BT upgrade calls - am i being overly suspicious?

freeflyer

hi all..

I'm a cynic and proud of it anyway i got a phone call today which went dead instantly, followed by a recorded message saying 'We are ringing on behalf of BT, just tried to call you today about your phone bills, but we are unable to connect you to an operator, you can either wait for us to call back or ring 0800 blah blah'

now, to me this is a blatant hoax call to trick people into thinking BT has rang them etc etc. Anyway, later on tonight we get another call (which my girlfriend initially picked up) saying ringing on behalf of BT and we can upgrade our price plan as were already on option 1, but seeing as were already paying for line rental etc etc... ' you get the idea.

She passes the phone to me.. I instantly ask 'which company are you from?' to which the reply is 'were ringing on behalf of BT', 'so you're not BT then', 'Were ringing on behalf of BT' etc etc. after a back and forth of this for a few seconds more she put the phone down on me result...

I treat EVERY sales call as malicious, but is there even a slight chance that BT is outsourcing their sales calls? No? i dont think so either.. but i just thought i'd ask.. I used to work in telesales so know how clever these calls can be worded.

The only thing that got me thinking was that she knew we were on option 1, but then again so is half the country i reckon..

bicycle_repair_man_2

bt has started outsourcing some sales calls, so it may be genuine, but the safest thing to do is to ring bt on an official number you have for them

freeflyer

ah so it may have been genuine? i'll wait and see if we get another one then

Smiley_Mum

I got a phonecall from them the other day too re upgrading etc to have free calls evenings and weekends for £7.50, currently on option 1. I said I didnt need it as my calls were already free. He did'nt seem happy but that's not my problem. Was it something like 0800 326 3893 or something. Definitely a freephone number.

freeflyer

yes the original 'call us back' message was a freephone number.

If BT are outsourcing to this company, its not going to do them much good. The sales calles and techniques are typical of scam sales call.

jhp

freeflyer wrote: »

yes the original 'call us back' message was a freephone number.

If BT are outsourcing to this company, its not going to do them much good. The sales calles and techniques are typical of scam sales call.

I cant see why it matters if BT or their agents make the call. After all a genuine sales call is a genuine sales call whoever makes it.

freeflyer

because the manner in which they make the call make them sound like a scam call from a competitor company. ie using ringback techniques, auto hang up, 'we can save you an additional but it wouldnt cost you as you are already paying for line rental' etc etc.

The opening line of 'ringing on behalf of' starts alarm bells ringing straight away...

Smiley_Mum

When I got the call and used 1471 to get the number I just googled it and it came up with BT. I also get calls from an 0870 number which is currently being investigated by ICSTIS, no idea who they are.

gilfachboy

I had the same call a few days ago offering me a call package with BT, Now i'm registered with the TPS service so what right did BT have to phone me, They are no differant than any other tele-sales company, So why are they phoning tps registered users up for.

littleboo

Are you a BT customer ?

Seiken

If BT registered you with the TPS as part of the BT privacy at home package they can ask you if you're okay with having BT contact you with sales and marketing calls, if you consent they will still call you. What you can do is give customer services a ring at around 9 o' clock this evening and ask the advisor to have your account dissented from all marketing calls, mailers and information trading between the BT companies. It normally takes a month to go into effect but I'm pretty sure that will stop it. You might receive one more call.