They call me and ask me to confirm my name

tru

If a call centre rings you and asks you to confirm your name, postcode and DOB what do you do? I've just had a call from BLS Collections (I'm paying off a LLoyd's TSB debt through them), they asked for details before they would tell me why they were ringing. Then they said they'd put me through to my account manager Then they put me on hold so I put the phone down. Bloody cheek.
It was definitely BLS so I'm not worried about that. But they rang me, not the other way round so why do I have to confirm anything?

1jim

I would polietly say that you dont want to disclose personal details over the phone due to the risk of identity theft/fraud. Ask them to confirm details about the debt/etc that only you and them would know (they are not usually allowed to do that) when that fails ask them to put in writing what they wanted to discuss with you
I would only do this if you really dont want to talk to them and are sure that its not going to cause a problem with the debt etc

This works a treat for all cold calls from the bank and other financial organisations

Jim

Bennifred

troo, how do you know it was definitely who they said it was? I agree with 1jim, you shouldn't be asked for those details if you didn't ring them - it could be anyone asking :eek:

tru

I knew it was them because (and I hope I don't get shot for this lol) it was a foreign call centre, the woman obviously didn't know what she was doing because she gave me some details about me first :rotfl:

Luis

troo wrote:

If a call centre rings you and asks you to confirm your name, postcode and DOB what do you do?

What I did was refuse to talk to them, and then I rang up the company concerned (BT) and played hell about security etc. Never happened again!

Sarahsaver

I had a call like that from natwest. I refused to tell them. I asked them to confirm who THEY were.

miss_lisalou

I had a call like that last week from Texaco card regarding a direct debit they'd set up incorrectly. The guy rang and asked me to confirm my DOB, my mother's maiden name etc. I simply said I wasn't comfortable giving this info without knowing he definitely WAS from Texaco and said I would call them back.

Luckily it's a freephone number, but would be a pain if I then had to pay for the call. It's true, it's a darned cheek but I guess they have their own checklists to ensure they're talking to the right person

Savvy_Sue

miss_lisalou wrote:

It's true, it's a darned cheek but I guess they have their own checklists to ensure they're talking to the right person

I agree that they have to have some way of checking it's you and not your wicked stepmother on the line. The darned cheek is to then put you on hold! Even if they are paying for the call, I think that's rude. If someone wants to talk to you, they should be on the line.

trickytrolleys

I always refuse these types of calls (normally just to annoy them) and ask they put things in writing!! They dont like it but what can they do!!!!!! Ha ha

miss_lisalou

Good idea, but when they're genuinely phoning you out of courtesy (rarely happens, I accept), what more can you do?

vinnieboy

I had a call the other week from a Internation call centre for some company offering me cheaper rates than BT. I told her, that i did not have a telephone, that threw her! I hung up