Samantha wrote on Jun 20
th, 2008 at 11:41pm:
Any advice appreciated.
Samantha
I am not a lawyer but I can perhaps help on one point.
Under sections 120 - 124 of the Communications Act 2003, Ofcom has the power to regulate
"Premium rate services". It is for Ofcom to determine, from time to time, how these are defined. Ofcom is currently proposing to add services delivered using 0871 numbers to this definition, but this has not yet come about. It has no plans at present to include 0870.
In practice Ofcom uses the powers under section 121 to effectively devolve its powers to a self-regulator - PhonePay Plus. This body prepares and administers a code of practice for its members.
As the rates for calling 084x and 087x numbers include a premium over that for calling other numbers, it is quite reasonable to describe these as being "premium rate" numbers.
The services provided do not however currently fall within the technical definition of "premium rate services". As the simple term "premium rate" has no formal definition, anyone can argue for as long as they like about whether or not it applies to any particular situation. It is however true to say that PhonePay Plus does not cover use of 0870 and does not yet cover 0871.
I have no qualification on which to base advice, but I would suggest the following.
If you think that you could get the situation resolved swiftly by calling IdealWorld and wish to do so, I would suggest calling them to see if you can get your money back. I would also suggest a letter of apology and an additional credit to cover the cost of the phone call (whatever that may be) and the inconvenience involved. If it is a genuine error, this might work.
If you think that you need to go through formal procedures then you will have to end up sending a letter anyway, so there is no point in ringing them.
I hope this helps, whilst acknowledging that others may advise you differently.