The legality of recording a phone call you made to customer services?

[RoboCod]

Hi,

to cut a long story short I need to claim some bank charges back. They were incurred by a company who messed up my Direct Debit payments. To back myself up I decided to write down all instances of contact with names and times but I also recorded some conversations I had with them (record option on my mobile phone). These were simply conversations stating they would reimburse me should I send them the proof of the charges.

What I want to know is, should I have told them I was recording, like they do when we call them? Should I mention in my letter to them requesting the refund that I have recorded the conversations and they are available for the manager to review should he/she deem it necessary? Would this be a polite way of saying I've got my back covered or do you think it would work against my claim?

Cheers

CP

 

[Morba]

yes, you need to tell them you are going to record the conversation.

 

[Raymond Lin]

I am sure you don't need to, this was illustrated in a case of an insurance company sending an agent pretending salesman or other things to a claimant who pursued a claim for disability. They had a secret camera that recorded the claimant wasn't in fact disable, he was pursuing a false claim. The Court ruled that although the Insurance comany acted improper, but in the interest of Justice, the video evidence was allowed.

 

[Glaucus]

As morba says, just as they have to tell you they are recording, you have to tell them asap(basically first thing you say).

 

[semi-pro waster]

While normally you'd be expected to tell them (any reason you didn't?) it may be in the interests of justice that your actions will be forgiven as Raymond Lin suggests.

If they have already stated to you in the first instance that the call may be recorded "for training purposes or customer service reasons" or whatever their phrasing is then I wonder if you'd need to inform them of your recording. I suspect you still would but given they have a reasonable expectation of being recorded by their own company it would also seem unnecessary - I've got no clue on the legality of this last part, it is just a vaguely interested musing.

 

[glitch]

You are allowed to record telephone conversations for your own personal use without notifying the other party.

However you are not allowed to record telephone calls with the intention of disclosing the recording to a third party and should you wish to you would need the permission of the other participant(s).

So could you record a conversation with no intent to disclose it but then realise a need to and therefore seek retrospective permission from the other party? Not sure.

I guess you could argue that the recording was made for your own security but in the event of the other party not holding to their agreement (should this happen) it therefore needs to be disclosed, with or without their permission. It would be a case of arguing why you needed to make the recording in the first place and being able to show that at the time you had no intention to disclose them but now need to in the interests of pursuing your claim.

Rather interestingly a business doesn't need to inform you that they are recording a telephone conversation if it is 'to provide evidence of a business transaction' so maybe that can work both ways?

 

[Abraham]

possibly to add to your justification of not telling them, if you are speaking to lots of call centres and tell them that you're recording the call they will terminate the call there and then, especially banks

 

[daz]

Hardly anything is inadmissible in court in England and Wales, so you should be fine.

 

[jpmonkey69]

If the call hold system says "This call may be recorded for training purposes" on the basis that the statement is slightly ambiguous, I'd feel happy that I was allowed to record without their consent.....

 

[Steeps]

If the call hold system says "This call may be recorded for training purposes" on the basis that the statement is slightly ambiguous, I'd feel happy that I was allowed to record without their consent.....

I had an arguement with a callcentre about this. They supposedly only record so they use it for feedback when training staff, they do not store calls past that day. If you do mention that you are recording the call they may refuse to deal with you, as I have also found out.

 

[Jonny69]

I had an arguement with a callcentre about this. They supposedly only record so they use it for feedback when training staff, they do not store calls past that day. If you do mention that you are recording the call they may refuse to deal with you, as I have also found out.

You'll find that. Then when the tables are turned and they want to hold something against you all the phone calls are magically available again. Insurance companies are very good at this one.

We have recording facilities here but we have to tell the person at the end that the phone call is being recorded.

 

[2StepSteve]

Charm em! "before we start the convo I maybe recording this call, because I like the sound of your voice"

 

[Morba]

not many companies get rid of the calls within 24 hours, a lot are checked purely for training feedback. however, there are a few types of call which WILL be recorded for legal reasons (share dealings is one of them).

 

[Rhys]

If the call hold system says "This call may be recorded for training purposes" on the basis that the statement is slightly ambiguous, I'd feel happy that I was allowed to record without their consent.....

Just say you replied that you are also recording it when that statement was made on the phone.

 

[Steeps]

Just say you replied that you are also recording it when that statement was made on the phone.

My phone only records their end, not mine so realistically I could have asked them any yes/no question at the start and claim the first "yes" was me asking if it was ok to do it.

 

[Lopéz]

not many companies get rid of the calls within 24 hours, a lot are checked purely for training feedback. however, there are a few types of call which WILL be recorded for legal reasons (share dealings is one of them).

We record every call and keep it for MONTHS in a massive Qfiniti database.

 

[Morba]

Yeah, most companies now record all, shocking how much space these things take even after just a few days!

 

[RoboCod]

So as far as I can make out it would be best to leave out mentioning this in my letter and just keep it in reserve should they decide to mess me about further. They have told me they shall reimburse me so I shouldn't get any problems. The recordings are a little guarantee for myself, a little more solid like written word.

 

[Werewolf]

You are allowed to record telephone conversations for your own personal use without notifying the other party.

However you are not allowed to record telephone calls with the intention of disclosing the recording to a third party and should you wish to you would need the permission of the other participant(s).

So could you record a conversation with no intent to disclose it but then realise a need to and therefore seek retrospective permission from the other party? Not sure. /QUOTE]



That is about what i've been able to gather when it's come up and various legal people have mentioned.

Basically as long as one person is aware of the recording it's ok, but cannot itself be used directly as evidence, but can be used to make a complete transcript/notes of the conversation (and possibly be used in court if the other party disputes the notes accuracy).

I think it's a case of the rules varying depending on who/why you are doing it, ie a business would have to declare it, but a private individual doesn't need to unless they specifically aim on using the recording in court/as evidence directly (i guess a transcript/notes based on it would be classed the same as writing them down during the call).