How not to launch a website: the truth about 118 800
13th July 2009
The new mobile phone directory service 118 800 has its own bad management to blame as much as the Daily Mail reader style email that’s been doing the rounds for the mass panic that’s occured over its launch. I’m not normally one to defend any company but I also hate the spread of mis-information.
Here are some facts:
1 - They don’t actually give out phone numbers.
If someone phones 118800 to find you, and you’re listed, you’ll get a call from the operator telling you the name of the person calling asking if you want them to be put through. If you don’t answer they can leave a voicemail. If someone searches for you on the website you’ll get a text with their details, then its up to you if you want to make contact.
2 - They only have your mobile number if you consented to it being passed around.
Their listings come from marketing companies and companies who sell lists of numbers, so they will only have your details if you signed up for something and ticked the “please pass my details on to other companies” box or similar.
3 - They won’t sell your details
I guess you’ll have to take their word for that, but it doesn’t make much difference if they do, because if they have your details, they must be available to buy from somewhere already.
4 - There’s no deadline for having your details removed.
Unfortunately for Connectivity who run the service they seem to have no idea how to manage their own PR, so the information is not currently available on their website because they’ve taken the whole thing offline. Also the BBC and Guardian articles’ explanation of how the service works are as clear as mud, adding legitimacy to the email that’s doing the rounds.
Thanks to Google you can see the explanation from their wesbite here.
Also you can read a statement by the company in their defence here
July 14th, 2009 at 8:57 pm
Looks like Connectivity have seen some sense and added information about how their service works to their “service unavailable” page, but its probably too late for them to redeem their public image.
August 27th, 2009 at 1:05 pm
Hi, im Neil from 118800.co.uk
Firstly thankyou for talking about 118800.
The website is currently unavailable while we improve the service we offer our customers. All ex-directory requests made prior to the 10th of July are being processed and we will be taking ex-directory requests again once the website is back up and running, which will be as soon as possible.
You will be able to do this free of charge from the website or by calling us on a low charge number from the phone you wish to make ex-directory.
We recommend you check whether you are in the directory first before taking the time to become ex-directory.
118800 connect people that know each other, we don’t give out numbers to anyone.
For more information please visit our website on www.118800.co.uk
Or watch a video of how the service works here 118800