(PENDING)Phonesafe, Beware!!!!!

[hadenough!]

Laugh

[iwantagta]

Pistonheads/Haymarket please can you answer the following questions honestly;

We believe that >99% of people dialing a phonesafe number are fully aware that the number is a premium rate number; TRUE / FALSE

We are fully compliant with all relevant legislation on displaying pricing; TRUE/FALSE

Haymarket views the phonesafe system as important income stream which will not be replaced; TRUE/FALSE

[hadenough!]

Over 8 years...

[14]

I think the main reason it's still the same is because Haymarket won't give PH the amount of developers and money they need.

[Vaud]

Nothing to do with developer investment. The fix for compliance would take a quick edit.

[14]

I'd thought it is compliant otherwise PH would of been forced to change it.

[Vaud]

14 said:

I'd thought it is compliant otherwise PH would of been forced to change it.

From Feb 2017

Vaud said:

Who is the relevant regulator?

Is it www.psauthority.org.uk ?

070 numbers
What are they?
Numbers beginning with 070 may look like mobile numbers but they are different and can be more expensive. They are used to divert calls to another phone number. Small businesses and sole traders often used these to avoid giving out their personal phone number, and to take advantage of a facility that allows calls to the 070 number to be redirected to whichever fixed line number or mobile phone they prefer. 070 numbers are regulated by Ofcom. However, we can investigate services on these numbers if they are found to offer phone-paid services and/or the number is being misused and if the cost of the call exceeds 10p per minute.

vs

How much will it cost to use PhoneSafe?

There is no charge for PistonHeads sellers who want to use PhoneSafe. Buyers who contact a seller through PhoneSafe will be charged only a small amount more than direct calls. The charges are listed below:
Day: 37.5p
Evening: 25.0p
Weekend: 12.5p

KatieM said:

We have a provider in mind that we would like to use. We want to make it clear that we are more than keen to remove phonesafe, but whilst we look for an alternate solution, we have to offer Phonesafe as a service. Whilst most (if not all) disagree with the costs associated, we do have a lot of users who want to use it. We had an outage last year, the service was not available to use for over Four weeks. As a result we had numerous complaints and fewer ad conversions.

We are awaiting information from our prospective provider as to whether they can take on our requirements. When we have an update, we will make it known to all of you. We are looking for a solution which will be using 01, 02 or 03 numbers which are included in most mobile/landline contracts.

KatieM said:

The replacement solution has been identified, it is the same one from last year. We've had to go back and forth with the supplier to try and get them to meet our requirements. As I mentioned previously, none of the other suppliers we went to could give us the service we needed. Tie that in with our lack of resource and inevitably projects are pushed back. I'm sorry it's not here already, but a functioning and stable website had to take precedence.

[PoleDriver]

To make it simpler...

[Vaud]

Yup. Yours is funnier than mine.

[Vaud]

You thoughts, KatieM?

[pincher]

I messaged her first thing this morning, asking her to add a comment. Obviously nothing yet

[Vaud]

pincher said:

I messaged her first thing this morning, asking her to add a comment. Obviously nothing yet

They don't care.

[Eddieslofart]

Silence...it’s deafening

How cheap they become..

[johnwilliams77]

KatieM said:

I'm here, I'm here - apologies for the delay Pincher.

A brutally blunt (but honest) post from me. It's not being replaced right now, the provider we had in mind can't meet our requirements. Our development teams now sit across all three Haymarket Automotive brands, therefore projects like this have inevitably taken the back seat. Priorities for all three brands can change each quarter, what was a priority last year, may not be this year.

In terms of compliance, we are compliant. I've spoken with PRS directly and they have informed us that what we are doing is in guide with the acceptable use of 070 numbers. Whilst it is expensive, a 070 number is not deemed to be a premium rate number. Phonesafe is not an important revenue stream for us, the decision to not replace the service now, is simply down to the fact our resource is now spread incredibly thin.

This thread will be updated when we start working on removing/replacing the service. As for timeframes, I can't give you one - sorry. I understand why you are all frustrated, If I could click my fingers and replace it now, I would. With that being said, please do not shoot the messenger.

Edited by KatieM on Monday 13th November 12:30

Remove it then

[johnwilliams77]

KatieM said:

That could well be the way we are heading but that too requires development time from various members of the team. We’d also have to phase it out as (believe it or not) there are people who want to use this service.

There are also people who would welcome not getting ripped off. It cost me something ridiculous for the last car I bought.

[hadenough!]

Eight years for an excuse.

[CoolHands]

I like it when big business use their mega-mergers and so on as reasons why things can't be fixed. Spread too thinly etc.

Warms the cockles of my heart it does.

I wonder how does autotrader offer the exact same protection but at standard landline rates. It's a miracle I tells ye.

[amw]

Ive just been charged £22 for enquiring about a car using this "phonesafe" rip off! Not happy at all about this - as it's completely free on Autotrader and is far from obvious you are going to charged when using the number. TOTAL SCAM VERY DISAPPOINTED PISTONHEADS

[Dr Interceptor]

Just 577 days until the 10 year anniversary of this thread

[Tankrizzo]

can't believe this is still going