Cold Callers

Mister.G_3

I had a hard time with cold callers a few months ago. I registered with the TPS and thought that would be the end of it - not so. Fair enough i thought, went onto the BT website and found their anonymous call reject product. Again, happy days (or so i thought!!) I subscribed to their service and noticed a huge drop in calls....it was some time before i realised it was the foreign callers still getting through - incredibly annoying as they have no concept of time difference, call at all times of the evening disturbing my baby boy every time they do so! I had fun with them a couple of times but this wore off after a while at which point i e-mailed BT to remove the service saying i'd been mis-sold it (doesn't state on the website it won't block international callers where the no. not available rather than just being witheld) I got a reply back from BT telling me they would remove the product from my account but wouldn't refund me the money. At this point it became less about the money and more about the principle of the matter so i persued a complaint through the 'how to complain' website...........and heard nothing so i forgot about it. About 6 weeks later i received a call from their complaint resolution department telling me i was correct, their product was mislabelled and they'd be crediting me for the charges i'd already paid!! Result!!! (Anyone else who has this product it'd definitely be worth following the same procedure)

I then contacted their nuisance calls department, change my no. and now don't give it out to anyone apart from family members/in case of an emergency. I only have a landline no. because of the broadband connection at home - i truly believe that BT could do more to prevent people from receiving these calls. I also believe the government should introduce more far reaching laws regarding the use of overseas call centres for cold calling/marketing purposes!

Turning_into_scrooge

trisontana wrote:

The doctor may not have had a choice about this if he had been calling via a switchboard. Many company switchboards automatically block the identity of an outgoing number and I don't think there is anything that can be done about this.So dialling 1471 would have had no effect.

I only know that my doctors use this method and our main hospital but whether the hospital direct dials or not i really don't know.

ruiner99

I have so much fun with cold callers, when i get them i just swear loads and they hang up, it is suppose to be if you swear at them 3 times they'll hang up on you. so I just make it a long sentence of expletives they may call back but after a few calls like this they'll not call back in a hurry.

Stonk

I like to try to buy different things off cold callers. If someone rings selling double glazing, I ask them if they can offer me a good deal on portrait photos. When the portrait photo bods call, I tell them my electricity is too expensive and ask whether they have a cheaper option. When the electricity people call, I want a new kitchen. Etc.

Bagpuss1973

If you have the time it can be fun to pretend you are totally dotty! Learnt this from a good friend, conversation goes along lines of cold caller asking you lots of details and I reply "Do you like the colour blue dear?" you normally get a little pause and they will carry on so follow up with "I love roses, don't you dear?" they normally hang up.


or

This made me laugh when I did it!;)
You let them tell you all about their wonderful windows, electricity new deal doesn't matter what it is about and this young chap said so what you do you think Mrs X to which I replied I wasn't in fact Mrs X but Miss X and was at my parents house to which I had no decision making facilities! He got very cross and said why didn't you say so to which I replied "You did not let me get a word in!"

Not that I would have this sort of fun in the early hours I couldn't be bothered, I've got a mate who says I'll just get a pen and puts the phone on the side because apparently some call centres cannot hang up if you don't (I don't know if that is true and I haven't tried it)

I do feel sorry for the people who work in telesales but I work full time and really do not like being interupted whilst I am cooking dinner or even worse just sitting down to eat said dinner after a long day at work.

bonnie_2

i have just cancelled my phone line and decided to use my mobile instead cheaper and no call centres hurrah.

boogiemaster

The phone went and this lovely Indian woman was on the phone, she told me about BT and about some special offers they had on.
After five minutes of talking she asked me what I thought. I told her the offers sounded really good, but I was on telewest broadband and not BT.
Why didn’t you say that to me five minutes ago Mr X and I said because you never gave me a bloody chance too!!!!

aeuerby

I registered with the TPS about 2 years ago. We still get the odd "cold all"

Last Friday the phone went. The conversation went along the lines of:

SB Windows: May I speak to the home owner please?
Me: Who's calling please?
SB Windows: Stay Brite Windows
Me: Where did you get this number?
SB Windows: sequential dialing (amazing how they all say this really quickly!)
Me: We are part of TPS
SB Windows:Oh we shouldn't have called you then
Me: I know
SB Windows:How long have you been a member cos it can take upto 6 months.
Me: 2 years and I shall report stay brite windows to the TPS
SB Windows:It's not stay brites fault...

So if it's not stay brites fault who's is it? Is it mine? The mind boggles!

RedOnRed

The other day we (unusually for the area) had a cold caller knock on our door.

She merely showed some ID and said she was from Hungary and then asked to come in to talk to me! I had to actually ask her what she was selling first before I then told her not interested.

She was selling rubbish kiddy books.

aeuerby

I have put a sign up under our door bell that reads thus:

No Thankyou.

We do not want our fascias/windows/guttering painting or replacing.

We do not want our trees trimming or garden tidying.

We do not want to change suppliers of phone/gas/electricity.

We do not want to find loose or discuss religion. (Jehova's witnesses kept ringing the door bell because they said the original notice without religion mentioned didn't apply to them!)

99% of the time it works. The rest of the time we don't answer the door much to the annoyance of 2 young girls one day. Don't know what they wanted cos we didn't answer the door. They walked back down our drive and glared at us. Well how dare we not answer the door and purchase whatever they were flogging? Anyway, the next day the little oiks had written "Yes sir" at the bottom of the notice. Fortunately it's laminated and just wiped off...