Do you suffer from unwanted marketing calls?

[Laserbeam bass]

From Saturday to Yesterday at 1910, I had received a total of 20 calls from different companies all trying to sell me a mobile handset on behalf of 3G. Whilst it is obvioulsy a necessity for these people to try and earn a living by selling things you don't want, I felt that the number was becoming intrusive. Having used tact and diplomacy in an attempt to speak to a higher authority at the company involved, I finally decided to contact the company they were selling on behalf of. Unbelievably the young lady on the sub-contintent gave me a website to use to enter details to have your telephone number put on a list to ensure no further calls are received by cold callers. I was sceptical to say the least, and when the URL didn't work, I thought it was a wind up. I then tried via google and used the cached version of the web page. This time I found it and checked the URL. It wasn't on HTTPS: but once I went in to register it was.

Too cut a long story short, Telephone Preference Service is the site that you can register on. It takes 28 days to complete the registration. I assume this is because of the number of different companies involved, but can't wait for 1st November to see if this actually works or not

[AndyCat]

Well, touch wood, it does work. We've been cold call free for about 4 months now. There's also a mailing list one for unwanted post.

[brassneck]

I've become conditioned to cold-selling now but I feel sorry for those who give financial details to incoming callers, without knowing the hassle they are creating for themselves when direct debits are set up or payments made if card details are thoughtlessly handed over. After all, how can the callers verify themselves using a phone-call?

post-edit:- have now registered my landline tel. no. (thanks for the link)

[yorkie19]

Both Telephone Preference Services and Mail Preference Services are very good schemes. I can't say they are fool-proof as they rely on companies buying up-to-date tranches of data (and some don't) but I've found it to be 99.9% proof. If we all registered, then we could put the cold callers out of business. I have no sympathy for them!



http://www.mpsonline.org.uk/mpsr/

[davidsait]

TPS is good, but it can't stop calls that are made from overseas, as a certain amount of cold calling now is (deliberately to circumvent this).

[aimee_euph]

i used to do telesales for a window company over the summer last year, and it's not just random phone numbers. If you buy something from B&Q or Currys and enter your details in, ensure you tick the box that involves thrid parties as this is where the company i was working for got all of their numbers from.

The TPS doesnt necessarily work as people i was calling claimed they put their number on a few months back and we were told that our system was updated to accomodate the TPS. Oops. Someone was lying....

[Crazysop]

I had a few similar calls a while back and ended up doing the tps thing. Calls seem to have stopped now, but was driving me batty at the time!!!!! http://www.themouthpiece.com/vb/show...light=crazysop

[bigmamabadger]

It does seem to work. We registered with TPS about 8 months ago and calls have decreased significantly. Still get the occasional one but if you just say you're on TPS and why the hell are they ringing you they usually back off. One guy just put the phone straight down...

Of course if they don't back off you are obliged to blow a whistle down the phone at them and abuse them horribly. Which is all good self-righteous fun.
BMB
xx

[skimbleshanks]

<snip>
Too cut a long story short, Telephone Preference Service is the site that you can register on. It takes 28 days to complete the registration. I assume this is because of the number of different companies involved, but can't wait for 1st November to see if this actually works or not

I've had quite a few cold calls over here in France. However I have a slight advantage over the caller 'cos I always answer the phone with "Hello", which throws them off balance, instead of myself being on the wrong foot. A usual cold call goes something like:

[me] : Hello?
[caller] : (silence)
[me] : Hello?
[caller] : (silence)
[me] : Bonjour?
[caller] : Oui bonjour monsieur, je vous appele de la part de ............. (+ sales pitch)
[me] : (in English or purposefully bad French) Sorry I don't speak French.
end of call.

So while you're waiting for the 1st of November, why not have a bit of fun. Try putting on a dodgy foreign accent and saying that you don't speak English with some nice grammatical mistakes: "me no speeeek Eeeengleeesh"

[Laserbeam bass]

I've had quite a few cold calls over here in France. However I have a slight advantage over the caller 'cos I always answer the phone with "Hello", which throws them off balance, instead of myself being on the wrong foot. A usual cold call goes something like:

[me] : Hello?
[caller] : (silence)
[me] : Hello?
[caller] : (silence)
[me] : Bonjour?
[caller] : Oui bonjour monsieur, je vous appele de la part de ............. (+ sales pitch)
[me] : (in English or purposefully bad French) Sorry I don't speak French.
end of call.

So while you're waiting for the 1st of November, why not have a bit of fun. Try putting on a dodgy foreign accent and saying that you don't speak English with some nice grammatical mistakes: "me no speeeek Eeeengleeesh"

LMAO

[Craigsav83]

Hehe thats a good idea!

My dad got one recently that really p***ed him off...

[caller] Good afternoon sir, I believe you were looking to purchase a new fitted kitchen...
[dad] .... ummm no? I have one...
[caller] oh it says here on the survey you filled in that you would like a new kitchen, how old is your existing kitchen, must be about ten years old by now.
[dad] umm, no - it was installed 9 months ago thank you very much, and that survey, what date is on it?
[caller] Its March 2004...
[dad]Funny that...since I don't do surveys...
[caller] (silence).... phone goes down...

That shows that many of them will try anything - why bother? If you want a kitchen or double glazing, you are unlikely to buy it from a dude on the phone from a company you have never heard of...

[Charmed]

You can usually tell as soon as you pick the phone up whether it is a salesperson on the other end. As soon as they start their speech, I interrupt and say 'not interested' and put the phone down. This does not however, stop the phone from ringing in the first place! I did not know about this site so I will be looking at it a.s.a.p. Thanks.

[tinytimp]

My uncle came up with a classic...

Caller: I'm calling from XYZ kitchens to discuss our services regarding fitting a new kitchen for you

Uncle Wayne: No thank you, I don't believe in kitchens

[Bariman]

It does seem to work. We registered with TPS about 8 months ago and calls have decreased significantly. Still get the occasional one but if you just say you're on TPS and why the hell are they ringing you they usually back off. One guy just put the phone straight down...

We've registered for both telephone and mail. You don't always notice the decline in calls / mail at first but you will after a while.

A friend got called once about conservatories and agreed to everything including booking an appointment for someone to come and measure up. Just before she put the phone down she said " Oh, by the way, I'm in a first floor flat - does that make any difference?"

[ronnie_the_lizard]

Just before she put the phone down she said " Oh, by the way, I'm in a first floor flat - does that make any difference?"

They say that the best way to deal with canvassing politicians who you don't support is NOT to slam the door in their face, but to invite them in for a cup of tea - wasting 30 minutes when they could be annoying your neighbours.

Whilst at University a friend once accidentally opened the doors to some Jehovas Witnesses who invited themselves in so he let them sit down in the living room, went allegedly to make some tea .......... then left through the back door for the day.