TPS - Has anyone had real success with it?

Mrs_Arcanum

Some of the calls are government (non sales) information/marketing request calls. The people making the calls are obliged to do so as part of their job but the calls fall outside the rules for TPS. Same as calls from overseas which TPS cannot control.

Perhaps it helps not to have a BT based phone number (been with Virgin & All its previous versions) and since registering with TPS have not had any unsolicited UK based sales calls.

justpeyton4now

I usually do not have a problem with UK based sales calls. The couple I did receive, I simply asked them to take my number off their database. The ones that were driving me mad were from international sales call centres. I was getting a minimum of 2 calls daily from them. TPS has no authority over international call centres.

However after receiving the 4th call in one morning from the same company who were obviously not UK based, I got rather fed up. I simply told them that was the 4th call that day, that I had requested my number be removed immediately from their database. I then informed the caller that if I was ever called again, I would have my solicitor file legal action against the company and the caller personally.

Yes, it was a bluff, but it was a bluff that worked. No calls in over 2 months from any international call centres. I don't know if I just got lucky and scared the one call rep or what. Just grateful it seems to have worked.

crazyguy

TPS & ICO are both basicaly rubbish unless they have countless complaints about one Company then little will be done, your best bet here with regards to UK call centres only is to gather as much information from them as to who they are and where they are based and once you sufficiant details on them then go back and state that if they do not remove your number you will bring a Legal Claim upon there Company this is by far the best way I have found to deal with these people as they are more worried about a legal case than they are about a letter from either the ICO or TPS saying please behave.

moonrakerz

davidlizard wrote: »

The TPS is toothless - and the telemarketers know this.

These days I use an answerphone to screen out unwanted sales calls.

This response succinctly summarises the whole problem..................

I too, use an answerphone - cold calls, no problem !!

cathh70

Mrs_Arcanum wrote: »

Some of the calls are government (non sales) information/marketing request calls. The people making the calls are obliged to do so as part of their job but the calls fall outside the rules for TPS. Same as calls from overseas which TPS cannot control.

Perhaps it helps not to have a BT based phone number (been with Virgin & All its previous versions) and since registering with TPS have not had any unsolicited UK based sales calls.

I had a BT line for years and had few unsolicited calls. Transferred my BT no to Virgin 6 months ago and am now getting several a week. I have been TPS registered throughout.

molerat

Telling them to !!!! off usually stops them.

Azari

I registered with the TPS several years ago and it reduced the rate of unwanted calls from around 2-3 a week to 2-3 a year.

I think a lot of companies do honour the TPS no call lists but there are a lot of rogues - and, of course, these are the people most likely to sell your number on to other rogues - and if you get on a list that is used by such companies you'll find the TPS less effective.

dizziblonde

I was registered wtih them - it did nothing because a previous owner of the number was on all their calling databases so when I politely asked them to not call and advised them we were TPS registered they just would turn around and say that someone had consented for the number to be called so they weren't going to do it. TPS were useless at their end as well. This was on Virgin whom I'm guessing had given me a very very dirty number that someone must have ticked every "please contact me with crap" box going.

Call-screening with answerphones is all well and good, as is caller ID and not answering withheld numbers - but when you have a work agency that calls from witheld numbers and doesn't tend to leave answerphone messages but moves on to offer the work to the next number - it's not really a viable workaround for everyone.

oldagetraveller

molerat beat me to it but I've found a swift "Foxtrot Oscar" works wonders! Then don't hang up but immediately place the 'phone out of earshot for a few minutes.

ConsumerWarrior

Ive been registered with TPS right from the start of the scheme but still get loads of cold calls, I report each one using the TPS web-site but mostly the response from TPS is unable to action anything, recently got loads of sales calls from BT, (I'm using TalkTalk), I asked them to stop and said I was registered with TPS, they checked and said I was not completely registered what ever that means.They also tried to sell me a caller display extra, (they dont miss a chance), but I told them that I dont have a CD phone and cant afford one. I contacted TPS and they verified that I was fully registered and had been one of their longest served members.
Today I get a cold call from EON, (energy) trying to sell a deal, I said I was on TPS but she just said, "Oh, we don't check their database, we are just trying to help you".
Thats kind of them...