Nuisance phone calls

Oh how I hate them.
We are on a list that is supposed to protect us from nuisance calls but they still manage to get through. I had one yesterday that I had to put the phone down when the woman was still talking. For a start I could not understand what she was saying - I heard the words "quick survey" and promptly said "No Thankyou" politely but she proceeded to speak quite assertively and wasn't listening to my "No" so I put the phone down. They usually ring when I am having tea

I had one just now..I answered "Hello" and couldn't catch what the man said [he had a strong Northern accent] he put the phone down so I dialled 1471 and surprise surprise the number had been withheld...
Do you get them and how do you deal with them?

 

Yep I get a few survey calls, as you say, usually around 6 to 7pm.

I pick the phone up, and get ringing tone or a recorded message or sometimes someone with an Indian accent.

I usually just hang up straight away, have been know to tell them "where to go", but mostly just hang up.
I find more satisfaction if I can hang up while they are in full flow, somehow.:lollol:

A mate of mine says he just keeps asking them questions until they actually hang up on him, but I've not tried that yet.:hehe:

 

We get nuisance phone calls despite being on the block list. We ignore the phone completely if it rings at tea time, unless it rings for ages (family know that we wait maybe 30 seconds or more before answering, and sometimes I switch the ringer off).

Here are some disturbing facts that I learned while I worked for a firm that did all the IT side of marketing.

* The Royal Mail's Postal Address File, a database of every UK address, can be bought by businesses without the buyer being vetted in any way. If they have the money, they can buy a license to see it in full.
* The electoral role is available in electronic form. This too can be bought in full.
* Credit card companies sell 'profile' data, showing spending and lifestyle habits by postcode
* All of the above data sets, and more, can be and is regularly compiled into one big database which companies can use, and this all perfectly legal.

But I'm sure all that is common knowledge, so now for the less pleasant facts.

In the UK, confidential data is protected by law, that law being the Data Protection Act. That means a company can't pass on your name and phone number without your permission. However they do, and there is little you or I can do about it because if you challenge a company, they will say it was just on a list that they'd bought from a broker, and that broker uses many sources.

Worse, there is a loophole in the Data Protection Act. The rules are quite clear in the UK and other countries that subscribe to it (most of the EU and a few other places have similar strict rules under different names). However, the loophole says that if during the normal processing of the data for legitimate business purposes the data is transfered at any time to an area out of jurisdiction, it is up to the company to decide whether adequate safeguards are in place. What that means in practical terms is that much confidential data leaves the EU and ends up in places like Asia, where it is collated and analysed and sold back, legally, to list brokers in the UK, who may then sell it on to Tom, Dick and Harry because their data protection statement (every UK company that holds personal data is required to be open about how they'll use it) says that their business is to sell data.

In effect, all this means that if you get cold calls from a company you have never knowingly given your details to, or consented to them having, it is virtually impossible to hold anyone to account.

One thing we can do, and this too is sometimes not easy, is to get the full company name of the caller, and details of what they are selling. You can then report them to Ofcom, If they get enough complaints about one company, they will give them a slap on the wrist.

 

We are x-directory too, but still get the odd call. If I can be bothered I ask the caller their name, where they are calling from and the address of their head office and then tell them that our number is registered with the TPS and the call be be reported. If I can't be bothered talking talking I either put the phone down or say 'hold on a moment' and go off and do something for 10 minutes while they rack up a phone bill.

If you look at the link ('The greatest prank call ever') at the bottom of this page there is a hilarious audio file of someone getting their own back on a sales caller. It's a hoot!
http://www.lasvegas4us.com/wordpres...to-an-uninvited-sales-call-i-have-ever-heard/

 

hi Jazmine. Nuisance phone calls I HAVE HAD SIX THIS EVENING we are on a list to stop these calls coming through, which we pay for most of the calls we receive ,i cannot understand what they are saying, they are mostly foreign, and as you say (ITS ALWAYS TEA TIME ) they start.. some of the ones i do understand, as you say ,are very assertive/pushy will not let you speak.
they have a program to put over to us, and they are like ROBOTS!!. the other ones which get my wick are the set machines which select numbers at random and inform you
"ITS YOUR LUCKY DAY,YOU HAVE WON BLAH BLAH BLAH ". now even my wife is blowing fire from her nostrils .she got so angry tonight (as we were waiting for an important call from the hospital) our little grandaughter has been diagnosed with swine flu and is in the isolation ward and we have been waiting for word of her condition so when the phone rings our hearts are in our mouths and we get these F****** phone calls . if anyone knows how they can be stopped


PLEASE LET US KNOW music.

 

There seems to be a lack of knowledge where these calls are concerned.

Firstly: Registering with the Telephone Preference Service puts your number on a list. Call centres etc., are supposed to consult the list (it is an offence to call listed numbers) but they often don't. Overseas call centres may not have access to the list and no action can be taken against them (they are out of our jurisdiction).

Secondly: X-Directory numbers are no guarantee that you won't be called, it's just that your number doesn't get published in the directory. Anyone can dial your number and get through, as no doubt your friends do. Numbers dialled at random will always get through. the only way to make sure that you don't receive call is to have it "out-going only" (but then your friends can't call either).

"If I can't be bothered talking talking I either put the phone down or say 'hold on a moment' and go off and do something for 10 minutes while they rack up a phone bill."

No, that doesn't work. The originator starts and ends the call. Laying the phone down or hanging up doesn't control the call (if you hang up then pick the phone up again you will find they are still there unless they end the call.

 

Thanks for posting the link Dave...it was due to that audio file that I became an inspector myself at a murder scene...maybe not as good as the guy in the audio file but to the "overseas" callers...it worked a treat and was an incredible ammount of fun.

I do also try to sell my photographs to cold callers, both at the door and on the phone, believe it or not it has worked twice for me so far.

Steve...

 

I absolutley hate them. When I answer I tell them I am ex directory and the only people who have my number are the people I choose to have it

and they have no right to invade my privacy. I then say do not ring this number again as it is private. Then put the phone down.

Now if they have taken me away from what i am doing as I think it might be an important phone call, I tell them to get stuffed, LOUDLY!!

Then put the phone down.:hehe:

 

I'm plagued with these nuisance calls too.
I'm registered with the TPS but that doesn't cover -
people who claim they are doing surveys
international calls
anyone who can claim you are their customer, however tenuously.
I ask them to take my name off their calling list but so many of these call are just recorded messages.
I think it's time we had some legislation about this nonsense.

 

Music I hope you soon get some good news from the hospital. I had swine flu, one of the worst things ever. I went doolally.

It appears I am not the only one to get annoyed with these unwanted calls
Have you noticed how they speak really quickly so it is difficult to get a word in? We had a spell of getting several "have you got a debt we can help with?" calls :hehe:
Considering we own our home, have never owed money or been in debt it was quite laughable but more vulnerable people can fall for these tactics.
My son is in the process of buying his first property so now he gets calls galore!!

We went through a phase of getting serious unwanted calls :cnfs: and OH kept a whistle by the phone!! They don't like a loud whistle noise :lollol:

The other one I detest is the "this is your captain calling" and the noise of a ship siren in the background. I think it is to tell me I have won a prize.

 

i agree these are awful and its worse because they invade your home i tend to get the automated ones. if is a person i ask them who they are where they are calling from and where they got my number from. if they dont hang up i ask them to remove my number from their calling list

loopy

 

We dont get that many here, we have a private unlisted number, but like everyone has said, the odd one gets through............BUT the last one i had, i proceeded to tell the man to give me his "trucking" number:D:thmb: so i can call him back and harass him.....he hung up on me :lollol::lollol::lollol::lollol:

Or i ask them.......excuse me, but did i call YOU.......NO so what the "heck" are you calling me for.......and again they hang up :yho:

I always try to be nice at first, and somtimes will just tell, them right off, No Thank You, and please dont call again, and hang up.....and what do they do, call right back, thats when i get a little ticked.

 

jazmine i have been pondering this and i do feel sorry for the person who makes the call - can you imagine having to work in a call centre for minimum wage and having everyone you call be rude to you? thats why i ask who they are and then ask them to remove my name and number from their call list - the real villains here are the companies buying the lists up and worse still the phone companies who sell thses lists on to make a profit. i think the govt should be doing a lot more for us to stop these shady practices. i did hear that one company was fined because their automated system kept calling people and didnt hev enough operators to take the calls so they were classed as harrassment. the poeple who work in the centres are often reading from scripts and being closely monitored - not stepford wives or robots just people trying to earn a crust who i feel would like other work if it were available but they are at least working for a living

just my take on things

Loopy