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Anyone register with the Telephone Preference Service?

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Comments

  • stphnstevey
    stphnstevey Posts: 3,227 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture 1,000 Posts Combo Breaker
    As soon as you realise it is a sales call (ie don't grant them an answer to their opening question or you will be trapped into a rehearsed dialogue that they have been trained in for many days)- ask to speak to their Data Protection Officer

    When they sound confused, state that you are registered on the Telephone Prefference Service and it is illegal for them to cold call you.

    That's normally official enough to get them worried and most sales reps have heard of the Data Protection Act (all reputable ales reps should have had trianing in it). They then apologise and end the call.

    Always remember to add - please can you remove me from your calling list - so you don't get any more calls from that company from a different sales rep
  • Ok since writing the original post i have spent the rest of the time stopping these callers in their tracks and announcing that I am registered with the TPS and could I kindly have their details so I can contact the TPS regarding this call.

    Some have given details and I have used the TPS complaints form. But even the cooporating ones tell me that if I was registered with the TPS then my call would be barred from them, and I can't be registered.

    I sent an email to TPS about this, stating what I've been told and can they confirm a) my registeration and b) are callers barred in some way from even getting though.

    The reply I got was yes I am registered with them, and a load of disclaimers about how they can't prevent all calls from getting through, like silent calls and internation calls. And I should use the complaints form to inform them of all other sales/marketing calls (which I already do!).

    They never answered my other question about this call barring, so I replied to the guy who emailed me and asked again. Again he ignored my question and just sent a random reply similar to the first :mad: So I've given up now. It's like he didn't even bother reading my email properly. So I am still no wiser as to what the cold callers are talking about!

    I don't think they are making this up as an excuse to throw me, as some have sounded genuinely confused about how they did manage to get through and knew all about the TPS and how it prevents calls :confused:
  • stphnstevey
    stphnstevey Posts: 3,227 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture 1,000 Posts Combo Breaker
    I think you just have to live with the few that get through.

    You have to regulerly register with TPS I think - yearly?

    It can also take some weeks for them to kick in as well - sometimes a month or two

    You can't complain really as it is a free service - I kind of enjoy frightening the life out of the ones that do get through!

    Best advice is not to give out your number if you can help it - ie there are bots that scan the internet for phone numbers
  • tealady
    tealady Posts: 3,851 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture 1,000 Posts Name Dropper Mortgage-free Glee!
    Hi I would suggest saying. "Sorry I am busy right now but give me your number at home and i will ring you back tonight". Also keep some sort of bleeper on the desk, if they continue talking set it off, shout "Fire" and hang up!
    Find out who you are and do that on purpose (thanks to Owain Wyn Jones quoting Dolly Parton)
  • NickyBoy
    NickyBoy Posts: 58 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture 10 Posts Combo Breaker
    On a lighter note, if you can keep a straight face you could always try dealing with sales call like this:

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=un_PjRXV5l8
  • I think you just have to live with the few that get through.

    You have to regulerly register with TPS I think - yearly?

    It can also take some weeks for them to kick in as well - sometimes a month or two

    You can't complain really as it is a free service - I kind of enjoy frightening the life out of the ones that do get through!

    Best advice is not to give out your number if you can help it - ie there are bots that scan the internet for phone numbers

    As I said it's more than a few calls.

    You don't have to register yearly. TPS confirmed everything was fine in terms of me being registered with my business numbers.

    You can complain, they have a form specifically for complaining about cold callers. The guy who replied from TPS encouraged me to complain using this form.

    How can I not give out a business number? :confused:

    The reason I originally posted was because I wanted to hear if any other small businesses were registered and were having a high number of calls like I am. Although I appreciate any responses, your advice of not giving out your business number is slightly bizarre. As a small business you rely on advertising your product/service. If you stopped advertising purely to reduce the cold callers then your business would suffer. This is not a practical solution!!
  • tealady wrote: »
    Hi I would suggest saying. "Sorry I am busy right now but give me your number at home and i will ring you back tonight". Also keep some sort of bleeper on the desk, if they continue talking set it off, shout "Fire" and hang up!

    :rotfl: I like that about ringing them back at home!
  • As I said it's more than a few calls.

    You don't have to register yearly. TPS confirmed everything was fine in terms of me being registered with my business numbers.

    You can complain, they have a form specifically for complaining about cold callers. The guy who replied from TPS encouraged me to complain using this form.

    How can I not give out a business number? :confused:

    The reason I originally posted was because I wanted to hear if any other small businesses were registered and were having a high number of calls like I am. Although I appreciate any responses, your advice of not giving out your business number is slightly bizarre. As a small business you rely on advertising your product/service. If you stopped advertising purely to reduce the cold callers then your business would suffer. This is not a practical solution!!

    I knew you would make that point. What I meant was that I always think twice about giving my phone number to anyone.

    For me it's not a problem as I don't need to advertise publicly in my business. I don't know how you handle it if you do?
  • scbk
    scbk Posts: 1,216 Forumite
    1,000 Posts Combo Breaker
    I don't get THAT many sales calls and I'm not registered on the TPS.
    As soon as you realise they're trying to sell something you don't want, tell them you know they're on commision, you have no intention of buying their product so it's up to them if they want to stay on the line :rotfl:
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