Free Price Compare - Pushy Cold Callers

ChrisH1977

Hi I am new to this forum so I hope I've come to the right place.  Not sure if this should be under a cold-callers or energy saving section.  Today I received a phone call from a sales agent from Free Price Compare who claimed I could save money on my energy bills.  I am currently with Octopus Energy and have been with them since mid 2018 when I switched from Scottish Power.  Octopus HAVE definitely saved me money since my switch and I've been happy with their level of customer service.  I admit I would like to see my bills come down if possible and saving money on my energy bills is something I definitely want to do.  What I don't like is being pressured into making a decision to switch over the phone.

Free Price Compare have been bombarding me with missed calls to my phone from numerous different numbers.  Today the caller was from Biggar (Scotland).  I made the mistake (I think) of answering it today.  They also called yesterday twice.  I have blocked mobile numbers from Free Price Compare and also Newport and South-Coast based numbers that all point back to Free Price Compare.   They seem determined to get hold of me despite me previously saying no.  I made the mistake once with them and agreed a switch to So Energy until I discovered that the tariff that Free Price Compare put me on with their claim to save money was one of those tariffs that is low during the summer months and then jumps up during the winter.  I prefer a fixed price across the 12 months.  So I switched back to Octopus.  

Does anyone else have any experience with Free Price Compare and their pushy salesmen?  Why are they so pushy?  Why don't they take no for an answer?  is it because of the commission they earn for closing out deals?  Every time I said no their callers keep trying to get me to say yes.  I thought that GDPR was supposed to have put a stop to these types of calls.  I can't remember how they got my number in the first place.

Do Free Price Compare really help?  Has anyone on this forum benefited from using them to switch or am I better off shopping around myself either with Look After my Bills or using the price comparison service from the MoneysavingExpert? 

Gerry1

You should have registered your phone numbers with via Telephone Preference Service (0800 398 893) and told Free Price Compare not to contact you again. Nuisance calls should be reported to the Information Commissioner's Office.

JJ_Egan

You do not need Look After My Bills . You can look up prices and swap  MSE  , CAB   Which and many other comparison sites on the web .

Have a look then come back and check with the forum ,

Savings PA are an estimate based upon standard prices . Direct Debit is an estimate not an all you can eat .

Robin9

Gerry1 said:

You should have registered your phone numbers with via Telephone Preference Service (0800 398 893) and told Free Price Compare not to contact you again. Nuisance calls should be reported to the Information Commissioner's Office.

Even better get a BT phone with the built in call blocker -

Gerry1

Robin9 said:

Gerry1 said:

You should have registered your phone numbers with via Telephone Preference Service (0800 398 893) and told Free Price Compare not to contact you again. Nuisance calls should be reported to the Information Commissioner's Office.

Even better get a BT phone with the built in call blocker -

Why should I be blackmailed into buying an expensive piece of junk to avoid being pestered by criminals? 

JohnB47

Gerry1 said:

Robin9 said:

Gerry1 said:

You should have registered your phone numbers with via Telephone Preference Service (0800 398 893) and told Free Price Compare not to contact you again. Nuisance calls should be reported to the Information Commissioner's Office.

Even better get a BT phone with the built in call blocker -

Why should I be blackmailed into buying an expensive piece of junk to avoid being pestered by criminals? 

Well, each to his own. But, seriously, if you want a truly quiet life with absolutely NO muisance calls getting through to you, you should buy 'an expensive piece of junk' from BT or anybody else who makes one with 'Call Guard' or similar. I've had one of these for at least 6 years and I get no, repeat, no, nuisance calls.

Mister_G

Indeed. I've had my BT8500 for about 5 years now and not one nuisance call has got through.  I don't call £50 for three handsets expensive, and I certainly don't regard it as "junk".  It's probably the best £50 I've ever spent.

Robin9

I agree with @JohnB47 and @ Mister_G    Best money I've spent.  Not had a nuisance call.

Does the TPS or the ICO actually work ?

Gerry1

The TPS probably works for legitimate companies, but not for dodgy ones and obviously not for scammers.  The ICO seems to be a waste of space, just like Ofgem, Ofcom and all the other so-called regulators and watchdogs.

Call blocking need to take place at network level, by preventing inappropriate use of number spoofing and blacklisting the network numbers of offenders (i.e. their 'real' numbers, not the spoofed ones they use).

Blocking individual numbers by hardware telephones won't work because they use one-off spoofed numbers or, even worse, genuine numbers of innocent subscribers.

Unfortunately the telcos aren't interested because they love the revenue stream, and Ofcom is always asleep at the wheel.

And if anyone is thing of using Free Price Compare, just look at their horrendous privacy policy.