MSE News: Ofcom to tackle nuisance calls

savemoney

Too little too late. I ended up getting truecall 3 years ago to stop these rogue companies. 100% effective I still get calls according to online service but blocked before phone rings so I never know until I check online

molerat

TPS does have a fairly positive impact. As the industry cannot be trusted how about making TPS an opt out rather than an opt in.

wantmemoney

molerat wrote:

TPS does have a fairly positive impact.

could you please point us to the data figures that backs up your claim.

do you know how the 'TPS' works?

Jockinafrock

All very well for the regulator to tackle UK calls - but the majority I receive (and many others) are from overseas call centres. Last time I rasied this there was nothing that OFCOM could do about them!

Midnighter

wantmemoney wrote: »

could you please point us to the data figures that backs up your claim.

do you know how the 'TPS' works?

Not very well if personal experience is anything to go by. We signed up a couple of years ago and it's had no effect on the number of 'sales' calls we receive.

wantmemoney

Jockinafrock wrote:

All very well for the regulator to tackle UK calls - but the majority I receive[ (and many others) are from overseas call centres

where are you people finding the data to justify this claim

http://stakeholders.ofcom.org.uk/binaries/consultations/silentcalls/annexes/FINALAnnex6MottMacDonald.pdf

Mott MacDonald found the Ofcom Advisory Team’s (OAT) complaints data to be a good source of information on the drivers and characteristics of silent calls complaints. 83% of complaints
related to the receipt of multiple calls, and it was clear that many consumers had received repeated silent calls for a sustained period of time. The majority of the companies responsible for the silent calls were found to be financial services organisations. Whilst the chasing of debt was a small factor in generating repeated calls – and there is some evidence that a few companies are knowingly using silent calls as a tactic to put pressure on consumers – the majority of the calls appeared to be a side-effect of attempts to market financial products of various types. A number of telcos were also high up the list of perpetrators.

Mott MacDonald found little evidence to back up claims that overseas organisations or entities are responsible for generating significant volumes of silent calls. Whilst consumers did occasionally identify or speculate that overseas entities lay behind the calls, there were a far greater number of cases in which the consumers were clear of the identity of the perpetrator and that it was UK based. Mott MacDonald saw no evidence to suggest that the (often very wellknown) UK companies identified are the tip of a hidden overseas iceberg. This viewpoint was consistent with most of the external sources consulted

JimmyTheWig

That's interesting, wantmemoney. Definitely not my experience.

But then we are with TPS. So we generally don't get any cold calls (silent, recorded or "genuine") from the UK.

[Or maybe that people know that there is no point in reporting the international calls?]

Caddyman

I will reiterate the point too about TPS seemingly being very effective at stopping UK originated marketing calls. The international callers it is known they cannot be stopped unless you invest in something like Truecall or other call blocking device. I'm not in the mood for spending a load of money doing that when I can just pull the plug from the master socket. If a call is important the caller will leave a message. Telemarketers rarely do.

vikingaero

This year I decided to be much more proactive in dealing with nuisance calls.

(1) If I don't have the number saved in the memory then I ignore the call.
(2) I google the number to find out who it is and save the name with PPI Scammers DNA (DNA = Do Not Answer)
(3) I call them and ask to be removed from their database.
(4) If they call again I call them back 10 times for every call they make to me (I have unlimited minutes to a landline and make sure I do not call 070 or premium rate numbers). I do this whilst doing other things/work - dial, mute let it ring, get on with my work, let them answer. When the same operator answers your call 4 or 5 times in a row then they know you mean business. On the final call I actually speak to them and tell them it's their choice.

Seems to have cut down the calls by 90%.

Butterfly_Brain

They should investigate BT ....3 calls in 24 hours trying to flog their overpriced broadband, British gas monthly calls (In fact I had a call from them twice within an hour last week) trying to flog boiler cover that is a complete con, PPI claim companies, ambulance chaser legal vultures etc etc. They should also be able to block all foreign based call centres at source if there have been complaints.
But Ofcom are toothless the same as all the other so called watchdogs