IN THE NEWS
PLYMOUTH’S ANYTIME TAXIS PLANS TO SUE BT AFTER PHONE GLITCH DRIVES IT OUT OF BUSINESS
Plymouth’s Anytime Taxis is looking to take legal action against telecoms giant BT after a phone glitch drove it out of business. According to the Plymouth Herald, the Union Street-based company has ceased trading after losing nearly all its drivers when custom fell away because people couldn’t ring its office number. Ben Burgess, who owned the company, said he was “devastated” at losing a business he only started in December 2021 and had been steadily growing. He said: “It’s not sustainable any more and it’s because of BT. And it’s devas- tating. The amount of time and energy I have put into this business is huge. I even missed my daughter’s sports day because I was working.” Mr Burgess has lodged a complaint with the Communications Ombudsman and has taken legal advice. He said he is considering a £200,000 claim against BT to make up for lost trade and to cover £35,000 of contracts and loans for which he is personally responsible. He said: “We are looking to claim back every penny for foreclosure. I have got bills to pay and a family to feed. The figure of £200,000 is a rough number, it is not including the lost earnings I will try to get back for the drivers.” The telecoms nightmare struck Anytime Taxis in mid June when it saw journeys shrink dramatically after its phone line stopped accepting calls from anyone not on the BT/EE network. Since then the number has intermit-
tently worked and not worked, some- times receiving calls from some providers but not others. On one Friday night alone only 31 calls came in, when normally there would be more than 200. The highly-unusual problem appears to be because the company’s landline number - 247365 - was given to it by mistake, and may be being claimed by a business elsewhere in the UK. Phone provider BT has apologised to Mr Burgess and launched an investiga- tion. It said it was doing everything it could to resolve the problem, but the glitch persisted and it reached the stage where only four of Anytime Taxis’ 12 self-employed drivers were still working for the firm because trade had dropped so much. Not only did the company lose phone access for weeks, losing thousands of fares, it also damaged the firm in other ways. It had chosen the 247365 num- ber because it represented it being open for business 24 hours a day, seven
WELL DONE TO MANCHESTER CITY COUNCIL WHICH HAS APPROVED AN ADDITIONAL 80 PENCE TEMPORARY FUEL SURCHARGE ON THE METER FOR HACKNEY CARRIAGES - IN RECOGNITION OF THE SIGNIFICANT ADDITIONAL COSTS TO THE TRADE OVER THE LAST FEW MONTHS
26
days a week, 365 days a year and all its branding and logos were based around that number. Anytime Taxis had eight private hire vehicles, two hackney black cabs and an eight-seater minibus. Mr Burgess has announced the closure of Anytime Taxis on social media and received nearly 100 messages of support in just a day. A defiant Mr Burgess said he won’t give up on his business dreams and said he was considering options. He said: “I have a lot more to give and achieve in this trade. This won’t be the last you see or hear of me.” BT admitted the glitch is complicated and unusual. The problem appears to stem from the allocation of the number, done via a method of porting (transfer- ring) that is regulated by Ofcom. Under this system, people and busi- nesses who change their provider can keep their old number and it is simply moved across. But if they choose to have a new number, the old one can be given to someone else. It is possible the problem arose because another phone provider may have incorrectly transferred the 247365 number from its list of allocated num- bers, and it was then given to BT and then on to Anytime Taxis. BT said it has apologised to Mr Burgess and offered to cancel charges linked to the number and provide a new number to the company. A spokesperson said: “We’re very sorry for the problems Anytime Taxis have experienced due to this number error. Based on how phone numbers are allocated to various communications providers, this number should not have been made available for BT to offer to Anytime Taxis. “We’ve apologised to the customer and, to recognise the problems and inconvenience caused, offered to refund all the charges linked to this number. We’ve also offered to provide the business with a new number.”
AUGUST 2022
Page 1 |
Page 2 |
Page 3 |
Page 4 |
Page 5 |
Page 6 |
Page 7 |
Page 8 |
Page 9 |
Page 10 |
Page 11 |
Page 12 |
Page 13 |
Page 14 |
Page 15 |
Page 16 |
Page 17 |
Page 18 |
Page 19 |
Page 20 |
Page 21 |
Page 22 |
Page 23 |
Page 24 |
Page 25 |
Page 26 |
Page 27 |
Page 28 |
Page 29 |
Page 30 |
Page 31 |
Page 32 |
Page 33 |
Page 34 |
Page 35 |
Page 36 |
Page 37 |
Page 38 |
Page 39 |
Page 40 |
Page 41 |
Page 42 |
Page 43 |
Page 44 |
Page 45 |
Page 46 |
Page 47 |
Page 48 |
Page 49 |
Page 50 |
Page 51 |
Page 52 |
Page 53 |
Page 54 |
Page 55 |
Page 56 |
Page 57 |
Page 58 |
Page 59 |
Page 60 |
Page 61 |
Page 62 |
Page 63 |
Page 64 |
Page 65 |
Page 66 |
Page 67 |
Page 68 |
Page 69 |
Page 70 |
Page 71 |
Page 72 |
Page 73 |
Page 74 |
Page 75 |
Page 76 |
Page 77 |
Page 78 |
Page 79 |
Page 80 |
Page 81 |
Page 82 |
Page 83 |
Page 84
