Everyone else get this email? RESULT!
(sorry don't know how to give you a nice link so just copied and pasted the full thing) Thought I'd post it for those who didn't send a complaint to let them know the system DOES work.
This e-mail has been sent to multiple recipients on behalf of Miranda Roberts Case Officer
Competition Information Lines - Unsolicited Telephone Calls
We are writing with reference to your complaint about a premium rate competition line to notify you of the outcome of our investigations. Please accept our apologies for the delay in our reply.
As you will know, ICSTIS regulates the content and promotion of premium rate services, (that is to say, services that begin with the digits 090). Our aim is to minimise consumer harm by ensuring that the companies responsible for providing these services abide by the ICSTIS Code of Practice.
ICSTIS initially received reports from members of the public who reported having received an unsolicited automated telephone call to their landline. The promotional message advised the recipient that they had won a free cruise round Spain and to call a premium rate number in order to make a claim. On the basis of the complaints received, emergency action was taken to bar access to the service, pending the completion of our investigations.
However, as a result of the receipt of further complaints and following additional investigation, we discovered that one company was responsible for the promotion of five separate competition information lines, offering different awards, all of which were advertised by way of unsolicited telephone calls into consumers homes. Consumers dialling the various premium rate numbers referred to during the promotional messages accessed recorded competition information lines which gave the caller information about the item they had been awarded and details of how to claim.
The ICSTIS Committee has recently considered the facts of the case and found that each of the five services provided by the company were in breach of the ICSTIS Code for the following various reasons:
* The use of equipment to automatically dial numbers in order to make unsolicited direct marketing calls, as appears to be the case with the delivery of these promotional messages, is generally illegal.
* The promotional messages suggested that recipients had recently or previously entered a competition, which was not the case.
* A promotional message contained a significant silent gap between the main body of information given about the competition, including the premium rate claim line number, and a statement detailing the cost of dialling the number - this appeared to be a deliberate attempt to mislead consumers into believing that the message had ended and to replace the receiver without first hearing a pricing statement.
* The full cost of a call to the premium rate service was not stated in the promotional message, which is a requirement for competition services.
* The promotion of the services was inappropriate as the messages were not targeted, meaning that any member of a household had the potential to receive and respond to a promotional message. The messages were also received by individuals whose telephone numbers are registered with the Telephone Preference Service and those whose numbers are ex-directory.
* The company's contact details were not included in the promotional messages.
* There were references to awards being 'free' when the only means of claiming them was by dialling a premium rate service, at a charge of £1.50 per minute (from a BT landline).
* Information specifically required of competition services, for example, a closing date, significant terms and conditions and/or costs which might be associated with an award or prize, was not stated in the promotional messages.
* A service was found to be operating after the company was instructed to suspend access to all of the services and numbers under investigation, pending the completion of our investigations.
The Committee decided that sanctions should be imposed against the company in light of the breaches found and it has therefore issued a fine totalling £300,000 across the five different services. Access to each of the services has been barred for twelve months and the company has also been barred from providing any premium rate competition service for twelve months.
If you wish to claim a refund of the expense incurred as a result of a call made to the company's services, you will need to contact them directly, setting out your complaint and providing them with a copy of the telephone bill which details the disputed amount. For your information, their details are as follows:
Consumer First Marketing Ltd
70-72 North Street
Bedminster
Bristol Contact: Ms Caroline Young
BS3 1HJ Tel: 0870 442 8978
Please note that at this time, this company is under no obligation, in the form of an ICSTIS sanction, to issue a refund. If your request is denied, we can only advise you seek independent legal advice (e.g. Citizens Advice Bureau).
If you wish to register your wish not to receive direct marketing calls, we recommend that you register your telephone number with the Telephone Preference Service, at the following address:
Telephone Preference Service
DMA House
70 Margaret Street
London Web:
http://www.tpsonline.org.uk <
INVALID URL
W1W 8SS TPS Registration line: 0845 070 0707
Thank you for having taken the time to contact us and I hope that our reply has been helpful.
Yours sincerely
ICSTIS Secretariat
This e-mail has been sent on behalf of Miranda Roberts Case Officer
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If they are genuine they tell you exactly what you have won and how. Early this year I received a call on my mobile whilst in Tunisia to say I had won a prize with a local publication. When I said I was abroad the lady said they would send me a letter confirming this. When I got home almost a month later the letter was indeed waiting for me and I was able to collect my prize. Incidentally, why do competition providers always ask for your phone number, and sometimes your mobile as well? I always suspect that it is so they can sell the numbers on to other companies. 
