MSE News: Nuisance calls: TalkTalk to block numbers as MPs demand action

Former_MSE_Helen

"TalkTalk home phone customers will have more power to stop nuisance and scam calls, including those from overseas..."

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Nuisance calls: TalkTalk to block numbers as MPs demand action




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Steve059

I've just had a call from 0207 059 8951. I didn't answer it, as I now don't answer any calls from anonymous, withheld or unrecognised numbers.

However, a little bit of online research revealed it to be a sub-contractor of, of all people, TalkTalk, selling account add-ons.

TT are my telephone & broadband provider, but my marketing preferences have always been set to no calls from TT or third parties.

I've e-mailed them. I will keep a better note of any further calls. I suppose that I will have to start answering them to note what, if anything, is said.

It would be ironic if they have to block one of their own numbers.

Jemma-T

Hmmm, sounds like a bit of window dressing.

I like a lot of TT's services but not sure why customers should need to report anything and wait for something to happen.

I now divert all my calls to my Android phone and thanks to TT's 1000min mobile boost for £5 it works great. Android apps can block all sorts of things easily so not sure why TT customers can't have some sort of online blacklist.

This must be INCREDIBLY easy to do and I can imagine a massive market.

I used to love my Panasonic home phones (diverted mobile to them when home) but they can only block 50 numbers so I left it on NightMode (phone doesn't ring unless on whitelist) -but that's no way near as an intelligent as several Andorid apps.

This spam/scam/nuisance really does affect everyone so not sure why there's so little being done about it. We have the technology now.

savemoney

Its a bit rich coming from a company that use to plague me with cold calls it was only have repeated complaints to the boss that they eventually stopped. In past had promises that they would stop but they did not despite repeated complaints.I now use a blocking device to block calls

lisa2310

Wish talktalk would stop calling me. 2 to 3 times a day trying to upsell is ridiculous. Especially when for the last 3 weekends I haven't been able to make or receive calls and they want to charge me for am engineer. They're a joke!

Pincher

I wonder what will they do with debt chasing calls?

If they block the calls, will the debt chasing companies object?

Stalkers will just switch phone booths, I suppose.

jhp

Pincher wrote: »

I wonder what will they do with debt chasing calls?

" Note: As the block is at the network level, TalkTalk can only block for customers who are on the TalkTalk network; the service is not available to TalkTalk customers outside our network. We are unable to block residential or mobile numbers, banks or debt collection companies or legitimate sales and marketing companies that have not breached the strict criteria."


http://www.talktalkgroup.com/press/press-releases/2013/block-nuisance-callers.aspx

Pincher

So, if they call ten times a day, and harrass a debtor with abusive language, the debtor can do nothing.

Same as before then.

Herzlos

But it says there will need to have been an "excessively high frequency" of calls in a week for a number to be blocked – including 10 calls a week for suspected scams, and 30 for sales calls

So scammers can avoid being blocked by calling 9 times a week, and cold callers can do the same by only calling 29 times, that's 3 times a day.

This indeed sounds like window dressing; it's not going to solve the problem for almost anyone. If I was recieving 3 spam calls a day I'd be disconnecting the phone.

It's a good idea though, but the action threshold and blocking criteria are far too lax.

jimbo11

Talk Talk to stop nuisance calls is that a joke? Talk Talk are one of the biggest culprits of nuisance calls - they ring constantly (daily) to offer broadband deals in that nice broken (pigeon) English, all the way from Mumbai. :rotfl:

Caddyman

TalkTalk in my opinion can do whatever they want now. I've been a customer of theirs for the last few years enduring poor internet speeds, constant scam phone calls from multiple sources despite being TPS and Silentgard registered, so much so we never actually use the landline for answering calls (and we never use the phone for making calls these days anyway), it just goes to TalkTalk's answer service.

Anyway, yesterday I bought a Huewi MiFi which has exceeded all of my expectations spectacularly. I live in an excellent 3G reception area soon to roll out to 4G and I've gone from 2.0mbps internet speed to 12mbps in one hit. So TalkTalk, no more landline (we only had it for the broadband anyway) and therefore, no nuisance calls for me, I'll be cancelling my contract very very soon!