I have lost touch with some old friends and relatives in the UK and will be visiting there shortly.

Where I come from it has been permissible for the duration of my life to look up a residential, business or government telephone listing in a telephone book or more recently online.

Some people here in Australia do not list their telephone numbers and so it is not possible to search a listing for them. Fair enough.

When I go to a search engine and type in "UK telephone directory" I am taken to a variety of sites that want to charge me for looking up a phone listing. Is this real ? Or am I looking in the wrong place ?

Please help me to understand what I am doing wrong. I have tried BT and that seem to lead me on a circular too.

On a site called 192.com they have the listings I am looking for but want to charge me 5 quid to reveal a telephone number to me.

Am I in a time warp or is this the system ?

try www.thephonebook.bt.com

http://www.thephonebook.bt.com/

is free

Did you try going to http://www.bt.com/ and clicking on "Residential name" at the bottom of the screen?

Thank you all.

I tried BT and the names in the districts/shires/regions that I was searching for were not listed there.

However on 192.com the names I was searching were listed and when I clicked on the box to make progress 192.com required me to first register so that they can of course email me unwanted rubbish. I took that step and then they sought to sell me vouchers and upon the purchase of those vouchers they would reveal the telephone details to me.

Maybe the numbers are "silent" or unlisted numbers and 192.com has simply identified their existance. If I were to purchase the vouchers then they would probably tell me the numbers were silent and thus I will have paid for the vouchers and can do little with them - very clever or crooked ! Still somewhat confused

They may well be unlisted or ex-directory. These days there are all sorts of good reasons for not being listed, and wanting to be ex-directory is only one of them. 192 is selling you information from the Electoral Register, and possibly extracts from the Register of Companies if they run their own business from the house.

Buy it and you get the precise street address (though the 'ghost' data you see on the first screen tells you a bit about that). Google either the Electoral Register entry or the ghost data: if there's a company registered there, or they're directors of their own business, it probably gives you the phone number anyway, but for many people googling the name and street address returns the phone number or email

This isn't remotely crooked. Your contacts for whatever reason have chosen not to publicise themselves(or just forgotten to tick the right box on the BT form): short of crude googling, the Electoral Register and similar things are the only way of tracking people- and directory companies have to pay to reproduce these sources

Thank you Flanneruk. I am focused on residential listings of people not companies or company directors.

Here too in Australia we have a large proportion of unlisted numbers and thus ex-directory from both paper directories (which we still have here) and internet directory listings.

Our telephone databases are not linked to electoral role information. We only have addresses on our electoral files. we do not pay for telephone directory information. If and when we do I am sure there will be a public outcry.

As for the people I am trying to track down, I have tried to google names and other known facts of address, background facts etc but unfortunately that does not reveal telephone numbers.

I think that my former contacts may have ticked the wrong box as a possibilty that you mentioned.

I just find it a bit perplexing that I have to pay to look up a telephone number in the UK and particularly when there appear to be a variety of companies competing to sell me the numbers.

When I track these people down I will help them tick the correct box. Generally they are simple folk who were listed when phone books existed and who would probably not have a problem being listed with BT. Thanks for the explanation anyway.

"I just find it a bit perplexing that I have to pay to look up a telephone number in the UK "...

But then you've not understood what others have already told you. You DO NOT have to pay a bean to look up LISTED numbers on bt.com. The problem here is that the people you are looking for are (by their own choice) ex-directory, or have moved to another area and that's why the bt.com search returns no positive matches.

Already tracked down two former contacts in Cornwall tonight through a relative in London - they from cornwall did not know they were not listed. I suspect from what I was told, they did not apply to or fulfil BT form filling requirements.

Sorry for thew confusion but here we have a system where you are listed and you have to apply not to be listed. That is respected and adhered to. Similarly we can register with a government agency if we do not wish to receive tele-marketing calls.

Gordon_R. I have understood clearly what flanneruk has indicated and thank you all for directing me to BT.

However, if I chose to have a SILENT OR EX_DIRECTORY number then I would not want 192.com and a variety of other companies indicating to third parties that my telephone number was available to such third parties for a fee.

... you have to apply not to be listed. That is respected and adhered to. Similarly we can register with a government agency if we do not wish to receive tele-marketing calls.

As far as I'm aware, the same thing applies here.
You can also register with Telephone Preference if you don't want junk calls.
I'm puzzled that your friends have become ex-directory without being aware of it, especially if they have been with BT for a long time.
Forgive me for asking, but you are clicking on residential and putting in a surname and town?

"I'm puzzled that your friends have become ex-directory without being aware of it"

Gosh, you and the Canon must have a sheltered life.
Some of the reasons lots of people I know aren't in the BT directory:

- The couple have different surnames, and when they set up the connection, they couldn't be bothered paying extra to be listed under both
- They run a business from home (doesn't everybody these days?), the phone's in the company name and they can't be bothered paying extra
- Their phone isn't a BT landline: they're using one of those satellite, broadband or mobile packages
- They've (poncily) got themselves a non-geographic number
- They've got a job (like MP, banking or social working) that means they don't want their number publicising
- They've been stalked, fallen out badly with an ex-partner or are just sufficiently drama queen-like to think they might be.
- BT have cocked up, and they're listed as AAA Taxis (no joke: happened to us twice)
- They've moved within the past decade, so BT haven't got round to it yet (OK I exaggerate. But only a bit)

Thank you flanneruk and all.

I now get it !

Most of the people I am trying to connect with share my European surname/family name and are my relatives of my paternal ancestor who arrived in Devon 7 generations ago.

When I meet some of them hopefully in Cornwall next month I will be able to better understand why 2 are listed with BT and another 9 are identified as existing by 192.com.

We have similar stories of confusion here in Australia. e.g. starting about 4 years ago we chose not to have telephone numbers listed, but when the new phone book arrived sure enough we were there and our mobile numbers as well.

Our telephone directories/internet directory services are free of charge and the company that produces them is a wholly owned subsidiary of the largest of our telcos.

I guess the market there is larger and has been impacted by deregulatory and entrepreneurial outcomes. I will do my best to make sure they do not receive any $ from me Thanks again.