Dave,
I don't accept any of the arguments you have given below for refusing to list the geographic alternative number for Westie Rehoming.
The fact that they keep large numbers of yappie little dogs means that it is we who should be scared of them and not vica versa. Also if somebody wishes to be abusive to the
www.westierehoming.me.uk people they can do this just as well on an 0870 number as on a geographic phone number. If their only motivation was to hide their real phone number and be able to reroute calls when on holiday etc then they would use an 0845 number. We have already heard from their website developer, Westier, that their main motivation in using 0870 is to exploit their punters for as much revenue as possible.
Many of the alternative numbers listed on this site are only for moderately small companies staffed by a few people. The whole point of this site is to make life tough for people who use these abusive 0870 numbers. Also if these people had wanted their geograophic phone number kept secret then why were neither of their phone numbers (including the one dedicated to their Westier kennel operation) ex-directory? Had they been ex-directory I would have been unable to find them.
I am very disappointed in the site management removing a number in this way and deleting wholesale large chunks of a thread merely to protect the revenues of 0870 scammers. And all without any acknowledgement that this had even been done.
NGM
Dave wrote on Feb 28
th, 2006 at 1:20am:
NGM
Quote:However I can see no reason whatsoever for refusing to list the geographic alternative of the 0870 number, which is answered with the same announcement, in our database when this site is dedicated to providing geographic alternatives for 0870 scammers (of which
www.westierhoming.me.uk are a particularly nasty and incorrigible example).
Since there is no reverse lookup facility from a uk geographic phone number to an address I don't see how it can be argued that listing a geographic alternative number compromises the security of these people and also they listed their name and an address in Swindon on their website which was how I got to their geographic number
www.192.com etc and their firstname and surname.
But the 0870 number is a 'virtual number'. If it attracts nuisance calls it's easy to change it without changing the underlying number (which most 'personal' contacts will have).
Quote:.... Also it is ridiculous to claim that they are under a security threat when nobody on this site has ever resorted to more than a letter or an email against the actions of 0870 scammers.
The security aspect has to do with the fact that they keep dogs and nothing to do with their 0870 telephone number!
Quote:But if you now say that if we list a geographic alternative for an 0870 number and the people concerned are upset about it we will remove it from the database then that will be the start of Sky and all the main abusers making the same request. ...
But the likes of Sky are faceless corporations. It is highly unlikely that Mr Murdoch will route his 0870 numbers to his home phone to be answered personally. Even if that were the case, a multimillion pound business mogul is completely different to those who run the Westie charity.
Quote: And it was Westie Rehoming who chose to stick their head above the parapet in the first place to crow about their reasons for using an 0870 number and it was only this that led to my quest to find their geographic number alternative.
I believe it was a member of the team who "goed it alone." The couple running the charity were unaware of this.
Dave