Reply With Quote4 times that is really bad.
Why not sign up to the TPS should cut out most of these calls.
http://www.tpsonline.org.uk/tps/
Yesterday went home with wife crying on the phone. It transpires this was about 4th cold caller that day saying she had won a car in a raffle at local supermarket. The caller asked to speak to Mrs P. My wife said that she was no longer with us and had died last week. Caller was shocked and dumb-founded. Wife said she was glad for the call as had no-one else to talk to......this went on for a few minutes with MrsP trying to cry but hold back the laughter. caller hung up......some bloody sympathy.
4 times that is really bad.
Why not sign up to the TPS should cut out most of these calls.
http://www.tpsonline.org.uk/tps/
It does, although the current bane of my life are the frequent recorded message sales calls that we get, around 2 to 3 per evening. Infuriating stuff and no completely obvious way of stopping them.Why not sign up to the TPS should cut out most of these calls.
Answering machine so you can screen calls - you can always pick up during the message. That and caller ID.Originally Posted by Seabadger
If they are a UK based company then you can still report them.
Yes thay are hugely annoying. I like the 'passed away' routine
I generally don't pick any calls up as only a very few people have my land line number. It ties up the line and answering service for ages though as some of the recordings last for around 10 - 15 mins - for the same reason I'm not 100% sure which country they originate in, or who to complain about if they are a UK firm, which I suspect they are not - life is too short to spend >15 minutes per day listening to a recording of an American voice telling me about the MASSIVE YACHT I've been lucky enough to win.Answering machine so you can screen calls - you can always pick up during the message. That and caller ID.
I have a with-held number bar on my landline which cuts out a lot of the automated $hit.
Those who do get through get told; "I registered with the Telephone Preference Service and was told that no REPUTABLE company would contact me this way."
This leaves them trying to explain that their company is reputable... :twisted: Or apologising and hanging up. :lol:
Mike.
Good skills, I will try that myself next time!
Luckily at home we get very few cold-callers, but can get besiged at work by them. We have the 10 sec challenge - finish the conversation within 10 seconds without being too rude, its become a sport.
Don't companies get fined if you sign up for this and they still call?
I find the best way to treat cold callers is to tell them that you'll just go and get whoever they ask for, then just balance the phone on top of the TV and leave it there, checking periodically to see whether they have hung up (yet)....
:D
A colleague of mines' late mother's speciality was double-glazing salesmen. She would keep them spinning for an hour or so, agreeing with all the benefits that were being highlighted etc and at the end would give them the name of the person who was responsible for the maintenance of her Council flat.
In the Sotadic Zone, apparently.
A guy at work spoke at length to a conservatory sales caller, and eventually arranged an appointment for a salesman to visit. He didn't mention on the phone that he lived in a first floor flat. :D
The one that gets me in work is people who call like they know you... 'Hey Paul, it's Bill from STS, how are you doing mate, it's been a while... just calling to see how things are..' and it goes on. I will have never even heard of the company before and it'll boil down to the obvious we're trying to sell x product. I've very recently changed tact and I now just respond like it's an old friend I haven't spoke to in ages and ramble on about seeing such and such the other day, and asking how the kids are etc. Does the trick MUCH better, and invariably I never hear from them again :lol: :lol: :mrgreen:
What i do is tell them that i'm really interested in their product but am a bit busy at that moment and ask if I can have their own home number, when they say why I shout down the phone "so i can phone you at an inconvenient time and pester the life out of you" :lol:
One (quite expensive) option is to buy a product which screens the calls ie Truecall http://www.truecall.co.uk
Or you could take a leaf from the Banks etc and ask the caller to confirm their telephone number, address and bank details to make sure you are talking to the right person
Got so sick of them I ditched the landline, never had such peaceful evenings :D
"I looked with pity not untinged with scorn upon these trivial-minded passers-by"
Don't companies get fined if you sign up for this and they still call?
Yes they get there wrist slapped the first time then fined. Its well worth doing.
Your work could also register with the TPS. :wink:
R
Ignorance breeds Fear. Fear breeds Hatred. Hatred breeds Ignorance. Break the chain.
My methods are (in no particular order)
1.give the phone to my youngest daughter and let them listen to her burble into the phone
2.amuse myself by purposely mishearing questions and making up ridiculous replies
3.hang up immediately casue i can't be arsed
4. (only applicable when i am woken up after a night shift).....tell them exactly what i think in anatomical terms
Yep favour the ' I will just go and get who you are looking for' approach.
Waste some of their time.
Seems to be automated lines nowadays though - very annoying..
Must go ex directory
I did the tps thing and that did reduced the calls, now its those automated american accent speaking ones that do my head it! Must have a look at that withheld number barring-thing, maybe that'll stop them!
I've always been ex-directory and still get the automated American calls.Seems to be automated lines nowadays though - very annoying..
Must go ex directory
Going to be stealing a few of ideas already mentioned here. 8)
Signed upto the TPS years ago and that does stop 95% of the calls.
I generally go for a "No thanks" and just put the phone down straight away.
If I'm bored and want to amuse myself I just play deaf and tell them they will have to speak up. This invariable ends up with them shouting down the phone until the get fed up!
That service is called Anonymous Call Reject (from BT) but it does not cover calls from 'unavailable' callers & that can include overseas calls.
R
Ignorance breeds Fear. Fear breeds Hatred. Hatred breeds Ignorance. Break the chain.
I had one guy on the line for about 10 minutes the other day whilst he went through all the reasons that I would really benefit from a loan from his company. I then got excited and told him that, as an undischarged bankrupt I had been having difficulty in getting loans. It was amazing how quickly he hung up :twisted: :twisted:
My other favourite is to explain to glazing companies that under the terms of the court injunction I'm not allowed to live in a house that has windows. They seem to back away quite quickly for that one too!
I get a few calls on the mobile trying to get me to change providers or contracts and they seem to get confused if I tell them that I'm not allowed to use phones!
They're only little pleasures but does it make me a bad person?
Cheers,
Nigel
I keep a large whistle by the phone
Respect the past, live the present, protect the future
I just don't answer the phone if it's a number I don't recognise, the answer machine kicks in and if it turns out to be important I call back. If I didn't need a phone for work It would be one of the first things I'd ditch straight away. Bring back the good old days when no-one could reach you.
I asked bt to be ex directory when I built a new house- and they still bloody put me in the phonebook!
Posting Permissions