expecting,” he said.
“This is not simply an issue here. There have
been plenty of reports in the UK of people who have run up very
large bills, often hundreds of pounds, by accessing telephone
chatlines and other premium rate services.”
“We are not looking to prevent customers from
accessing these services if they so wish. If someone does contact
us to ask for a specific number to be made available we can then
make them aware of the call charges they will incur. We are simply
acting responsibly, and in the best interest of customers.”
Although premium rate numbers are often used
for phone in competitions, they are also used by telephone
chatlines and adult services that are not appropriate for
children.
“Child protection is a very important aspect to
this. There are a lot of services that are widely advertised are
wholly unsuitable for anyone under 18, and most parents would
welcome the fact that their children are not able to access these
while there is not an adult in the house.”
Any member of the public who wishes to access a
premium rate number that is not currently available can contact
operator assistance, telephone: 100. This will then be unblocked
for that customer, normally within one working day.