Ways to stop overseas sales calls discussion

Old_Folkie

If you answer one of these calls by accident, just say "I'm driving and will have to call you back". Hang up and you will not get bothered (by them) again.

nuttywoman

I`ve started having fun with them now. The latest was the virus on my pc, they said the International Router was telling them about my pc being affected, so i would`nt let the poor woman go any further i just asked loads of questions about the router, she could`nt answer and hung up.
The ones that rung up about claiming back my bank charges i told them in the end i`d claimed myself and got £38,000 back.Never heard from them in a few weeks.
Sometimes when a woman rings up i play the jealous wife claiming she`s my hubby`s mistress lol
The other week someone rung and i pretended i was waiting for my carers to take me out to the zoo, he told me to have a nice time lol
I`m not bothered what i say to them anymore cos i`m so fed up with the damn calls !

rickbonar

No one here it seems wants cold calls phoning sales.

So why is it happening?


Firstly Offcom … it is supposed to be the watchdog and regulate phone services in the UK

Quote:
Ofcom is the communications regulator.
We regulate the TV and radio sectors, fixed line telecoms, mobiles, postal services, plus the airwaves over which wireless devices operate.
We make sure that people in the UK get the best from their communications services and are protected from scams and sharp practices, while ensuring that competition can thrive.
Ofcom operates under the Communications Act 2003. This detailed Act of Parliament spells out exactly what Ofcom should do – we can do no more or no less than is spelt out in the Act.
The Act says that Ofcom’s general duties should be to further the interests of citizens and of consumers. Meeting these two duties is at the heart of everything we do.
Accountable to Parliament, we are involved in advising and setting some of the more technical aspects of regulation, implementing and enforcing the law.
Ofcom is funded by fees from industry for regulating broadcasting and communications networks, and grant-in-aid from the Government.

It clearly fails to do little of any of this. Have to laugh at “to further the interests of citizens and of consumers bla bla” and “enforcing the law” chortle chortle!
In fact its real purpose is to deflect complaints and protect the phone industry and the various shady sharp practices from the public. Ironically by claiming to act and work for the public wishes and protection.

You are often told to complain to Ofcom ……and when you do absolutely nothing is ever done …right?!?
I’ll bet the chief executives and workers at Ofcom are on wages that rival the CEO and counterparts at Barclays too.

As for TPS …… it is pretty obvious that companies merely “outsource” to foreign call centres that are beyond EU and UK jurisdiction and actually use the list of barred and registered “do not call” numbers to as a free sucker list.
Of course quite difficult to prove, however I’m not on the TPS and receive little calls from such sellers however a friend who did register found the calls increased substantially.


I propose a number of measures as a starter to this menace………..


· Firstly all premium rate calls to be made illegal.
· Secondly all cold calling marketing calls to be illegal.
· This of should also cover unsolicited calls of any form “surveys” etc.
· Finally BT or whatever telco that allows scam calls through, foreign calls centres or computer dialers etc. to pay in full for the costs of any monies stolen.
· Whether via textback whatever has taken the victims money and indeed BT etc to bar by law any number the customer requests free of charge to the customer.

We employ the government………..so why are they not doing what we require?

jhe

i got a call yesterday off 07767422741 could barely understand her she spoke such poor english,she began to tell me my computer was running slow, as i do usually i asked how could that be when i dont own a computer, she promptly put the phone down.
tried dialling the number back(witheld of course) seems theres no such number.

Materialgirl_3

I say politely at the first opportunity, 'I do not give any personal information over the phone.' This gets them even if they are claiming they are doing a survey. If we all did this, these companies would realise theere is no market for them.

Elsewhere

rickbonar wrote: »

No one here it seems wants cold calls phoning sales.

So why is it happening?


Firstly Offcom … it is supposed to be the watchdog and regulate phone services in the UK

Quote:
Ofcom is the communications regulator.
We regulate the TV and radio sectors, fixed line telecoms, mobiles, postal services, plus the airwaves over which wireless devices operate.
We make sure that people in the UK get the best from their communications services and are protected from scams and sharp practices, while ensuring that competition can thrive.
Ofcom operates under the Communications Act 2003. This detailed Act of Parliament spells out exactly what Ofcom should do – we can do no more or no less than is spelt out in the Act.
The Act says that Ofcom’s general duties should be to further the interests of citizens and of consumers. Meeting these two duties is at the heart of everything we do.
Accountable to Parliament, we are involved in advising and setting some of the more technical aspects of regulation, implementing and enforcing the law.
Ofcom is funded by fees from industry for regulating broadcasting and communications networks, and grant-in-aid from the Government.

It clearly fails to do little of any of this. Have to laugh at “to further the interests of citizens and of consumers bla bla” and “enforcing the law” chortle chortle!
In fact its real purpose is to deflect complaints and protect the phone industry and the various shady sharp practices from the public. Ironically by claiming to act and work for the public wishes and protection.

You are often told to complain to Ofcom ……and when you do absolutely nothing is ever done …right?!?
I’ll bet the chief executives and workers at Ofcom are on wages that rival the CEO and counterparts at Barclays too.

As for TPS …… it is pretty obvious that companies merely “outsource” to foreign call centres that are beyond EU and UK jurisdiction and actually use the list of barred and registered “do not call” numbers to as a free sucker list.
Of course quite difficult to prove, however I’m not on the TPS and receive little calls from such sellers however a friend who did register found the calls increased substantially.


I propose a number of measures as a starter to this menace………..


· Firstly all premium rate calls to be made illegal.
· Secondly all cold calling marketing calls to be illegal.
· This of should also cover unsolicited calls of any form “surveys” etc.
· Finally BT or whatever telco that allows scam calls through, foreign calls centres or computer dialers etc. to pay in full for the costs of any monies stolen.
· Whether via textback whatever has taken the victims money and indeed BT etc to bar by law any number the customer requests free of charge to the customer.

We employ the government………..so why are they not doing what we require?

I suggest, to start the ball rolling, we get behind one or all of these Government e-petitions

http://epetitions.direct.gov.uk/petitions/29661
http://epetitions.direct.gov.uk/petitions/5124
http://epetitions.direct.gov.uk/petitions/33336
http://epetitions.direct.gov.uk/petitions/30459

or maybe you could set up one of your own, covering all of your points, and encourage members of the forum to sign (I don't know if that is allowed by forum rules, however)

NonGeographicalMan

Elsewhere wrote: »

I suggest, to start the ball rolling, we get behind one or all of these Government e-petitions

http://epetitions.direct.gov.uk/petitions/29661
http://epetitions.direct.gov.uk/petitions/5124
http://epetitions.direct.gov.uk/petitions/33336
http://epetitions.direct.gov.uk/petitions/30459

Many of you here might also be interested in these petitions related to call centre ripoffs:-

http://epetitions.direct.gov.uk/petitions/13439
http://epetitions.direct.gov.uk/petitions/1609
http://epetitions.direct.gov.uk/petitions/23941
http://epetitions.direct.gov.uk/petitions/2862

So far none of them have that many signatures so if they double or treble the existing number it would make a real difference. Once petitions get in to the top 100 by number of signatures they then pick up new signatures much more easily as many people search the list of petitions by those with the most current signatures.

dairoid

Dont get angry - get even. If you have the time ,go along with them. Act really thick with numerous stupid questions and then , when you have had your fun, just tell them you were only joking ! Wasting their time usually gets your number taken off the lists. Claims for injuries ? I relish the call. The last one I had thought he was going to process 3 claims for me. Car collision WITH WHIPLASH - that gets the juices flowing - combined with broken nose after being assaulted by other driver , followed by a previous, ongoing ,fall down missing manhole dispute with council.That took a good 15 minutes ( I was watching football at the time )and it was well worth it to hear his reaction when I told at the end I was lying ! I learnt a few new swear words after that. Great fun and it gets you off their lists

iain_c

I had someone phone from international location to say that they were phoning from Microsoft and that they were calling to help me sort a problem with my computer. I said "wonderful, I thought there was something wrong as it had been going so slow recently". He then asked me to do various things and I went along with what he said but I said that I didn't have my glasses with me so couldn't really read the various lines but if he gave me a bit more help then we would muddle our way through it. After About 5/10 minutes I said that my computer had frozen & should I restart it to which he said yes. After about another 10 minutes I said that at last it was back up and running so he then talked me through everything again. It was only then that I started to get a bit bored when I said the screen was blank. Eventually I said that something had appeared on the screen - he asked what it said by which time my eyesight had suddenly improved. I said "this laptop is an Apple MacBook Pro and has nothing to do with Microsoft". After a silence he said - why have you been following everything I asked you to do to which I replied - I haven't really but I just wanted to waste your time and money - he cut me off!!

Dave_C_2

I just got caller display enabled on my BT line (I must make 2 calls per month for it to be free - not a problem with my missus).

Since doing this we have had one international call which we obviously ignored.

How do they know?:rotfl:

Dave