Nuisance calls from "Householder Surveys"

cagsd

Forgive me if this is in the wrong place (if so, could a board mod move it please?) but I am just after some advice on something that is really annoying me.

Over the past year or so, we've received calls from a withheld number, anything up to 3 times a week. Sometimes it's been silent, but many other times they've asked to speak to the homeowner and then announced themselves as Householder Surveys. Now at first my husband answered their questions just to get rid of them (realise now this was wrong, as it has just given them an excuse to keep ringing) but on at least 3 other occasions the callers have been downright abusive to my husband or to myself.

The last 6 times they have rung me, over the past couple of weeks, I've politely requested that they do not keep ringing - but to no avail, as obviously they DO keep ringing.
Today about an hour ago I answered yet another call from them, and upon hearing those famous words "can I speak to the homeowner" I immediately said, "I know you're calling from Householder Surveys and I've asked on many occasions that you do not keep ringing us" - to which the caller replied "yeah yeah blah blah whatever" and hung up on me.

Now OK they're not exactly doing any harm but it's a pain in the butt having to put up with this 2 or 3 times every week. I'm registered with TPS but as far as I understand it, that will only block sales calls, and as this company is doing "market research" it will not be blocked by TPS.

Is there ANYTHING I can do to stop them calling me?? I've googled the name of the company but all it seems to bring up is job adverts!!
Any help gratefully received, or even if anyone else has any experience to share it would be good to hear!
Thanks.

pauljrh

We have been getting calls for nearly 2 years, if you use the webcheck service (free of charge) from the Companies House website, you can get the registered office details. It will probably be a Solicitors or Accountants office, but I've sent them a letter today requesting that they remove our number from their system within 7 days, have also sent a copy to the company who they're calling for. I'd like to threaten them with a bill for wasting my time, but my Wife would rather we write 1st. I’ll update this post if I get a response.

cagsd

Thanks for that, I got an address from that site which I shall write to - no doubt they'll ignore it, just as they have all my requests on the phone, but at least I'll feel like I'm taking action against these pests!!!!

manutd99

cagsd wrote: »

I'm registered with TPS but as far as I understand it, that will only block sales calls, and as this company is doing "market research" it will not be blocked by TPS.

Is this true? i am registered with TPS and get these calls. Was considering registering with TPS again as was a few years ago. As if it is true wont bother signing up again and might find out who they are

cagsd

From TPS website:

The Telephone Preference Service (TPS) is a free service. It is the official central opt out register on which you can record your preference not to receive unsolicited sales or marketing calls.....

.....As TPS registration only prevents marketing calls, organisations will still be able to call you for the purposes of genuine market research.

MaryF

I am also being called continually by these people- the first time my other half answered the survey and we then received sales calls about mortgages, on asking them where they got our details from they said it was this survey company and they had our permission to call us- this isn't the case and the house hold survey co still keeps calling us. I asked them how they got our details and they said it didn't matter as they were taking a survey and it was not a sales call- I asked them for their address and phone number and they refused to give it. I intend to make complaint to Information Commissioner - neither company appears to have a data protection license or know what it is.

sackot

MaryF wrote: »

I am also being called continually by these people- the first time my other half answered the survey and we then received sales calls about mortgages, on asking them where they got our details from they said it was this survey company and they had our permission to call us- this isn't the case and the house hold survey co still keeps calling us. I asked them how they got our details and they said it didn't matter as they were taking a survey and it was not a sales call- I asked them for their address and phone number and they refused to give it. I intend to make complaint to Information Commissioner - neither company appears to have a data protection license or know what it is.

I've had the same problem but with a similar sounding company. They announce themselves as "Consumer Service Centre" and have a spiel about how they are not selling anything but want you to complete a short survey.

On at least half a dozen previous occasions, my attempts to ask for their contact details or to have my number removed from their database have either led to them endlessly repeating their programmed script or getting shirty and hanging up (if I didn't first).

Today, the caller was actually human, and told me that he was calling from Manilla, Philippines, and that according to him they do not have to conform to local regulations because they are an international company (?). However, he said he would get my number removed from their database... we shall see.

Stecz

I have previously worked for this company and I think all of you need to seriously think about this. Yeah, it's annoying for you, but it's soul-destroying working there. Everyone who worked there when I was were some of the nicest people I've worked with. Everyone's friendly and human. It's precisely this reason we might next seem less than thrilled when you get the dreaded call. You spend your entire day getting abused by people over the phone, insulting you and what have you. You tend to get a little sick of it. We got our information from when you sign up for free things, more than likely. When you tick the 'I agree to the terms and conditions' box, there's probably a condition in there that says they can sell things to third-parties, such as ourselves, so if you don't want these calls, read terms and conditions.

In future, be nice to tele-canvassers. It's a rubbish job done by nice people.

macman

Tele-canvasssers? So it's not a 'survey' company at all, it's a marketing company, and as such it comes under the jurisdiction of TPS, if the calls originate in the UK.

Cooler

I've registered. I still get silent calls, although these days if I don't recognise the CLI or it is withheld I'm as likely to just lift the receiver and drop it again,so I can eat my lunch/tea in peace. That said, think yourself lucky, it seems BT will use a machine to not only ring you but then spout stuff at you until you realise, slam the receiver down, and turn the air blue. I didn't think that was even legal.

spike7451

Stecz wrote: »

I have previously worked for this company and I think all of you need to seriously think about this. Yeah, it's annoying for you, but it's soul-destroying working there. Everyone who worked there when I was were some of the nicest people I've worked with. Everyone's friendly and human. It's precisely this reason we might next seem less than thrilled when you get the dreaded call. You spend your entire day getting abused by people over the phone, insulting you and what have you. You tend to get a little sick of it. We got our information from when you sign up for free things, more than likely. When you tick the 'I agree to the terms and conditions' box, there's probably a condition in there that says they can sell things to third-parties, such as ourselves, so if you don't want these calls, read terms and conditions.

In future, be nice to tele-canvassers. It's a rubbish job done by nice people.

You should try getting up to TWENTY calls to your landline & mobile as well as text messages per DAY & then say that! Which is what I have been getting,mostly on a Monday & Tuesday,since I requested my Experian credit report!!
That is despite me being TPS registered & I have,at last count,NINE complaints registered with them!
I currently have 14 text's in my inbox from the past two weeks alone!