Just spoke to Micro Direct myself, also tried telling the girl at Micro about 0870 numbers, it was like talking to a brick wall. Will try again next week, hopefully a different sales rep.
steve

juby, why do you say this company is worried. There is no indication of any concern about their use of these numbers which I can see on the link you give?

Surely they can be reported to Trading Standards given that BT describe 0870 as premium rate??

I have now sent the following message to their Customer Services.

I am incensed at your latest statement on your web-site related to your published disguised Premium number for contact with Customer Services. It is bad enough that you are amongst those dishonest organisations who use these disguised Premium numbers. To deliberately attempt to mislead your customers and to contravene the latest Ofcom requirements in this way is completely unacceptable. You are in fact well aware that this type of number is a disguised Premium number, since that is why you have changed over to using them and that is why you receive the revenue which you do by using them.

I prefer to do business with a company that is honest and trustworthy. Since BT forced their customers to their Option 1 there is no longer any such rate as a "National" rate even with BT. With all other call carriers 0870 and other similar disguised Premium numbers can be charged at as much as 600 times more than the lowest cost call carrier's rate to call the same location. These numbers are thus very expensive for customers to call, and this is solely because of the Premiums which have to be paid, since they are Premium numnbers. Please therefore desist from the dishonest statements on your web-site. BT have now admitted that these numbers are Premium numbers and Ofcom have admitted the same thing. I have been a substantial customer of yours in the past, but if you continue to be so dishonest I shall cease to give you any of my business.  If you wish to continue to use such numbers admit on your website that they are Premium numbers which may be charged by some call carriers at rates as high as 15 p per minute. To state  "Tel: 0870 44 22 233 Please note: The above number is charged at National rates NOT at Premium."  is deliberately and blatantly dishonest.

Additionally it appears that some buttons/links on your web-site only work if your potential customer is using MS Internet Explorer. You should be aware that increasing numbers of aware web users, who are concerned about their security do not use IE and a result you may be excluding them as your potential customers.

Quote:


Everyone can make a complaint against any company to Trading Standards Office about a company making a false statement.

It should be made to TSO in the area in which the companies Registered Office is.




In this case Manchester. http://www.tradingstandards.gov.uk/manchester/linksc.htm

I would quote the Leicester decision to them.

Hi juby,

glad you liked my complaint to Micro Direct.

I take your point that " By the way it is possible to make every page of a website selective on who can access it by which browser, they are not nerds." I do realise that it can be done of course. My point was that if web sites for marketing are properly designed they will be accessible by any browser, not just one particular one.

If you are marketing on the Internet, then if you are commercially aware you understand that your web site is a bit like a shop, but with a much larger potential international clientelle. If you open a shop and put a notice in the window "Only blonde haired people, wearing bowler hats, a red pullover, having green eyes, carrying a Diners Club credit card, wearing Nike trainers and wearing a pink raincoat are allowed in this shop. We do not sell to others." then your sales volume is likely to be extremely small indeed. There have been articles about exactly this type of stupidity in web configuration in the technical press (such as Computer Weekly and Computing) over the last few years.

Nerds configure marketing web sites when they are allowed to run out of control with no proper commercial manager supervising them, mandating one marque of browser only, the lowest possible operating level of security and privacy, Active X, Flash, Real Player, O'Grady Jumping Up and Down utility and Uncle Tom Cobley and all, whatever is the latest vogue widget which they wish to inflict on everyone for their own peculiar motives. Rather than helping to sell a companies products all this stupidity does is to drastically reduce the potential market which might be reached.

It is possible to design a perfectly adequate marketing web site which does not mandate or dictate any requirements to one's potential cusomers, and as a direct result all may visit and browse. (Trolleys may be executed without resorting to mandating cookies for example.) This sensible strategy will obviously result in the highest sales and potentially the greatest profits. This is what effective professional web site design is truly about, and the papers in various trade press vehicles have made this point over and over; however the young nerds still just don't get it.

That was the point I was attempting to make, not that it is not possible to configure a web site so that only one marque of browser can access it. Clearly you can do this, with severe consequences. Hope you see the point?

[A Court Writ (now called a Claim) can be served at: (1) the Principal Office of the company OR  (2) Any place or business of the company within the jurisdiction …  The requirement to serve on the Registered Office has now been removed.  Source: Civil Procedure Rules – Part 6]

If anybody is considering doing this, then the best idea is to contact your own trading standards.

The reason behind this, is if you contact Edinburgh trading standards, about an Edinburgh company, then they will of course take action, and this may require the directors of a compny to travel to their local trading standards office, or local court and of if they have legal representation, their legal team would also have to travel the short distance to Edinburgh court.

However, if you wish to take this Edinburgh company to trading standards at Plymouth, think of the logistics of travelling down to Plymouth from Edinburgh.  One day for travel down, 1 day for court, 1 day for travel back, 2 nights hotel accommodation for each person travelling, along with train/plane fares, or petrol costs. 

Plus the fact that the people involved in legal representation would be paid for working 3 extra full days on a case, and managers of the company would spend 3 days out of the office, instead of chasing up contracts, or playing golf!!

And that's assuming the road or rail networks have no problems, and the mettings take place on time!!

The moral of the story, take a company to court in your own area.  Let them chose between the travelling problems or agreeing to settle the claim against them!!