Nuisance phone calls

[Cathyhuns]

At home, we seem to be getting an increasing number of nuisance phone calls from private numbers. Very often you can Google the number and find that someone has answered the phone and had someone try to sell them mobile phones, timeshares etc. However, how about somewhere on Answerbank that the first person who answers the number can tell the other ABers what it is so we can ignore it?

[crete]

sorry cathy i dont quite understand the last part of your question.

[Buenchico]

I think what Cathy is suggesting is an AB database of telephone numbers of telesales companies, so that people with phones which record caller ID (or people who simply dial 1471) can see who was trying to contact them.

The problem is that the numbers will be for the call centres and not for the companies which they represent. e.g. one week a call centre could be making sales calls on behalf of Alpha Double Glazing, the next week the same operators could be making calls for Beta Insurance. (Very few companies have their own call centres. The work is usually contracted out). So AB's database would show a particular phone number as one company when the missed call, on someone's phone, could have been made on behalf of completely different company.

The simplest solution is to register, for free, with the Telephone Preference Service. This will eliminate most sales calls:
http://www.tpsonline.org.uk/tps/

Chris

[joko]

because when the phone rings, there is no time to rush to that page on answerbank and wade through them to see if the number is there...that is assuming you have caller ID...

answerbank is a q&a website, nothing more...

[Cathyhuns]

I am talking about using Caller ID and we don't actually answer the phone unless we recognise the number. However some of these numbers ring on a daily basis for weeks on end and it would be nice to know whether we are right to ignore them.

We are already registered with the Telephone preference service but that hasn't stopped them. I think what some of them telesales companies are doing now is contracting out the work to home workers - and as it's an individual phoning you they aren't subject to the TPS requirements.

[Buenchico]

Contracting work out wouldn't relieve the company, or the home-worker, of their legal obligations:

"21. - (1) A person shall neither use, nor instigate the use of, a public electronic communications service for the purposes of making unsolicited calls for direct marketing purposes where -

(a) the called line is that of a subscriber who has previously notified the caller that such calls should not for the time being be made on that line; or

(b) the number allocated to a subscriber in respect of the called line is one listed in the register kept under regulation 26."
Electronic Communications (EC Directive) Regulations 2003
http://www.opsi.gov.uk/si/si2003/20032426.htm

However, like all laws, the legislation will only work if people report breaches to the relevant authorities. If nobody ever reported burglaries to the police, burglars could steal whatever they liked with no worries about the consequences. Similarly, the TPS system will only work if people report the companies which ignore the law. To do so, go here:
http://www.tpsonline.org.uk/cgi-bin/tps_compla ints.pl

Chris

[Bellringer]

Just say "hand on a minute I've got a pan on the boil" or some such. Then put the phone down (still connected) and carry on with what you were doing. They are paying the bill, after a while you will find they have hung up.

[dolly pond]

just registered my details on that website, thanks!

[spudqueen]

On the odd occasion that some telesales person has rung since we signed up to the telephone preference service all I have said is ' can you tell me where you got my phone number from as we have signed up to the telephone preference service'. The person on the other end of the line is then very apologetic and promises not to call again. This is because they can be fined if they do ring you. I would suggest that all you need to do is answer the phone to them once, explain that you did sign up to the TPS and you shouldn't hear from them again.

[desparingdar]

I don't know how to conjure a solution to that, but It's so funny to do these 2 tips:
1. Say nothing answer the phone & say nothing, sometimes you hear a voice say hello worriedly! It's so great.
2. THIS ONE ONLY WORKS IF YOU HAVE CHILDREN!
Get your child to answer the phone, & when they ask for the parents, get them to start babbling on example: Mum's just getting the diner ready, she's making us spagetti bolaneise, Do you like spag bol, I like spag bol etc. It's great, they get really annoyed after a while & just hang up!

[Segilla]

I'm registered with TPS but still get the occasional unsolicited call.
But the worst is yet to come, My last call was an attempt at interrogation carried out by an automatic voice recognition system!

[Segilla]

For a lighthearted take on unwanted phone calls, try

http://howtoprankatelemarketer.ytmnd.com/

Hands up anyone who fails to laugh out loud!