Recorded message from Halifax - Cold Call

OldForest

I answered the phone today to a recorded message asking if I was my husband and if so to press a button. We have had a lot of cold calls for debt relief which we are trying to stop, so at first I thought it was one of those, so I pressed one. Then the recorded message continued, saying it was about my halifax account. Can they do that? It's a different thing having a person call you, where they can have responsibility about any questions they ask, but a recorded message can be answered by anybody, no? I waited, randomly pressing numbers, until an operator replied, and I askes her why call our landline number where any person possibly staying here, or working on a job, or family, could reply?
She said that apart from my husband nobody else would be able to answer the security questions, but isn't the very fact that they are letting me know he has a halifax account a breach of personal data? I asked to talk to her manager but they were all in meetings.
Isn't this worst than a cold call?

VIGILANT22

Your husband must have given the Halifax this number as a point of contact...as they said "apart from my husband nobody else would be able to answer the security questions".....he would also have set the security questions.......so what is the big deal?

OldForest

thank you vigilant. The big deal is we're already inundated with "you've won a cruise" or "you've got a chance to break free from debt" recorded messages that we can't stop. I hate cold calling, recorded messages particularly so, and now if we get them from banks it seems even worse somehow. Can they not bother to have a person call? Especially if it's a matter of security.

dizziblonde

Knowing the level of the Halifax security questions - it's a fair bet that if my mum or husband picked up the phone they'd be able to answer 99% of them to be honest (it's one of the things that concerns me slightly about their online banking security).

OH works for a big company and he was saying that there's a big drive to move away from humans having to call OUT to customers at all in his line of work - they're really pushing their text message facility to prompt people to call IN to them. As someone who hates being bugged on my mobile (I use it for work so have to jump to when it goes off) - that idea drives me nuts... but it's the way of the world I guess... heck even my local library's tried to replace the library staff with machines (every time I go in I have the wonderful mental image of a robot librarian going nuts and running amok with a date stamp)... sigh.

I hate loathe and despise automated phonecalls anyway so I'm with you.

OldForest

I like the idea of the robot librarian going nuts! Some much needed drama in the library... that will get the readers back.

VIGILANT22

OldForest wrote: »

thank you vigilant. The big deal is we're already inundated with "you've won a cruise" or "you've got a chance to break free from debt" recorded messages that we can't stop. I hate cold calling, recorded messages particularly so, and now if we get them from banks it seems even worse somehow. Can they not bother to have a person call? Especially if it's a matter of security.

He shouldn't have given that number then as a point of contact...he could easily have asked to be contacted on his mobile...........

Robert_Hopkins

If it is a question of Marketing complain to Halifax directly and ask that you do not wish to be included in marketing.

Mikeyorks

Halifax use automated calls for security purposes ..... rather than inflict their customers with a card reader. I'm all for that.

http://www.halifax.co.uk/onlinebankinghelp/numbercollect.asp?!!!!!HC4

If you don't want a call to your landline - then remove it from the data they hold. But as the last 'cold call' we had from a Bank was to ask my wife if she'd just used her credit card for a £400 transaction at Hugo Boss .... (she hadn't) ..... sometimes it's better to field the call?