It's fine paying for a premium rate phone service if it gives you the information you need, but we've discovered a man who charges premium rates for a phone line which tells you practically nothing, and which can exploit people who need important advice.
Shaun Freeman runs a company called Digital Select Ltd. It operates recorded message phone lines which claim to offer advice and information about passport and Child Benefit services. The information for these can be found for free on Government websites or using local rate telephone numbers.
Calls to Digital Select Ltd's lines can cost much more than local rates. Callers are invited to call an 0871 number initially, which costs up to 10 pence per minute. From here, they're advised to phone an 0906 number, which costs £1.50 per minute. The recorded messages on the Child Benefit line can last more than 17 minutes, costing more than £20.
Believed it was an official website
Catherine Payne-Gray called one of the lines trying to find out about Child Benefit services. She'd found the number by typing 'child benefit enquiries' into the search engine Google. Digital Select Ltd's result came top of her search so she believed it to be the official government site.
She rang the 0871 number initially, and this directed her to an 0906 number. It told her she would pay £1.50 per minute and, though she was angry at having to pay this, she still believed it was a Government-run service.
It wasn't, and by the time she got the information she could have obtained for free from an official website, it had cost her more than £28.
Lots of people have fallen for this as well. They think the number is run by the Government because the website listing the number comes top on their internet search. However, anyone can pay to be top of a Google list and in this case coming top doesn't make the number official.
It doesn't cost much so we paid to have our own Watchdog advert warning people not to pay more than they should for these services. It appeared above Digital Select Ltd's listing on Google.
Shaun Freeman's passport information line takes over nine minutes to offer the information you might need, but at £1.50 per minute it still charges £13.50 for information you can get for free elsewhere.
Complaints
We played recordings of Digital Select Ltd's calls to representatives from HM Revenue & Customs and the Passport Service. They said they've had complaints from members of the public about these phone services, even though they're nothing to do with them. They thought the services were "expensive" and potentially "misleading". We also played the recordings to the Citizens Advice Bureau, who said the lines exploit people's good will.
We asked PhonepayPlus, the regulator for premium rate services what it was going to do about Shaun Freeman's phone lines. Its Chief Executive Director Paul Whiteing said that the issue was complicated and that they do make sure that lines like these comply with their code of practice.
However, he said that if the code had been breached they can fine companies, make them change their services and stop the services altogether. He said the'd already imposed fines of up to £60,000 against four companies like this in the last 18 months.
Digital Select's statement
"Digital Select Ltd is a Service Provider and we provide telephony services to Information Providers. It is the Information Providers who produce the content and promotional material for services that the consumer accesses.
"Digital Select Ltd works with Information Providers and Phonepay Plus (the regulator) to ensure all services are fully compliant with the regulator's Code of Practice, which includes checking that all content, promotional material and pricing information is clear and up-to-date.
"The services in the report offer an alternative choice to the consumer by providing independent third-party advice. The services clearly state they are not affiliated with any government body. Consumers are informed of all costs involved before calling and also immediately upon connection to any premium rate number. If they do not wish to pay the stated amount, they simply end the call.
"Consumers can easily contact our customer services department by telephone, post or email should they be unhappy with any service, and all of our contact information is provided within all promotional material.
We believe that your viewer's experiences reflect that of a tiny proportion of the thousands of consumers who use these services, and we would have welcomed the opportunity to address their concerns had they chosen to contact our customer services department directly."
Advice lines that exploit callers
Shaun Freeman runs a company called Digital Select Ltd. It operates recorded message phone lines which claim to offer advice and information about passport and Child Benefit services. The information for these can be found for free on Government websites or using local rate telephone numbers.
Calls to Digital Select Ltd's lines can cost much more than local rates. Callers are invited to call an 0871 number initially, which costs up to 10 pence per minute. From here, they're advised to phone an 0906 number, which costs £1.50 per minute. The recorded messages on the Child Benefit line can last more than 17 minutes, costing more than £20.
Believed it was an official website
Catherine Payne-Gray called one of the lines trying to find out about Child Benefit services. She'd found the number by typing 'child benefit enquiries' into the search engine Google. Digital Select Ltd's result came top of her search so she believed it to be the official government site.
She rang the 0871 number initially, and this directed her to an 0906 number. It told her she would pay £1.50 per minute and, though she was angry at having to pay this, she still believed it was a Government-run service.
It wasn't, and by the time she got the information she could have obtained for free from an official website, it had cost her more than £28.
Lots of people have fallen for this as well. They think the number is run by the Government because the website listing the number comes top on their internet search. However, anyone can pay to be top of a Google list and in this case coming top doesn't make the number official.
It doesn't cost much so we paid to have our own Watchdog advert warning people not to pay more than they should for these services. It appeared above Digital Select Ltd's listing on Google.
Shaun Freeman's passport information line takes over nine minutes to offer the information you might need, but at £1.50 per minute it still charges £13.50 for information you can get for free elsewhere.
Complaints
We played recordings of Digital Select Ltd's calls to representatives from HM Revenue & Customs and the Passport Service. They said they've had complaints from members of the public about these phone services, even though they're nothing to do with them. They thought the services were "expensive" and potentially "misleading". We also played the recordings to the Citizens Advice Bureau, who said the lines exploit people's good will.
We asked PhonepayPlus, the regulator for premium rate services what it was going to do about Shaun Freeman's phone lines. Its Chief Executive Director Paul Whiteing said that the issue was complicated and that they do make sure that lines like these comply with their code of practice.
However, he said that if the code had been breached they can fine companies, make them change their services and stop the services altogether. He said the'd already imposed fines of up to £60,000 against four companies like this in the last 18 months.
Digital Select's statement
"Digital Select Ltd is a Service Provider and we provide telephony services to Information Providers. It is the Information Providers who produce the content and promotional material for services that the consumer accesses.
"Digital Select Ltd works with Information Providers and Phonepay Plus (the regulator) to ensure all services are fully compliant with the regulator's Code of Practice, which includes checking that all content, promotional material and pricing information is clear and up-to-date.
"The services in the report offer an alternative choice to the consumer by providing independent third-party advice. The services clearly state they are not affiliated with any government body. Consumers are informed of all costs involved before calling and also immediately upon connection to any premium rate number. If they do not wish to pay the stated amount, they simply end the call.
"Consumers can easily contact our customer services department by telephone, post or email should they be unhappy with any service, and all of our contact information is provided within all promotional material.
We believe that your viewer's experiences reflect that of a tiny proportion of the thousands of consumers who use these services, and we would have welcomed the opportunity to address their concerns had they chosen to contact our customer services department directly."
Advice lines that exploit callers