Escort's Cellphone Number assigned to Toronto Couple

[Guest W***ledi*Time]

Ellen Roseman reports for [I]The Star[/I], 20 Jan 2012:

[url]http://www.thestar.com/business/article/1118874--roseman-rogers-assigns-prostitute-s-number-to-toronto-couple[/url]

[INDENT]Neha Shah had just arrived in Canada from Ohio last June when she bought a cellphone from Rogers.

She was suspicious when a call came in right after the phone was activated, since she hadnâ??t given out her number to anyone yet.

â??Even though it was my phone, I told my husband to pick it up. A guy said, â??Are you available?â?? My husband said, â??Pardon me?â?? and the guy hung up,â? said Shah, whoâ??s in her early 30s.

The calls became more frequent. She stopped answering the phone if she saw an unknown number.

Then, she started receiving voice messages, naming hotels where callers were staying and times they were free. She also received smutty pictures as text messages.

â??It was so embarrassing I canâ??t explain,â? she said. â??I actually get scared when my phone rings or I receive any messages.â?

Shah wrote to me when she heard Iâ??d written about an 11-year-old girl who got a cellphone as a Christmas present. Bell Canada assigned her a number that once belonged to an escort service.

â??Rogers has also assigned me with an escortâ??s number,â? Shahâ??s email said.

As did the 11-year-old girlâ??s parents, Shah and her husband did a search on the Internet and found their phone number listed at ... [escort directory and review sites].

The person who had Shahâ??s number was a â??pre-operated transsexual,â? whose website address started with â??shemale.â?

In the girlâ??s case, the parents stopped using the phone right away and fought with Bell to remove a $20 fee to change the number. They got a refund only when the Star intervened.

Shah kept using the phone for the past eight months, while waiting to get a $200 credit promised at the time of purchase.

She finally received the $200 credit this week â?? again with the Starâ??s help â?? after communications broke down between Rogers and the store that sold her the phone, Batteries & Gadgets Inc.

â??She dealt with someone who had given her a specific offer of a credit,â? said Rogers spokeswoman Patricia Trott. â??Since it was a third-party relationship, we didnâ??t have access to the information.â?

But Nadim, the Batteries & Gadgets store manager (who didnâ??t want to give his last name), had a different story.

â??The credit is supposed to come through Rogers, not the store. Trust me, the customers always get it. I think it was a computer glitch,â? he said.

Shah and her husband decided to get phone, cable and Internet services when they arrived in Toronto. They went to a store in the Eaton Centre, where they were told that Rogers was the most commonly used in Canada.

â??The salesperson made us sign a contract for all the services for two to three years. When we were deciding on the phone, he said if we took a contract, weâ??d get an iPhone 4 for $199.99 and heâ??d give us a credit for the whole amount that weâ??d receive in the fourth billing cycle,â? she said.

The couple was told that numbers in the 416 area code were mostly gone. Theyâ??d have to use the 647 area code.

â??Since we were new in Canada, we didnâ??t care about the number much and told him anything would do. He started checking the availability of numbers and said, â??You guys are lucky. They have one 416 number that opened up.â??

â??My husband asked him if that was an old number, since we didnâ??t want to keep getting the last customerâ??s calls. He explained that Rogers normally disconnects the number for six months and then gives it to someone else.â?

So, why didnâ??t Shah change the number once she found it displayed at naughty sites on the Internet?

â??I went back to the person from whom we got the phone and he said thatâ??s too bad, but we should wait until we got our $200 credit,â? she says.

Nadim told me heâ??d called Rogers three or four times to get the credit. He didnâ??t know why it never showed up on the coupleâ??s bill.

Shah kept going to the store every month to ask about the credit, but didnâ??t ask Rogers about it. Sheâ??s now pregnant with her first child, due in April.

â??I still keep getting calls for that person,â? she said about the prostitute. â??When I say itâ??s the wrong number, they ask me, â??Are you sure?â??

â??This is like torture for me. I have to keep the phone on silent every night because I donâ??t want to wake up with these stupid calls.

â??I also get calls from yoga classes and doctors and mostly miss all my calls, thinking it must be for that person. Rather than enjoying my pregnancy, I am more worried about this issue.â?

â??Whatâ??s the use of having a cellphone when my friends and family members canâ??t contact me during an emergency?â?

Phone numbers stick around for longer than ever because of the Internet. Companies such as Rogers and Bell update information in the phone book and at Canada411.ca only when a number is assigned to someone else.

â??We donâ??t want this to happen to customers, so weâ??re reviewing our policy,â? Trott said.

â??Weâ??re thinking of retiring frequently called numbers for an indefinite period of time. Thatâ??s what weâ??re doing with Shahâ??s number as soon as she changes it.â?

She also advised customers to call Rogers directly about their problems, rather than rely on independent retailers.

â??We werenâ??t aware she had made a request to change the number. Itâ??s terribly unfortunate,â? Trott said.

As I said in the previous column about Bell (Jan. 6), itâ??s always smart to do an Internet search for any new phone number offered to you.

You may not like the places where it shows up â?? and keeps showing up even after you get it.[/INDENT]