Great 'Best Cold Caller Rebukes' Hunt

Dr.Shoe_2

bestyman wrote: »

As soon as I answer my mobile to a cold caller I have lost 18 pence and a few minutes of my working day.

Then you need a better call package, it doesn't cost me a penny to receive calls at all.

Perhaps if you stopped being hostile to cold callers you might learn something to your advantage...

MothballsWallet

** WARNING: MothballsWallet has entered Rant mode - this mode may be hazardous to your health **

typos1 wrote: »

How about finding out whether theyre offering a good deal and then thanking them for their time and hangining up if they cant, or taking them up on it if they can?

No need for saying anythng stupid or flirting or saying nothing etc-that just makes the receiver of the call look stupid, unable to communicate properly and socially inept.

Sure, get annoyed if they lie or they keep calling back.

That's the problem - a lot of these companies keep calling back, even when asked not to, and that's a breach of TPS and Data Protection (section 11 I believe of the Data Protection Act) for failure to carry out a removal request.

typos1 wrote: »

This is THE worst thread I ve seen on Moneysaving expert, its out of place and should be deleted.

No it shouldn't - if you have a problem with the thread, report it to the abuse team and let them decide, that is what Martin (you know, the man who owns this site) wants us to do.

typos1 wrote: »

12 years ago it was cold callers who used to come round and sign people up for cheaper gas and electricity-that is something this site recommends-proof that a cold call can be of benefit at times.

You can do your own comparisons on several websites and internet access can be had for free/cheap at a library nowadays, so you can do your own research and not just rely on the doorsteppers/cold callers to claim that their company's cheaper, when it may not be.

typos1 wrote: »

Also a lot of market research is done by cold calling, how can you argue for better treatment of consumers whilst at the same time encouraging people to be rude and childish to the people who are paid to do this research and find out what it is consumers want?

I am at home, this is my time, not the cold callers'. If I get interrupted, and it's not by someone I know and would want to talk to anyway, then I've got every right to get annoyed.

typos1 wrote: »

Hypocritical, remove the thread and concentrate on something worth while.

In case you hadn't noticed, this is the Vent board on the forum - people are allowed to come here and I don't know, what's that word again? Oh yes, vent about stuff that annoys them.

typos1 wrote: »

If people are unable to use the English language to articulate properly, they really shouldnt be using this site or left in charge of a telephone.

By "people" do you mean the cold callers or the rest of us mere mortals?

I have a phone to keep in touch with friends and family, and also for my broadband as I don't want Virgin Media (I am going from personal experience dealing with them, which is a tale for a different thread), not to be called out of the blue by someone who wants to sell me something, persuade me to give to some charity (which probably manages to pay its chief exec a 6-figure salary) or market research into things I'm not interested in.

** Left Rant mode **

bestyman

Dr.Shoe wrote: »

Then you need a better call package, it doesn't cost me a penny to receive calls at all.

Perhaps if you stopped being hostile to cold callers you might learn something to your advantage...

What could I possibly learn from a cold caller?
I suppose I could learn what its like to be disliked by the vast majority of the population.
Why take a low paid job that involes commiting crime, if you want to be a criminal then so be it, but at least make it worth your while.
Perhaps I could learn why its OK to call and disturb over 200 people who have clearly stated that they do not want calling just so that one sale can be made.
Could I learn why its OK to use illegal pre recorded messages and silent dialers.
I would also like to learn if cold callers commit other crimes or is it soley limited to breaching telecommunication laws for some bizarre reason?

Cold callers abuse the telephone system just in the same way that perverts abuse it , I treat them both in exactly the same way - lawbreakers that should be before a court.
I'm bored of reading on this thread that its a JOB, it is not a job it is a CRIME.

These callers are having a detrimental effect on my business. I miss real calls, have to stop work and answer the phone up to 10 times a day. I used to pay a company to answer my phone but has to stop as the cold callers were costing me up to £12 a day. Forgetting the divert charges the cost of my time runs into hundreds, if not thousands of pounds a year. Would you be happy if I took up 4 hours of your time every month ?

I am not a hostile person, I also get many calls a day from people asking for employment, this is annoying , but I am helpfull and polite to these callers - the difference is that they are not breaking the law. Are you suggesting that I should be polite to all criminals or just criminals breaking telecomunication laws?

What cold callers need to learn is that phoning people who are TPS registered is both morally and legally wrong. Please consider others.

Annie_Other

I find junk mail as annoying as cold calling, filling my recycle bin etc. A friend of mine said she would wrap up a house brick and stick on their return address envelope/post card and pop it back in the post. Has anyone done anything similar?

:beer::beer::beer::beer::beer::beer::beer::beer:

lindos90

Annie_Other wrote: »

I find junk mail as annoying as cold calling, filling my recycle bin etc. A friend of mine said she would wrap up a house brick and stick on their return address envelope/post card and pop it back in the post. Has anyone done anything similar?

:beer::beer::beer::beer::beer::beer::beer::beer:

My mum sometimes saves them and then swaps the leaflets around and posts them back in the prepaid envelopes.

She also has a stamp that she puts on the return slips that says something like 'I dont live here anymore, Ive moved to Jamaica, so no thank you, I dont need double glazing, a conservatory or a better deal on my gas bill...'

redglass_2

I listened to a friend respond to a cold caller. She asked a number of questions, sounding interested, and then said, 'Well, it certainly seems very good, and at an excellent price....the thing is...I can't be *rsed.' She then put down the phone.

I haven't read all contributions to this thread, but some MSE-rs seem to feel that the rest of us are a bit hard on cold callers. My elderly parents were pestered by them for years and when my father was taken to hospital recently my mother was plagued by cold calls at times when she was nervously waiting for the hospital to call. Now she is a widow, trying to deal with all the bureaucracy that comes with a death and yes, the bl**dy cold calls continue! BRITISH G*S is a prime offender. If they could hear what my mother calls them they'd realise they are wasting their time as well as their customers' money. Thanks to their pestering habits they are now the LAST energy company she would pick.

prowla

The best one in my armoury is when I say I'm not interested and they ask "do you mind if I ask you why?", to which I say "yes." and wait...

redglass_2

savemoney wrote: »

TPS is no good if the companies are based abroad or they ignore it, or ignore the customers request
I have been plagued by them in last 4 months with cold calling all from businesses I use who I have also told them previously ages ago to stop
These are

1. British Gas
2. BT
3. Talk talk who used my details which they got from another company they owned Onetel

Oh, and I could add that BT have sent me junk mail for years now despite my calling/writing numerous times telling them I am never 'coming back'. They always say they will take me off their lists but they obviously do nothing of the sort, so I've given up contacting them and just burn their cr*p without opening it. They must be incredibly stupid to carry on like this, when their behaviour just convinces me that they are a) rude b) pigheaded and c) wasting huge amounts of customers' money.

theloft

[QUOTE=_Perhaps_if_you_stopped_being_hostile_to_cold_callers_you_might_learn_something_to_your_advantage...[/QUOTE]

What absolute c**p !! Give me one instance when a cold caller can give me information of benefit to me that I cannot find out for myself !! The only people that benefit from cold calls are the caller and their organisation.

skintsue

Annie_Other wrote: »

I find junk mail as annoying as cold calling, filling my recycle bin etc. A friend of mine said she would wrap up a house brick and stick on their return address envelope/post card and pop it back in the post. Has anyone done anything similar?

:beer::beer::beer::beer::beer::beer::beer::beer:
I put the covering paperwork through the shredder and pop it back into the pre paid envelope.
That way the contents all fall to the bottom and bulk it up so they have to pay an excess on the postage when it won't fit through the Post Office measure.

I only do this with the unsolicited mail telling me I could made £30k per week if I send £2k to them now for their limited offer on how to fleece bookmakers, beat the system at the casino, play the Stock Market etc.
If the deals are so good, and money is so easy to get, why tell me about it? If they are telling me out of the goodness of their heart, why not give me the info, not charge me?
I would not contemplate doing this to any charity letters, only those I consider dubious mail shots.

I've tried reporting some cold callers to TPS, but they want the company name and address, date and time of the call and what they were selling before they would take action.
How do you get those company details. As soon as I ask for them they hang up. Doing 1471 normally give a withheld number or a reduced one e.g. 1234 or when I have tried to call back it is either not recognised or unobtainable.
The worst are the silent ones as I was once phone stalked and it brings back all the fears, but my service provider (Talk Talk) says there is no way of tracing them, even if I keep a log of when they come in.