Just got last months mobile phone bill ,Autotrader have recently introduced a (telesafe) system. Apparently to prevent canvas calls to advertisers on thier website. The numbers which begin 0704 and 0872 are in effect premium rate numbers .Ive only used 0704 and have been charged from my mobile at .60p a minute.in future i wont ring sellers who are using this system.
You can tell whos using telesafe by a phone graphic below the numbers .Does the seller have to pay to use the system ?
My main objection to this system is that you have to read the small print, by a link to know you are using a premium system.
Most other premium sites have a warning as you dial the number, that you are incurring increased costs .not this one.
More profit to Autotrader ?
Anyone else been caught ,Does this system prevent canvas calls ?Should I be paying a fee that benefits the advertiser?
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Complain to the regulator ?
www.phonepayplus.org.uk/output/Make-a-complaint.as...x
5.7 Pricing information
5.7.1 Service providers must ensure that all users of premium rate services are fully informed, clearly and straightforwardly, of the cost of using a service prior to incurring any charge.
5.7.2 Written pricing information must be easily legible, prominent, horizontal and presented in a way that does not require close examination. Spoken pricing information must be easily audible and discernible.
5.7.3 In cases where it is unlikely that a consumer will have seen or heard any promotional material containing pricing information, the service provider must place a short, distinct pricing message at the beginning of the service.
5.7.4 Unless PhonepayPlus has given written permission to the contrary, the pricing information in promotional material transmitted on television or in another audio-visual format must be spoken as well as being visually displayed if the cost of the service generally exceeds £2.
5.7.5 Premium rate services which do not generally cost more than 50 pence are exempt from all PhonepayPlus requirements on pricing information, unless the services are:
a. children?s services (see paragraph 7.5), or
b. accessed by automated equipment (such as a burglar alarm or a modem operating in conjunction with
software that causes a number to be dialled automatically when the user wishes to access the internet), or
c. subscription services (see paragraph 7.12).
5.7.6 All operational or instructional messages necessary to obtain access to a service and provided separately to the service must be available free of charge to a user.
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thanks for that martint 123 Ive just e mailed phonepay , i will let you know the outcome.tony
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Agreed - it's a bit of a pain. I'm expecting my phone bill to suffer this quarter from numerous calls to Autotrader premium rate numbers. I thought the system was designed so that sellers can close down the number quickly once they have sold their car, and not be pestered by more calls. I guess the premium rate is an extra revenue stream for Autotrader?
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Adtrader use the same system - presumably that's at least partly how they can offer free adverts.
When I'm selling something and someone rings up, I offer them my landline number ASAP explaining that the call is costing them more money than usual (if they don't already know). If I'm buying, I politely ask for a 'real' number.
Having said that, I don't think the Adtrader numbers are as much as 60ppm - better check...
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Having said that I don't think the Adtrader numbers are as much as 60ppm - better check...
No - 37ppm at peak times, 25 ppm evenings and 12.5 ppm weekends. 60ppm is a lot.
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the price is definetley .65 on a mobile .35 on a landline.
Because my contract with 3 covers all my phone needs i just use the mobile.
ive checked the bill again the cost is correct, a proper rip off.
perhaps the autotrader will start girlie chat lines next!
one earlier comment is that it prevents calls after a car is sold.
if you go back to the email received from autotrader when the add is started,im sure thiers an option to cancel the add early.that usually happens in 24 hours.
Again it seems to have little benefit for the seller ,none at all for the potential buyer,and a huge profit earner for auto trader.
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Oh there's a huge benefit for the seller, believe me. I sold a car through Autotrader 4 years ago and was plagued with scam and hoax calls for weeks afterwards.
This time, I used their phonesafe number, immediately gave any genuine caller my direct number and either called them back or let them call me, and cut the number off as soon as we sold the car.
Result. No hoax calls and no scam calls. Not one. Well worth it.
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Result. No hoax calls and no scam calls. Not one. Well worth it.
...but they should still clearly state the call charges (I haven't tried it so I don't know how clear or otherwise it is).
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F, completely agree. It was clear to me as the free recipient, hence I made sure nobody was on the phone to me for longer than it took to see if they were legit, but it could be done better. Trouble is, would that make the system pointless by putting people off?
Bit of a minefield really, I can see why AutoTrader would want to avoid it.
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Bit of a minefield really I can see why AutoTrader would want to avoid it.
Just checked, and as tony g said earlier, for adverts using the expensive numbers the number is displayed with a 'TELESAFE' logo underneath and a 'What is Telesafe?' link.
If you've come across this sort of thing before than of course you'll know what sort of call charges to expect. But if not, it would be easy to overlook it and not click on the link.
Strangely, and I'm sure it's just a temporary glitch, I clicked on the Telesafe link before I started typing this and the page still hasn't displayed...
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Strangely and I'm sure it's just a temporary glitch I clicked on the Telesafe link before I started typing this and the page still hasn't displayed...
Got there in the end, and actually the page includes the following:
"What will it cost me?
Telesafe is a not-for-profit service, and we pay for the cost of forwarding calls to sellers. Auto Trader is looking at ways to reduce these costs further."
I wouldn't have thought they could lie?
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Remember, AutoTrader may well not be making a profit. The phone companies and the number providers they contract will be minting it though...
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Remember AutoTrader may well not be making a profit. The phone companies and the number providers they contract will be minting it though...
True, but I think that was tony's main complaint - "...and a huge profit earner for auto trader".
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I have had a car on the Autotrader for five weeks, no calls, I called Autotrader to see if I could get a renewal for a discount, they offered me £9 off so £35. I asked why I may not have received calls they said well using "Telesafe" is a premium rate number at 45p per minute (I see on this forum 60p too) and callers are told at the beginning of the calls that it's premium rate and it may be putting them off. I like another poster was harrassed for weeks by scammers when I used my own number a number of years ago and was glad of Autotraders input in installing "Telesafe" but just like the b***** scammers Autotrader have seen it as an opportunity to rip-off clients trying to call me instead of just providing the service I had paid £44. I say Autotrader = Scumbags just like the scammers. I have gone back to my normal numbers and so far have not been bothered by scammers, it may just be a matter of time. I will use E-bay in the future.
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Hi andy,
Mine was the original post back in 2009 , it's disappointing that this still continues at auto trader ,you have to wonder how much of the fee is going to auto trader.
Ref e bay ,I've never had much joy when selling with e bay ,it's. Ok for selling bangers ,but they are always easy to sell.
I've bought lots of cars from e bay ,private sellers that try to sell by auction rarely get the price they want,a phone call just after the auction ends ,often buys me a car to sell on .
Regards
Tony g
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Is the answer to after sales scam calls not to buy a 99p sim card from Tesco or wherever, stick it in an old phone, then use that number on Autotrader and bin it after the sale?
Won't stop chancers phoning before the sale but at least means your "real" number isn't being exposed.
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Ahhh, so that's why a few seller's numbers were unavailable from my work phone. I thought these were mobile numbers that had been disconnected.
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