Help us please to stop harrassing calls from energy savers [Merged]

kellyk_3

You'd think so, I guess the problem is proving it.

Nessynoo

If you know a couple of random sentences in another laguage, try that. I bit of GCSE German often does the trick for me.

zippy76

At least I am not the only one having trouble with these people. I have been called 2-3 times a day now for the past 3 months...we have tried hanging up, answering nonsense, telling them we are registered with the TPS (which we are), we have asked to be removed from their lists to be told that there is no way of doing that, I have told them it is a breach of data protection and they just ignored me. I asked for contact details and they said they were based in Regent Street, London, they would not provide anything else, tey say they have no telephone number, e-mail address or website and I cannot speak to a supervisor as it is a very big office and they are up on the 5th floor and very busy.
I was even told the other day that they will keep calling until we answer and that I should just stop being stubborn and tell them, its niot like they are asking me for my religion!!!
They are driving me mad to the point that I ndread answering the phone..there just doesn't seem anyway to stop them apart from telling them what they want to know...I just don't want to be forced to do this!:mad:

kitekat

zippy76 wrote: »

At least I am not the only one having trouble with these people. I have been called 2-3 times a day now for the past 3 months...we have tried hanging up, answering nonsense, telling them we are registered with the TPS (which we are), we have asked to be removed from their lists to be told that there is no way of doing that, I have told them it is a breach of data protection and they just ignored me. I asked for contact details and they said they were based in Regent Street, London, they would not provide anything else, tey say they have no telephone number, e-mail address or website and I cannot speak to a supervisor as it is a very big office and they are up on the 5th floor and very busy.
I was even told the other day that they will keep calling until we answer and that I should just stop being stubborn and tell them, its niot like they are asking me for my religion!!!
They are driving me mad to the point that I ndread answering the phone..there just doesn't seem anyway to stop them apart from telling them what they want to know...I just don't want to be forced to do this!:mad:

When you answer and its them lay the receiver down next to the phone,go away do some housework,shopping etc leaving them hanging on and their phone bills mounting they will soon get the message.Keep dong this till they stop.

zippy76

you would think this would be the case but for a laugh my husband yesterday told them he was conducting a survey into sexuallity in the UK and asked if the operative was homosexual.....the call centre man stayed on the phone for 30 minutes with my husband asking him very personal questions. i could not believe he didn't hang up. From now on whenever we know its them my husband is going to thank them for calling and say he had been meaning to call them as he needs to ask questions for the UK sexuality survey, he also plans to tell them that as it is a national survey so that they are obliged to answer his questions and that he will not stop asking until they have given him an answer...I am sure my husband will get bored of this very soon!

xHx_2

Forgive me as i have not readthe entire thread, but this company sound identical to 'UK Surveys' who go under many names. I have posted on other threads about them as i am forever getting annoying, rude and threatening calls.
The other day they told me (similar to above) that i should answer their questions as they will keep ringing until i do. They told me they could not remove our phone number due to their own 'terms and conditions'. As i have never signed up to or agreed to any terms and conditions, how on earth is this possible?!

They do enrage me so!

x

The_Pedant

Hmm if they're arguing with the children, is it worth calling your phone company & say they're distressing the kids?

Wondering if they might be able to put a block on the number for you, or to advise better on it.

Also wondering if Ofgen might be able to advise at all? Could be linked to possible mis-selling, would *may* fall under their remit, especially if being pushy.

littlewillie

Hi, Ive just had another week of either silent calls or "hello, hello, hello" numpties.
After dialing 1471, I was told that "you've been called today by 0000".
It turns out to be LCM Marketing that call representing many companies.
I tried to include a link for authenticity but, as a new user, it was rejected.

LBM: Background



Many UK mobile phone and landline subscribers have reported nuisance phone calls from the following numbers:

• 08000641081 (0800 0641081)
• 08000641087 (0800 0641087) [LBM masquerading as "O2"]
• 08000641699 (0800 0641699)[LBM masquerading as "Business Solutions from the Carphone Warehouse"]
• 08000649955 (0800 0649955) [LBM masquerading as "American Life"]
• 08000510660 (0800 0510660)
• 08000136662 (0800 0136662)
• 08000136670 (0800 0136670) [LBM masquerading as "Sky"]
• 08000136671 (0800 0136671) [LBM masquerading as "O2"]
• 08000136672 (0800 0136672) [LBM masquerading as "Business Solutions from the Carphone Warehouse"]
• 08000136673 (0800 0136673) [LBM masquerading as "Alliance and Leicester Bank"]
• 08000136674 (0800 0136674) [LBM masquerading as "American Life"]
• 08000136675 (0800 0136675)
• 08009524854 (0800 9524854) [LBM masquerading as "Orange"] (new)
• 02070549003 (0207 0549003)
• 01616032400 (0161 603 2400)
• 01612178400 (0161 217 8400)
• 01616030000 (0161 603 0000)

The characteristics of these calls is that the phone rings a few times and then stops, or the line goes dead when the person receiving the call picks up. Several calls can be received over the course of a few days.
If you dial one of the number back you get the following message: Welcome and thank you for you call. Today you have been contacted by LBM on behalf of one of our clients. If you do wish to receive a follow up call, no further action is required. If you do not wish to receive a follow up call, please call our lo-call number. The call will be charged at the same rate as a local call. Please have a pen and paper ready to take the number. The number is 0845 0454455. Thank you. Goodbye.
If you dial the 0845 045 4455 number then you are invited to enter your mobile phone number in order to unsubscribe.
The sting is that LBM have just charged you for making the call the the 08450454455 number. It is even possible for companies to make money from 0845 numbers. Why should you have to pay to opt out of these nuisance phone calls?
Update 13/10/06: After three-and-a-half months of complaints generated by visitors to this site, LBM have finally started to use an 0800 freephone number so that you can "opt out" of their spam calls: 08000 136675 [08000136675].. but it's only free if you call from a landline, not a mobile phone!


Update 19/4/07: according to the DMA (LBM's trade body) they got their wrists slapped back in February 2007 after a number of complaints:

• Following a number of complaints relating to silent calls and the cost to the consumer to unsubscribe from receiving unwanted calls, members of the Authority Panel met with LBM in January this year. The Panel were concerned about the level of complaints and also considered LBM to have breached the Code of Practice on Clause 21.27 which states that consumers must be given details of a no charge number that the recipient can contact so that they have possibility of declining further calls. The Panel has, however, noted that LBM has rectified its breach and has changed the 0845 call suppression number to an 0800 free number. The Panel has asked for additional information to be sent to them for further consideration, including their compliance dialler report, OFCOM and DMA compliance training module and hourly drop rate report.

LBM is a real company, based in Cheshire. They claim to have many prestigious clients, so it is perhaps rather a surprise to find them acting in such a sleazy manner. In fact, LBM posted a loss in 2005 of £419,592 so perhaps this new technique is an act of desperation to try to balance the books, and as of 27/7/08 their accounts are two months overdue. Is there trouble brewing at LBM?
There is substantial evidence to indicate that LBM do not honour the Telephone Preference Service (TPS) opt-out service and call TPS subscribers anyway.
When you are called by LBM (from one of their 4 call centres), you will be talking to somebody who will claim to work for Sky, O2 or another client. When pressed, they will deny that they work for LBM, despite the fact that they turn up for work at an LBM Call Centre. Data either comes from the client or is "bought in" from another source - LBM claim to check the data with TPS, but people have emailed us to say that they have been called on TPS registered numbers regardless.

MothballsWallet

And of course, LBM are still carrying the myth about local call rates still existing: as Heinz will tell you over on the Phones board, they don't, not since 2001 (I think).

Why aren't companies being fined for misleading people like this? Oh, wait, I know why: because this is Britain, it earns the telephone companies money, and therefore the government more money.

Sakura_Yuki

jenny2009 wrote: »

Answer phone, find out who it is, if you don't want to talk to them, hang up.

How difficult is that?

Yes, but it's the annoyance with these things (imagine that you're in the bath or trying to sleep when these calls come through). We periodically get spammed with calls from an automated message, despite being with TPS.

Sometimes it will leave it a few days before bothering you, other times it will ring literally non-stop, until the only solution is to yank the phone out of the socket (anyone else had this?).

It is extremely stressful, happens at all times of the day (& night) & effectively means that we can't use our own phoneline for half a day, until the thing gives up & effs off. :mad: