Great 'Best Cold Caller Rebukes' Hunt

magicmat

I get LOADS at work too! Whoever calls, I tell them that my wife owns a company selling whatever they are selling (conservatories, new windows, Stationary) , so have no requirements. That way, my details will most likely be set to a very low interest level, and no more calls! Playing games probebly won't achieve that!

Skintslimmer

wurley wrote: »

Never use your home number when buying off line (or any other time really)

Use your mobile number if you must give a contact number - this will cost the marketing companies so they don't bother cold calling.

Register with TPS.

:beer:

A friend ordered something off line and gave her home phone number. It was passed on to a marketing company - she averages 5 calls a day from debt agencies, finance and mobile phone companies :eek:

Most of these companies don't subscribe to TPS, so your up the creek if they get hold of your home number. :mad:

http://www.xs4all.nl/~egbg/counterscript.html

This is funny so use this link if your one of the 'Up-the-creek' people

I order online all the time, and don't get calls on my home phone. Order from reputable companies, register with TPS (Its illegal for a UK company not to check TPS before calling you) and make sure you religiously check for the little tick box that says something along the lines of "we may contact you or pass your details on to third parties". Be careful, some word it in a devious way and you might have to leave it UNticked to avoid the calls. If in doubt give a false number (make sure you're not going to innundate somebody else with the cold calls instead though - I sometimes use the website's own phone number ) and if a survey/competition etc doesn't have a box to opt-out, or doesn't give you the option to opt-in, think twice about entering it.

Its now illegal to add somebody to a mailing list without giving them the option. Not sure about phone lists.

acornvat

We just leave the answer phone on. We have call recognition, so when the phone rings from friends/family, there's a different tone, so we answer those only. However, sales calls have been significantly fewer since we signed up to the call preference service.

jazza77

My m-i-l lives with us and occasionally we get calls for my (long time deceased - 25 yrs) f-i-l. A simple answer of 'Sorry he's dead' is usually sufficient lol:rotfl:

ifan.goch

waddelldj wrote: »

Sometimes I am asked security questions by callers from the bank, etc. Eg DoB, or the first line of my address. I parry with "What is your DoB" or "What is my post code, before I tell you the rest of my address." It doesn't seem reasonable for someone to ask me personal security questions if I can't ask a few of my own. It is my personal information after all.

My husband was called by the bank and asked a number of security questions. Eventually he asked them prove that they were from the bank by giving him some information that only the bank and he would know. They said they were not allowed so he said that he would not give them any more information. They gave him a freephone number to their security dept for him to call back. It was lucky he did as he was about to be defrauded of several thousand pounds.

wildthing01

i'm afraid with a young baby and toddler to look after, i'm just too busy usually to play games with them - although i wish i wasn't!!! as soon as they say 'is that Mrs W?', i ask if it's a sales call, and if they say yes, i just give a short sharp 'not interested thanks' and hang up before they have a chance to launch their spiel.

i don't mind the phone calls so much, it's the door-knockers - they're so thick-skinned - i had one once knock when i was painting the lounge, baby asleep upstairs - i answered door with wet paintbrush in hand, in my painting clothes, and what's more, the baby had just started crying (woken up by their ridiculously loud knock), very obviously i was busy, and they paid no attention to all that -just started with their spiel. i told them it wasn't a good time and shut the door in their face.

fedupfreda

I generally don't answer the landline anyway - I let people leave messages then can call them back if necessary. That way my details eventually drop off the marketing lists (I've had the number for 20 years + so it will be out there somewhere). Anyone who has to get hold of me uses my mobile number - and I never give my mobile number to any company - so it never gets on a database to be sold on to Uncle Tom Cobley an' all.

ifan.goch

My daughter used to love answering the phone when she was a child, so we told her that we didn't want to speak to anyone who didn't know our names or couldn't pronounce them correctly. Some of her replies were very inventive:

"Sorry, my Mum/Dad's in prison for GBH"

To one poor caller all she would say was "the white dog howls at midnight" in her best spy voice.

Another tactic was to only speak Welsh.

To doorstep window salesmen she always said "thanks we've got windows already" while pointing at them as if they haven't noticed.

iabw12

Does anyone know how to deal with "computers" calling (usually with a USA accent). I'm being plagued with this type of call at home and even at work, which is surprising as I work in a large hospital and they're obviously dialling the direct number. There's no way to talk to the caller, as it's automated. Yes, I simply put the phone down, but it's still really annoying :mad:

wiggers

I'm with TPS so any cold-callers that ignore that deserve a bit of abuse. I have three strategies:

1. When they ask if that is Mr X (having just aswered the phone with my name!) I say, "Hang on, I'll see if I can find him." and just rest the phone down until they hang up.
2. Answer 'Yes' to every question, including ones without a yes/no response.
3. Variation on 2, answer every question with another question. (Takes a bit more effort!)