Tackling the telephone sales nuisance

[34theletterbetweenB&D]

Let me tap into the RMWeb general knowledge base. Is there a good cheap telephone out there that will play a 20 minute+ recorded message at the push of a button by the call taker?

 

What I am thinking of is recording a message for all the various sales callers, so that on taking such a call I can then push a button that launches into "Excuse me a moment, before going on with this call I must make you aware of the following", and then launches into a ramble of donkey hind leg removal proportions. The reason for asking is that our present handset phone is clearly heading toward end of life, and something new will be bought to replace it in the next few months, be nice if it was a more potent weapon...

[Invicta]

It would be handy if there was something like that- I've recently been spending a lot of daytime at home while I'm between jobs, and can't believe the amount of cold calls I get

 

I had to smile at a comment I saw on another forum recently when reading about this annoying 'Microsoft Service Centre' scam call that a lot of people have been getting. The poster saidsomething like they'd had one of these calls, played along a bit and feigned interest then 'told him to hold the line because I needed to go and get my credit card. That was about an hour ago, I wonder if he's still there?'

[Lady_Ava_Hay]

Most call centres now operate an auto dialling system that will disconnect as the answerphone clicks in.

 

Any answerphone will defeat the cold callers as they cannot sell to an answerphone.

 

At the same time it will also defeat genuine callers who might actually save you some money.

 

I use caller display. If I don't recognise the number I don't call it back or answer it unless it is an 0800 number where I have just reviewed my car or home insurance online.

 

if you are applying online for a quote for something then transpose two digits of your phone number. You can always change it if you do decide to proceed. Always best to do your online quotes late at night so that the 'watchers' aren't there to phone you mid quote.

 

Since I left the mainstream broadband suppliers, my cold call rate has plummeted. Every time you answer a cold call your number shoots to the top of the ratings and is sold on at an increased price. Because it is only a 'live' phone number and name it will be multi sold/swapped with other cold call centres.

 

A personalised answerphone message counts as a hit with these people.

 

Caller display is a much better way of culling the 'ringing phone must be answered just in case' syndrome which the cold callers actually prey on. If you think about it people who know you well enough to ring you will ring when you are there and will know that you have caller display.

[lordhinton]

i just say my garage is already full of dokeys and put the phone down

[BoD]

Caller display is a much better way of culling the 'ringing phone must be answered just in case' syndrome which the cold callers actually prey on.

 

I try to do the same but our doctors surgery and local hospitals use 'caller witheld' just as cold callers do. As an elderly relative has health issues we need to answer it.

I believe this is becoming more common, schools do it to.

[Ian J.]

Arguably you should really put your telephone numbers on the TPS - telephone preference service. This is a list of numbers that by law must be consulted by sales companies and if you're on it they cannot legally call you. Note that if in the past you 'opt-in' with a company to receive sales information from said company then this service doesn't cover that.

 

TPS

[34theletterbetweenB&D]

Yes, I have caller display at present, and there are calls I positively want to take that are 'number withheld' .

 

The recorded message type calls are easy, the handset is down after Did y... , or You m... etc. The idea behind the recording is that a human cold caller will not realise it isn't a real person for a while, as the person they have called drones on and on and on...

 

Oh, and I use TPS but it is of limited effectiveness, am ex-directory and my partner and I never give out our name/address.tel no.

 

If push comes to shove I will record the verbal torrent on CD and just play it pack into the handset from an adapted walkman...

[Guest dilbert]

I pass this type of call to my security advisor who has an enjoyable barking fit prior to replacing the handset in its cradle... dilbert

[Kickstart]

Arguably you should really put your telephone numbers on the TPS - telephone preference service. This is a list of numbers that by law must be consulted by sales companies and if you're on it they cannot legally call you.

 

We are ex directory and on the TPS, but still get loads of cold callers like this. Problem is that the TPS only has any control over calls from within the UK.

 

All I do these days is put the phone to one side to maximise their phone bill (nominal amount no doubt, but the more people who do it the higher the costs).

 

All the best

 

Keith

[Kenton]

My solution with one of our telephones is to turn off the ringer - all three of our numbers are on the TPS and it is a waste of space. We have reported a number of callers and no action appears to be taken.

 

The other solution employed on the other phones is to wait for them to ask for someone by name (they invariably do - even though we are ex-directory. When they say can I speak to ... I ask who's calling and follow that with a "please wait" I'll go and find him. Putting the phone down.

 

We seem to go through a spate of broadband sellers (we have Sky and 3 different phone providers so I guess that gives them a "right" to call customers. That is then followed by a spate of windows sellers ...

 

I never answer the phone with my name and I think it poor etiquette to call some one and not introduce yourself first. I would never think of calling someone and simply saying "hello" so anyone calling and being anonymous gets the sales man treatment. Add to that I'm simply not interested in buying over the phone to someone I do not know.

[Kickstart]

Hi

 

All the ones we get are recorded messages. Just dug this out from when we contacted the TPS about them

 

Thank you for your complaint regarding recorded messages. Registration with The Telephone Preference Service (TPS) will help reduce receipt of live unsolicited direct marketing calls but will not stop pre- recorded calls.

Organisations that use recorded phone message to try and sell or promote their products or services have to comply with the Privacy and Electronic Communications (EC Directive) Regulations 2003. These say that marketers who leave recorded phone messages must obtain prior consent from the subscriber before they can make such a call.

Where a subscriber receives a recorded phone message they haven't agreed to there may have been a breach of the regulations. If you are receiving recorded messages and have not given prior permission' date=' you can complain directly to the Information Commissioner's Office (ICO), who are the body responsible for enforcing the above regulation. Their details are:

The Information Commissioners Office

Wycliffe House, Water Lane, Wilmslow, Cheshire, SK9 5AF

Tele: 01625 545 745

Fax: 01625 524 510

Email: mail@ico.gsi.gov.uk

Web: www.ico.gov.uk

I trust the above is of help, but if you have any further queries please do not hesitate to contact me.

 

Might help with these scammers (most seem to be either ambulance chasers, or the closely related ones trying to get you to complain about any loan repayment insurance).

 

All the best

 

Keith

[Ohmisterporter]

Another problem with this type of call is that when you return home and dial 1471 there is only the last call that is registered, so you never know whether or not a call that you really wanted has been made because it is overtaken by an unwanted caller. On my phone anyway.

 

Geoff.

[JeremyC]

You could always try the method in the Nambarrie Tea advert [maybe only shown in Scotland], where a woman picks up the phone asks the cold caller to hold, then puts a child's musical toy against the receiver and goes and has a cup of tea. She then comes back and says 'your call is valuable to us' before continuing her tea break.

 

Jeremy

[chrisf]

A few weeks back I took a call from an organisation seeking to interest me in hearing tests. I explained to the caller that I was registered with TPS. She apologised and said that my name and number would be taken off the system. I replied that if I got another call from them they would be reported. I got another call, said I would report them and did exactly that. So far so good ...

 

Chris

[Belsay Lad]

Try my trick (a variation of JeremyC, which I used just last night.

 

'Caller is trying to sell conservatories.'

 

I sound interested and let them do their sales pitch and then start asking detailed questions about their product as though I am interesting in buying (they have phoned you so the call is costing you nothing but your time which in this case is worth it), But most importantly mention early on that 'previous companies haven't been keen to quote me'.

 

After five minutes or so of this they think they are onto a sucker and start asking for more details, keep the questions going for as long as you can but omit the most important detail...

 

The winner is when they ask for your address:-

 

Say: 'Third floor flat(even if it isn't), xxxx (street), xxxx (town) etc'

 

At which stage the caller will probably terminate the call.

 

Following this the advisor who called you will probably be called up on a discipinarly for their call length (thanks to you asking questions) and the fact that they didn't land a sale

 

Guess who worked in a call-centre enviroment (in an admin role) so knows how it works and how to buck the system when you are on the recieving end?

[melmerby]

Another source of irritation are the text calls from claims spivs lawyers telling you that you could recieve £3750 for that accident (what accident?!!!). You had with a choice of two responses "CLAIM" to XXXXX or STOP to XXXX.

Needless to say the STOP text does nothing and youcontinue to get yet more irritating texts.

I even tried contacting my service provider and they said there is nothing they can do to stop them.

The originating number constantly changes although the text wording is identical.

 

Keith

[Coldgunner]

The moment I know its a cold caller I hang up, sometimes I go so far as to tell them where to go.

[The Stationmaster]

More more cold callers seem to be ignoring TPS (or perhaps not carefully programming their autodial units?). Not much you can do with metal mickey on the other end but if it is a human I have now taken to being extremely rude to them as I reckon that it possibly the only way their identity could be revealed when they decide to report me for what I have said, and I can then make it clear they were breaking the law by calling in the first place (they are usually 'injury claims for you' sorts judging by the calls I get). Mind you if they're nice chatty sorts I get very polite and have a nice long chat with them - for as long as possible and by going round in circles on the subject matter.

[Welly]

A few weeks back I took a call from an organisation seeking to interest me in hearing tests.

 

I cannot understand how that organisation thinks that you need hearing tests and still be able to use the phone?!!!

 

All you had to do was to keep saying,"Pardon?", "What?", "Speak up!" at appropriate moments and deliberately mishear the caller!!!

 

Should be good for a laugh if you can record such a call and put up the results on YouTube ( with subtitles! )

[Kris]

Trying to get them to hang up is the challenge. I always ask them how they got my number. If they say that they purchased it I ask them where from as I am sure that I have not given permission for my information to be used or sold for marketing purposes. Having established this with them I then proceed to talk to the caller about the implications this has for them and there company. These are

 

"These offences are currently punishable by a fine of up to £5000 in a Magistrates’ court or an unlimited fine in the Crown Court. Legislation to introduce the possibility of a custodial sentence for a Section 55 offence is now before Parliament."

 

These cover both the individual and the company 2 separate offences. It's amazing how quickly they stop the call after this.

 

The other option is to ask them for a quote then to say gosh that's expensive isn't it we do it for £xxx. Again this works well (almost as well as trying to sell some Jehovah's witnesses a bible - I have no problems with people beliefs but I don't want them to try and force them down my throat on my doorstep).

[Guest Natalie Graham]

A few weeks back I took a call from an organisation seeking to interest me in hearing tests.

 

You should have just kept saying, 'Eh? Can you speak up?' until they gave up.

 

I have both caller id and the answering machine. If I recognise the number as someone I know I answer it, otherwise they can introduce themselves to the machine and I can pick up if it is someone I want to talk to. The funniest are where the cold caller doesn't see the line open until after the answering machine message has finished and are trying to get it to answer them thinking they have a live person on the line. Some of them get quite angry.

[melmerby]

 

 

I know somebody whose punch line is after they have finished their blab for double glazing etc, by saying that he lives in a council house (he doesn't) this knocks them stone dead

Other good replies are "This is a listed building" or "we live in a conservation area" Both of which are a no-no to the usual telephone sales double glazing type firms.

 

Keith

[froobyone]

Kickstart, that's a really usefull quote thank you.

 

Just been to the site and it's opened my eyes to what recourse we have against these phone pests.

 

I've got caller ID on my phone and quickly punch an unknown number into google if I don't recognise it. Most of the time they are listed as telespests.

 

If I can't find a reference to the number online, I'll risk answering it, mainly because I'm in business and it doesn't help, if potential clients can't speak to you. o.O

 

On the rare occasion I feel sporting, the girlfriend and I will come up with all sorts of mad things to say to them.

 

One time, during a mobile phone hard sell and after the southern hemisphere sounding man had given his full spiel, my girlfriend said, "Oh I'm sorry, I can't use phones."

When asked why, she said "Because I'm totaly deaf.."

There was a long pause, before our caller said. "But you are using a phone now."

"No," she said, "I'm not."

He then said "Well what about your children? Can't they have a phone?"

To which she answered, in an amazingly sorrorfull voice. "I c-can't have children..." and pretended to blub.

He hung up.

 

It makes you feel better for a bit, but after a few days, you go back to wanting to shoot them with a high powered rifle.

 

[Bill]

If you can spare the time have some fun. The caller is a human just like ourselves he or she might even be a fellow modeller. So i always ask them their name and keep them talking about anything other that the reason they called, which was to use me like a utensil. Then at some appropriate time, simply ring off.

The other day a young lady from somewhere in Asia called and I, feeling a bit grumpy said, "What the hell do you want?"

She immediately misunderstood the remark and got personally involved and stuttered over and over again getting angrier each time, "You call me 'Hell'?"

 

Unable to continue the dialogue I rang off. About a minute later the phone rang. It was the young lady. "Go to Hell Mr Bill!", shouted she and promptly rang off!

 

It was hilarious.

[Weekday Cross]

Unfortunately, it is not always fun. Some apparently genuine callers are really after your personal information.

 

One idea is to try to "sell" you something to get your credit card information. Offering a free mobile phone is one idea.

 

Another trick is to pretend they have found out through a contact of yours that you probably have a dangerous trojan on your computer and they want to send you some software to repair it. This turns out to be a fishing program that finds out all your passwords etc. and sends them back to base.

 

Another trick is to pretend to be doing some kind of consumer survey. They soften you up with innocent questions and then throw in occasional questions about your personal information - the kind of things you would use to access your bank account, like your mother's maiden name, your last school or your memorable date. This information can be sold on to people who will use it to access your bank account.

 

Hopefully no one on this forum has been caught - but it pays to be very cautious and suspicious of any cold call, no matter what it might sound like.