http://www.thestar.com/business/art...igns-escort-service-number-to-young-girl?bn=1
When Julian and Gillian Luke gave their 11-year-old daughter a cellphone for Christmas, they didn’t expect Bell Mobility to give her a phone number that belonged to an escort service.
The girl was delighted to open the gift on Dec. 25. She sent text messages to her parents and a few friends.
But at 3 a.m. on Boxing Day, she was awakened by the ringing of the phone. The same thing happened several times while she slept the next evening.
“From Dec. 26 to Dec. 30, the phone logged 19 calls, most of them in the wee hours of the morning,” says Julian Luke.
“We began to suspect something out of the ordinary when my wife answered a call one afternoon and was asked if she could ‘do a half-hour.’”
On Dec. 30, his daughter’s phone rang around 10 p.m. The father answered and spoke to a man who apologized profusely when told he had called an 11-year-old.
In 15 minutes, another man called. Same result.
Deciding to investigate further, Luke went to the website, Canada411.ca, owned by Yellow Pages. Using the reverse lookup feature, he entered the phone number and was given the name of a business — Discreetly Intimate.
He searched online and found the escort service showed up at many websites — with a phone number the same as his daughter’s — such as TOsluts.com and Erotic-Canada.com.
Moreover, the company’s number was listed under Escorts in a phone book, Canpages, distributed in Oshawa (where the family lives). Its address was less than a mile away from their home.
“My wife and I were horrified,” Luke says. “We immediately confiscated our daughter’s phone and powered it off, then continued with our holidays.”
This week, he called the Bell World store where he bought the $200 phone with a three-year rate plan on Dec. 19.
His saleslady agreed to change the number while he waited. She suggested asking Bell Mobility to waive the usual $20 fee.
Bell refused to waive the fee. A supervisor ended the call in under a minute, saying there was no point in talking.
“The supervisor denied any culpability for assigning the contact number for a prostitute to an 11-year-old,” says Luke.
“Anyone could have texted her number with words or images — and she would be charged for the incoming calls.
“I am angry with Bell, not for doing something wrong but for failing to make it right. What is this teaching a little girl when a big corporation looks at her as though she didn’t exist? How can they spout policy to a child?”
Luke called The Star and was put through to me. I was surprised by the company’s insensitivity in this case. I knew Bell could do better.
In less than 24 hours, a senior executive called the family to apologize. He offered to waive the fee and give them three months’ free service (at $22 a month).
“Our customer service representatives do have the discretion to waive fees if the situation requires,” says Albert Lee, a Bell spokesman.
“In this case, the right call wasn’t made — the fee should have been waived. We’re speaking to our representatives about this.”
Discreetly Intimate is no longer in business. Its website, while still up, is a parking place for miscellaneous ads.
Why does the company’s phone number still show up at Canada411.ca?
“When a wireless account is cancelled, the number is pulled from circulation for at least three months,” Lee explained.
“In this case, the number was reassigned more than seven months after the former account was cancelled.”
Reassigning phone numbers is an automated process. The name and details of a former account holder aren’t connected to a number when it’s put back into the number pool, he said.
Canada411.ca gets its numbers from the telecommunication companies, according to Hind Ounis, a spokeswoman for Yellow Pages Group.
“I definitely understand the distress these people must have felt,” she said. “We regularly update our directory, based on the information supplied by the telecommunication companies.
“So, whenever a number is reassigned and the telecommunications company notifies us, we reflect this in our site.”
Bell reassigned the number to Julian Luke last month, but Canada411.ca still shows it belongs to Discreetly Intimate.
Luke, a retired teacher, worried about having his name associated with an escort service’s phone number. He asked Bell to send an email confirming he wasn’t connected.
“At this point, my wife and I are satisfied with the resolution,” he said.
Wireless numbers are in great demand. They can be reassigned as quickly as one month after a disconnection.
Before agreeing to a new wireless number, do a Google search and use the reverse lookup feature at Canada411.ca.
Try it in the store before walking out with a phone and you can save yourself from possible embarrassment – and grief – later on.
Ellen Roseman writes about personal finance and consumer issues. You can reach her at eroseman@thestar.ca.
When Julian and Gillian Luke gave their 11-year-old daughter a cellphone for Christmas, they didn’t expect Bell Mobility to give her a phone number that belonged to an escort service.
The girl was delighted to open the gift on Dec. 25. She sent text messages to her parents and a few friends.
But at 3 a.m. on Boxing Day, she was awakened by the ringing of the phone. The same thing happened several times while she slept the next evening.
“From Dec. 26 to Dec. 30, the phone logged 19 calls, most of them in the wee hours of the morning,” says Julian Luke.
“We began to suspect something out of the ordinary when my wife answered a call one afternoon and was asked if she could ‘do a half-hour.’”
On Dec. 30, his daughter’s phone rang around 10 p.m. The father answered and spoke to a man who apologized profusely when told he had called an 11-year-old.
In 15 minutes, another man called. Same result.
Deciding to investigate further, Luke went to the website, Canada411.ca, owned by Yellow Pages. Using the reverse lookup feature, he entered the phone number and was given the name of a business — Discreetly Intimate.
He searched online and found the escort service showed up at many websites — with a phone number the same as his daughter’s — such as TOsluts.com and Erotic-Canada.com.
Moreover, the company’s number was listed under Escorts in a phone book, Canpages, distributed in Oshawa (where the family lives). Its address was less than a mile away from their home.
“My wife and I were horrified,” Luke says. “We immediately confiscated our daughter’s phone and powered it off, then continued with our holidays.”
This week, he called the Bell World store where he bought the $200 phone with a three-year rate plan on Dec. 19.
His saleslady agreed to change the number while he waited. She suggested asking Bell Mobility to waive the usual $20 fee.
Bell refused to waive the fee. A supervisor ended the call in under a minute, saying there was no point in talking.
“The supervisor denied any culpability for assigning the contact number for a prostitute to an 11-year-old,” says Luke.
“Anyone could have texted her number with words or images — and she would be charged for the incoming calls.
“I am angry with Bell, not for doing something wrong but for failing to make it right. What is this teaching a little girl when a big corporation looks at her as though she didn’t exist? How can they spout policy to a child?”
Luke called The Star and was put through to me. I was surprised by the company’s insensitivity in this case. I knew Bell could do better.
In less than 24 hours, a senior executive called the family to apologize. He offered to waive the fee and give them three months’ free service (at $22 a month).
“Our customer service representatives do have the discretion to waive fees if the situation requires,” says Albert Lee, a Bell spokesman.
“In this case, the right call wasn’t made — the fee should have been waived. We’re speaking to our representatives about this.”
Discreetly Intimate is no longer in business. Its website, while still up, is a parking place for miscellaneous ads.
Why does the company’s phone number still show up at Canada411.ca?
“When a wireless account is cancelled, the number is pulled from circulation for at least three months,” Lee explained.
“In this case, the number was reassigned more than seven months after the former account was cancelled.”
Reassigning phone numbers is an automated process. The name and details of a former account holder aren’t connected to a number when it’s put back into the number pool, he said.
Canada411.ca gets its numbers from the telecommunication companies, according to Hind Ounis, a spokeswoman for Yellow Pages Group.
“I definitely understand the distress these people must have felt,” she said. “We regularly update our directory, based on the information supplied by the telecommunication companies.
“So, whenever a number is reassigned and the telecommunications company notifies us, we reflect this in our site.”
Bell reassigned the number to Julian Luke last month, but Canada411.ca still shows it belongs to Discreetly Intimate.
Luke, a retired teacher, worried about having his name associated with an escort service’s phone number. He asked Bell to send an email confirming he wasn’t connected.
“At this point, my wife and I are satisfied with the resolution,” he said.
Wireless numbers are in great demand. They can be reassigned as quickly as one month after a disconnection.
Before agreeing to a new wireless number, do a Google search and use the reverse lookup feature at Canada411.ca.
Try it in the store before walking out with a phone and you can save yourself from possible embarrassment – and grief – later on.
Ellen Roseman writes about personal finance and consumer issues. You can reach her at eroseman@thestar.ca.
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