PJCNET

Quite I few months ago I signed up to a totally free service where one gets a 0871 that can be directed to any landline with a company named 4Tel. As agreed if anyone calls my 0871 number, 4Tel are supposed to pay me a minimum of 4p per minute out of the total call cost at 10p a minute from a landline. I haven’t used the 0871 number, but I kept the account open because it was free and because I thought I might use it in the future.

Suddenly I received an unexpected bill and invoice today from 4Tel today for £57.50 (£50 plus Vat) which stated, quote,

“Ofcom (the UK communications regulator) has announced that from the 01 August 2009, 0871 numbers will be officially reclassified as Controlled Premium Rate Services (PRS).

To cover the cost of this additional administration from 16 July 2009 we have introduced an annual PRS Administration Charge of £50 plus VAT (covering all 0871 numbers on an account).”

I immediately replied by Email to 4Tel explaining that I only agreed to a free service, that I wasn’t told about new charges and didn’t agree to them, that no credit agreement was set-up or agreed and that I don’t want to pay for the service. I demanded that my account be closed immediately and that I’d owe nothing or I’d be contacting OFCOM and a solicitor.

4Tel thankfully replied promptly even though their lines were closed at the time of writing on a Saturday. I’ve at least been told to ignore the invoice and that my account has now been closed. If anyone else receives such an invoice without agreeing to the charges, I advise you do the same without delay. You can contact 4Tel on 0800 505 3210 or accounts@4telgroup.com

I understand that 4Tel need to charge for 0871 numbers from now on because of new OFCOM charges and rules from the 1st August 2009, but they should have sent letters out to customers beforehand asking them if they want to continue using the service by agreeing and paying the new charges from a given date with plenty of notice. They should then automatically remove the accounts for the customers that don’t agree by the date given, but they should owe nothing. They shouldn’t just send out a bill demanding, quote, “Payment terms strictly 14 days. Please ensure payment reaches us by 30/07/2009.” when the customer has agreed to a free service only, well in fact 4Tel actually agree to pay the customer if anyone calls their 0871 number. At least I’m happy that 4Tel cancelled my account promptly without any arguments and I give them credit for doing this.

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Disclaimer

This article is my own personal opinion and is without prejudice to 4Tel. My full legal disclaimer applies to this article and all other articles on this website.

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