What should we confirm over the phone when THEY call us?

ellersb

I've always been a bit sketchy about this kind of info. For example, had a call from Santander offering 3 months emergency home cover for £1 (as we have our mortgage and insurance with them), but turned out that we can't do it anyway as our boiler is too old!

However, before we got into the call, I was asked to confirm (i.e. tell them) my dob and house number and postcode.

At what point do I say to people, no, you called me, on my number, obviously it's me, what do you want?

mrcow

Don't tell anyone anything if you don't 100% know who they are. I always tell them to put it in writing and put the phone down.

robpw2

if they say is that mr pirie-warsop i will tell them yes ... but then thats it i give no other infomation out .. i have had some really rude people try to demand i give it to them but i always say do you have a number i can call back on or if not they have to put it in writing .. if however they get my name wrong i tend to just hang up !!

erdd2

ellersb wrote: »

At what point do I say to people, no, you called me, on my number, obviously it's me, what do you want?

At the outset...they called you!

ellersb

I normally am convinced it's the right company (although I had one from talktalk, who we're with, that sounded a bit dodge so I declined to go ahead with the offer) but they whole 'please confirm your details' etc annoys me. You've phoned me!!! And I used to work in a call centre, but always tried my hardest to get out of outbound calls so don't remember what we had to ask

robpw2

ellersb wrote: »

I normally am convinced it's the right company

even if your convinced ... something could be amiss ..if they need to tell you something important they will put it in writing

wearside_2

I attempt to take these kind of calls through my security. What is the first letter, third letter etc of my Password. This usually prompts a reply saying that I cannot do this. I then tell them that I have no idea who they are so will not divulge anything. The standard response is that I should then phone Customer Services to confirm that the call is genuine. My final response is that if I wanted anything I would phone THEM. I then put the phone down! Up to now I have heard nothing further so I do not know if the calls were genuine or not!

peter_the_piper

If they've got your number they have your address so why ask?

lincroft1710

So your brother comes round and says let's go out, so you get in the shower and phone rings, " Can you answer that please?" you shout. Brother answers and it's your bank, and of course your brother is Mr X just the same as you, and he knows your date of birth, address etc. Bank's "security check" is therefore useless!

paddyrg

Ask them to prove they have your customer records in front of them - for instance, what is your overdraft limit, what year did you open the account, what phone tarriff are you on and which handset did they send you? If you're still unsure, then say 'I will call the number on the back of my credit/debit card/off the (main, not one they give you) website, what name should i ask for?'

If they cannot prove who they are, refuse to answer. Honest call centres appreciate this, so LloydsTSB or T-Mobile fully understand this and know it makes sense for both parties to feel reassured.

pitkin2020

The checks are pointless anyway as if it anything serious they will write to you and ask you to contact them. Unless of course its talk talk, when I wasn't home (the account holder) they needed some information and asked my partner for the security check details so they could discuss it with her, obviously she wasn't aware of my password as it was my account but they kindly told her what the password was so they could talk to her.