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Friday, December 14, 2007

Telephone Slamming - Beware of Sales Scams

Telephone 'slamming' is a term commonly used to describe the deceitful and illegal practice used by unscrupulous telecom sales companies.

'Slamming' is a problem that can affect both landline customers and users of contract mobile phones. Victims of the practice are approached by a sales company often pretending to be the user's mobile provider. The call is often timed to coincide just before the customer's contract renewal date. The salesperson will normally offer the customer with what seems to be a 'once in a lifetime' deal and pressure is normally applied for the customer to sign up immediately.

Many 'slamming' victims have reported to have been switched from one Telecom Company to another without prior knowledge or consent.

Research carried recently revealed that as many as 70% have received sales calls offering a hard to resist deal, with 65% of those receiving it from a company that was not their current provider. Out of those who agreed to sign up for a deal, 20% were left with a service that didn't match up to what they had been promised.

Head of mobile phones at a price comparison site, commented "These calls have become normal practice for many sales companies. Ofcom is taking a step in the right direction to try and regulate the sale of mobile phones. However, the regulation is only voluntary and so far only five of the big six mobile operators have signed up.

Under the new code, sales companies have to tell the customer which network they are calling on behalf of and the network is then obliged to deal with any complaints.

"I still feel more could be done to tackle this problem especially when regulating sales companies based abroad. In the meantime, I would urge people to be wary of any unsolicited contact. Although at first these deals can look quite attractive, they may not be what they seem."

If you are approached by a sales company who are offering mobile phone deals that seem too good to be true then treat them with suspicion.

If you have already fallen prey to any form of unethical sales practices carried out by telecom sales companies, then you should raise a complaint with the independent regulator Ofcom. More details can be found at their webpage Ofcom.org.uk.

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