Ways to stop overseas sales calls discussion

stevepom

As we apparently cannot stop these calls, we can either get angry/frustraed or play the game.

My latest is to keep interupting their patter to ask why they haven't paid for the goat I sent them. This throws them into a state of complete confusion:
"Why haven't you paid for the goat I sent you"
"Pardon?"
"The goat, the goat. I'm waiting payment....did you receive it?"
"I didn't ask for a goat"
"Yes you did....are you trying to get out of paying me...?"

And so on. Obviously, when you don't feel like it, or don't have the time, just leave the phone and let it go to answerphone.

The best result I had so far was a "F*^* it" followed by a hang up. Made me chuckle.:rotfl:

Onwards

cottager

Not clear if overseas calls will feature, but tonight's Panorama is scheduled to be about unsolicited marketing calls.

BBC1, 8.30
'With an estimated 3 billion marketing phone calls and messages received by the public each year, Declan Lawn goes undercover to investigate unsolicited and unwanted calls and texts. He exposes how some firms work around regulations designed to protect consumers.'

rickbonar

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

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)

By the number of thank you tick you have it would seem we are onto something.

I don't trust the government e-petitions as I feel these more likely are a device like offcom .... i.e. merely there to deflect public criticism and going to do anything but mislead the public into thinking they can and will.

I'm glad someone here at least recognises with me what con premium numbers are and the disgraceful invasion of privacy and abuse of out personal details by companies like BT.

If I set this up it would disappear without trace.. however if Martin Lewis were to take up cause ..... then we could see a return to privacy and put these con men and rip off artists out of business. And that include BT. and TPS.

:money:Perhaps we ought to petition Martin Lewis instead.:money:

ALL premium rate numbers ILLEGAL!

· 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.


Please can someone set up a poll for this ????????

JIL

I have just had a call from an Indian call centre doing a survey.

I asked him some questions asking where he got my number from. He said the Human resources department of the United Kingdom. I said there was no such place. He advised I should check the internet.

I am ex directory and in the TPS, I never put my home phone number on anything.
After me moaning about him phoning up to ask what supplier I used as he needed to find out who the best energy supplier in the UK was and me saying you could get that off the internet.
Can you believe the call ended by the caller telling me I was wasting his time?

ffacoffipawb

My wife kept getting phone calls last week from some Indian about claiming back PPI on a loan she took out in 2004 (she didn't take out a loan by the way - she only has a post office card account).

Anyway he rang back yesterday and my wife passed the phone to me.

I shouted down the phone:

HOW MANY F***ING TIMES DO YOU THICK W***ERS NEED TO BE TOLD. SHE HASN'T TAKEN OUT A F***ING LOAN NOW WILL YOU PLEASE F*** OFF YOU STUPID C**T.

I then put the phone down gently.

That felt good.

EDIT: I suspect the scam is to find someone with such a loan and then get their credit card details on the pretext of getting the PPI fees back. My wife doesn't have a credit card, she doesn't want one. Prefers cash. I prefer credit cards for the lovely jubbly cashback.

DVardysShadow

JIL wrote: »

.... Can you believe the call ended by the caller telling me I was wasting his time?

High praise indeed.

no1catman

That's all very well when there's someone on the other end, but we got woken up at 3.00 in the morning with a succession of three calls - answered by the answerphone - with just BEEP BEEP BEEP- arrrgh.

smokey_dave

If my caller display shows withheld, international, or - - - - - - , I do not answer and let the call go to my answer phone. Then I pick the phone up IF I KNOW who the caller is.

Herongull

The number of cold calls seems to be going up exponentially. I've been in the TPS for many years and until the last few months we were rarely cold-called.

Now we are getting junk phone calls many times a day - Microsoft scam, PPI, requests for personal information for a "survey".

Many of these calls sound like they are from India, perhaps via skype or a similar service. There is always a pause after I answer and they speak with very strong Indian accents.

I've recently been forced to go ex-directory to try to reduce the number of these calls, but so far it hasn't had much effect.

I have several phones on extensions and they are basic models (no display).

Can we get BT to block all phone all calls (including skype) from India?

I am considering purchasing Trucall to cut down on these calls, but it is quite expensive. I don't think it works well when you have multiple phones on extensions (as the other phones will ring while the main phone is trying to filter the calls).

Any other suggestions?

I am not interested in playing games with them - I just tell them we are not interested and put the phone down, but we need the calls to stop!

Elainemary

I blame my husband for the cold calling. We're TPS and Ex Directory so when someone rang doing a " survey " I said " Don't do it. How did they get our number? Hang up. " I was ignored and he answered reams of questions. Ever since then we've had endless cold calls from abroad. I now pick up the phone, listen for background noise and hang up before they can say anything. When I spoke to them ( once ) they appeared to be British Gas trying to get us to change our supplier. Told them we were with BG anyway ( a lie ) and hung up on them. They still keep calling but my husband hasn't done a phone survey since!!