118 118 sacks scamming staff...

...who thought hanging up on customers would earn them a few extra bob

The Number 118 118, now the UK's most widely used directory enquiry service, has been in talks with regulators Oftel following allegations some of its staff have been hanging up on customers and giving out wrong numbers to drive down call times and hit cash bonus targets. Newspaper reports publicised the problem last week, leading the DQ newbie to organise a 'crisis meeting' yesterday to pre-empt any charges. It transpired staff were attempting to exploit a bonus scheme where calls had to be completed in less than 44 seconds to qualify for incentives. The Number has since sacked 30 staff guilty of trying to fiddle the scheme in call centres in Plymouth and Cardiff. The action was taken up to the end of last week, after the company’s monitoring team became aware of the unusual activity. William Ostrom, director of communications at The Number, told silicon.com that the company had no plans to change their bonus scheme. "We haven’t changed our policy, it would be unfair on conscientious employees in our call centres," he said. Oftel has said it's satisfied with The Number's actions and has decided to introduce a "mystery shopping" scheme to make sure that DQ providers are meeting quality standards set down by the regulator. Ostrom admitted that the company had experienced some initial stumbles. "There have been teething problems, no question. We had to set up a new business and recruit 2,000 people. It was a lot to do in a year. We know where we need to improve and we're working on it," he said. With concerns over call quality across the new providers as well as a spat between BT and Conduit, it's feared that consumers could lose confidence in directory enquiry services, despite Oftel's intention of ensuring a better service for consumers.