Abuse

[ImLostAgain]

Popped in to see an old chap along the road last night. I could see right away all was not well. He was and indeed still is a well liked and respected gent.
Anyway he told me he had recieved a load of these calls telling him he could claim back his mis-sold bank insurance,get his house insulated,his boiler replaced and such. He was being inundatedwith them and had snapped.
When I asked what had happened he said he had sworn at the female on the other end of the line,but worse he had made a racial remark and slammed the phone down. I told him (to calm the poor old soul down) not to worry as he probably wasn't the first one to do it.
Now the problem is he is worried that what he did is illegal and he will be prosecuted. Is it and will he? I was more sorry for him as he seems to think if anyone else finds out his good name will be ruined. Well I'm not giving his secret away.
Whats best to put his mind at rest do you think?

[Mosaic]

It's hard to tell an old chap to ignore the silly barstewards, so he'll need some attention from friends like you till he's over it. In the meantime is there anything to be done with his phone? I expect he won't want to change phone number but that might be an option to discuss with him.
They've stopped ringing me since I put them next to radio 4 till they go away. Does he have any family nearby who can lend a hand?

[Trishy]

Try the telephone preference service http://www.tpsonline.org.uk/tps/index.html
We did and it seems to work well.

[EcclesCake]

But the TPS doesn't help with international calls. It does make a difference to UK ones though.

[hc4361]

Tell him not to worry, nothing is going to happen. Advise him to just hang up in future.

[ImLostAgain]

No Mosaic he has no family left. Stacks of friends tho. He gets lots of visitors so he's not lonely. He is just afraid they will take him to court for abuse and he'll lose his good name. I've told him they couldn't care less about him and he should forget it but I'm not convinced he's convinced.

[boxtops]

It's worth paying £46 a year for the Call Prevention Service - we get very few cold calls these days, and if we do, we report them. Other than that, he could get a phone with caller display.

He's unlikely to get any comeback about his rant, IMO - the cold callers no doubt get many of them.

[boxtops]

...and if it's any comfort, half the time the callers don't know who they're calling, it's just a random number.

[viv38]

Poor old chap, these callers are a pain in the butt! If he could just bring himself to hang up the next time he gets such a call, there won't be a problem. That's what I do.

[ImLostAgain]

Trishy,I tried that for him and it said he was already registered. No surprise, it said the same for me!!
I think he'll like the radio four thing, he has a wicked sense of humour.
I don't think he'll go for the change of number but I'll ask.
I recently changed my phone and he wasn't impressed.
Im popping round in an hour or so, so I'll see what he's like.
Many thanks.

[boxtops]

TPS is not the same as CPS.....

[ImLostAgain]

Ok boxtops I'll look into it and see how he feels about it.

[boxtops]

Here's their site, if this helps http://www.callpreventionregistry.co.uk/uk-registration.html?gclid=CJH_9t2f7LsCFW3JtAod1DQAtg

[saintpeter48]

I am 66 and had the same problem. A couple of weeks ago, after posting on here, was advised to look in my phone 'handbook' and I noticed that I could block up to 30 numbers, I followed simple instructions and did same, I haven't had a nuisance phone call since!!! I have a Panasonic KX-TG8051E model, but i'm sure there'll be other makes and models out there with same facilities. Its worth investing in a new phone handset if its going to stop the calls. Trust me, it works. :)

[chilli]

tell him a little fib,
tell him you have taken advice from someone you know who deals with this sort of unwanted phone call, and they have informed you that the call would have classed as unsolicited and therefore there is no way they will tell anyone that they even spoke to him.
That they could be fined for speaking to him.
then take the advice on here and help him set up the telephone preference service.

[Dee Sa]

I am a 75 year old, dear, sweet old lady and I always tell them to p*ss off and stop wasting my time.

[pravstar]

Its unlikely that any action will be taken, if its an overseas company call centre, then 99% sure he will be alright, as a foreign company would have extradition costs, certainly won
Try and humour the situation with your friend, ask him to put on silly accents when he gets these kind of calls, and lighten the situation for him