View Full Version : Telephone preferance
connieb19
05-Sep-06, 18:44
I sighned up a while back for Telephone Preference to stop all these cold callers. It was sucessfull for a while but now, all of a sudden they have started again. I asked one caller where she got my number she said I am on their mailing list. Does the Telephone Preference thing only work for a short time? Has the same thing happened to anyone else? [evil] Is there any way of getting rid of them for good?
Billy Boy
05-Sep-06, 18:48
i joined it to connie and like you it only lasted a short time
now i am bombarded with calls sometimes when you answer there's no one there, apparently your number goes into the system and sometimes there's no one available to take your call so it drops out. boy is it annoying especially when the little bb is in bed[evil]
pultneytooner
05-Sep-06, 19:10
I sighned up a while back for Telephone Preference to stop all these cold callers. It was sucessfull for a while but now, all of a sudden they have started again. I asked one caller where she got my number she said I am on their mailing list. Does the Telephone Preference thing only work for a short time? Has the same thing happened to anyone else? [evil] Is there any way of getting rid of them for good?
Once you are signed up to the telephone preference scheme it is illegal for anyone to make direct marketing calls so the best thing to do is threaten to or go ahead and report them.
connieb19
05-Sep-06, 19:13
Once you are signed up to the telephone preference scheme it is illegal for anyone to make direct marketing calls so the best thing to do is threaten to or go ahead and report them.
That's what I thought too. That's why I asked where she got my number. next time I'll try threatening them.
footie chick
05-Sep-06, 19:18
Caller ID is free from BT now. Usually International or withheld calls are cold callers or surveys I just ignore them.
Kingetter
05-Sep-06, 19:21
That's what I thought too. That's why I asked where she got my number. next time I'll try threatening them.
Next time, try the Nambari Tea Advert thing where she says how much she values their call and then goes and makes a cuppa - there's more to it but that's the gist of it.
Hi
You could try 'Anonymous Call Rejection' with BT - Allows you to bar calls being made from withheld numbers. (so you would have the number of the company if they took off 'witheld' so to get 'em done under the regulations)
How does it work? If a caller withholds their number so that you can't tell what number they're calling from, they will not be able to get through to you. (they get a message saying 'this person does not accept anonymous calls)
They will only be able to get through if they reveal their number.
it's not cheap though
Caller ID is free from BT now. Usually International or withheld calls are cold callers or surveys I just ignore them.
You might want to be careful with the withheld calls, as places like the medical centre and the council withhold their number as a matter of course.
The telephone preference service is premanent. Once you have registered to be on it as PT stated it is illegal for companies to call you if you're on the list. HOWEVER, they can still call you if they happen to use a number generating system - that is software which generates numbers which it then dials.
I had the same problem and demanded to speak to a supervisor when I was called. I explined I was on the TPS list and they were committing an offence by calling me - the guy apologised and said he would add my number to their 'do not call' list. I'm not sure if this 'list' is shared amongst these companies but I have not had any calls since.
grumpyhippo
05-Sep-06, 20:33
I've been on the TPS list for a couple of years now. At first I still got some calls but following a meaningful exchange of views with one caller it appears that some companies only update their excluded numbers list every three months or so and you can still get calls untill all lists are updated. Although the TPS is only voluntary the companies seem to take it VERY seriously, if I do get a call just mentioning TPS usually gets an immediate apology and no further calls. If a company persists, as one did to me, get as much detail as possible a forward it to the TPS organisation. I did this once and got a reply saying that the companys' record would be considered at a regular review and if the company was not complying with the TPS guidlines it would be stopped from tele-marketing.
I am also a member of the tps, it has stopped all the window and kitchen sales calls, but not the international ones which always seem to be the same company.
just hang up on them or start asking them there name address how many children they have whats the weather like were they are and they'll soon hang up .
You can join the MPS as well - stops the junk mail - http://www.mpsonline.org.uk/mpsr/
Cedric Farthsbottom III
05-Sep-06, 21:53
Answer that yer,Fu aw Fat Chinese Takeaway and whats their order.After ye get by the free prawn crackers bit....they've hung up!!!!:lol: :lol:
j4bberw0ck
05-Sep-06, 22:08
MadPict has it right. TPS registration is permanent, and not answering "number withheld" calls is a risk. Companies and local government withhold numbers because of the Data Protection Act (just another unintended consequence of a not altogether successful piece of legislation).
One thing I would like to say: please don't gve in to the temptation to yell at the caller, insult them, give them a hard time or whatever. Marketing / sales telephone call centres have a phenomenal turnover of staff because the work is often in antisocial hours, often poorly paid, and those people are not in control of what's happening to them. Call centre staff tend to be there because they have no other job option.
The computer dials a bunch of numbers and the first one answered is piped to the operator. The rest are dropped by the computer. Then they launch into their script. It's soul-destroying stuff; can you imagine making 300 calls a night and getting yelled at, abused, or hung up on at every turn? A fair percentage of operators go home in tears at the evening's end; ask a psychiatrist what most commonly causes stress in work, and then depression, and it's lack of control over your achievement of what you're required to do, every time.
The operators are also usually working to targets - % calls converted to enquiries, enquiries converted to sales, add-ons sold and what-have-you. Frequent non-achievement of targets = out of work.
If you get these calls and you're TPS registered, courtesy and a bit of understanding costs nothing. Ask to speak to the supervisor. Explain you're on TPS, and they've made themselves liable to a £5,000 fine for breaching the Code of Conduct. Ask to be removed from their call lists.
If you're not TPS registered, get registered here! (http://www.tpsonline.org.uk/tps/)
Pulling all the "funny" tricks like putting the phone down while you make a cup of tea, running through "reverse marketing" scripts available on the internet, or even just hanging up, and making these people's lives even more miserable, is a bit like pulling the wings off flies. They can't retaliate because they're recorded ("for training purposes" - hah!). How do you feel when someone hangs up on you? Could you handle that 100 times, one after the other, every shift?
I've set these operations up in the past and I can tell you they are terrible for the people at the coalface. I left a job because I wasn't prepared to do that any more. I regret ever having anything to do with the industry.
Be nice to those people when they call - you have it in your power to send someone home at the end of their shift feeling that not everyone in the world is a complete and utter ...... well, you know what I mean.
Sorry for the long post but I feel strongly about this one.
You might want to be careful with the withheld calls, as places like the medical centre and the council withhold their number as a matter of course.
Think carefully before you do this as hospitals numbers are witheld and they may need to contact you urgently, also doctors numbers are witheld.
Cedric Farthsbottom III
05-Sep-06, 22:44
Smell the flowers while ye can
grumpyhippo
05-Sep-06, 22:53
It may be an urban myth but it is still worth the telling;........
An man found himself in an American hotel that was hosting a direct marketing sales persons conference, in the wee small hours he started to phone other hotel rooms at random, they were not amused.
Some things just have to be done!!!!
willowbankbear
05-Sep-06, 22:53
I had 1 today that couldnt pronounce my surname properly, so I told her politely to phone me back when she could:Razz
I had 1 today that couldnt pronounce my surname properly, so I told her politely to phone me back when she could:Razz
I did Exactly the same thing..
alistair harper
05-Sep-06, 23:09
Hi Folks
Just a little info on this problem the tps has to be updated every year you dont have to wait for the end of the 12 mnths to reapply also there is a service called silent call gaurd also 12mnths which stops random searches coming through it takes 48 hours to become active tps takes 28 days as they only send the list out at the end of every month if you call 150 and ask about these services the advisors will put you on tps and should be able to give you the number for silent call gaurd unfortunatily international calls get through to both as they are not bound by the same laws as uk but if you do get a call from a person trying to sell any kind of goods just say im tps customer and dont want to be called it does work.i do feel sorry for the people who do these jobs as its not there faults they have to make a living also but when they call at 1am then im not so understanding.
hope you all get a good nights sleep
j4bberw0ck
05-Sep-06, 23:15
Forgive me disagreeing but TPS registration is a once and for all process. It does NOT have to be updated every year. Look >>>here<<< (http://www.tpsonline.org.uk/tps/faq/#sixteen) . Your point about calls from outside the UK is absolutely correct.
footie chick
06-Sep-06, 08:34
Think carefully before you do this as hospitals numbers are witheld and they may need to contact you urgently, also doctors numbers are witheld.
Surely they would leave a message or try mobile
i have found the best way is to ask directly for the supervisor and refuse to give a reason why when they ask, if the supervisor comes to the phone (which they very rarely do) ask them how they like being disturbed and then put the phone down.
j4bberw0ck
06-Sep-06, 09:14
Surely they would leave a message or try mobile
They can't leave a message because it breaches the right to data privacy in the Data Protection Act. They have no control over who gets the message. They withhold the number because if the number is displayed or revealed when someone 1471's the line, and recognises it's the bank / the hospital / whatever, the Data Protection Act is breached again.
j4bberw0ck
06-Sep-06, 09:17
i have found the best way is to ask directly for the supervisor and refuse to give a reason why when they ask, if the supervisor comes to the phone (which they very rarely do) ask them how they like being disturbed and then put the phone down.
Why not avoid the calls in the first place?
(http://www.tpsonline.org.uk/tps/)
When you get the offending call, ask them for their Company Name and telephone number and remind them your are registered with TPS.......they soon hang up, and hopefully you will not be bothered by them again.
I have been registered with TPS for a few years now, and also the junk mail preference service, what a difference that makes.
Naefearjustbeer
06-Sep-06, 09:34
We are registered with both the phone and the mail TPS. We noticed an imediate difference with the phone calls, We still get the odd one every now and then but we have never noticed a difference with the mail we still get a lot of crap coming through. A lot of it however is not stuff addressed to us it is annoying leaflets with householder or the like on them and all those damm leaflets from the coop and somerfields [evil]
j4bberw0ck
06-Sep-06, 09:43
we have never noticed a difference with the mail we still get a lot of crap coming through. A lot of it however is not stuff addressed to us it is annoying leaflets with householder or the like on them and all those damm leaflets from the coop and somerfields [evil]
Just to prove you can't keep the free market down, the rise in non-personalised junk mail is directly connected to the creation of the Mail Preference Service. The MPS requires the sender of the letter to check your name / address isn't on a database; no address = no requirement to check :lol:
Hi
If you do not want unaddressed mail put through your box, then write to:
Unaddressed mail - Opt-Outs, Royal Mail, Kingsmead House, Oxpens Road, Oxford, OX1 1RX
Telling them you no longer want unaddressed mail...
And Royal Mail has launched an email address - optout@royalmail.com - in addition to posted requests from customers to end junk mail deliveries.
j4bberw0ck
06-Sep-06, 10:02
Eeeh bah goom, it's amazing what slips past, living this quiet life in Orkney.
Didn't know that, bigpete. Cheers!
Hi
If you do not want unaddressed mail put through your box, then write to:
Unaddressed mail - Opt-Outs, Royal Mail, Kingsmead House, Oxpens Road, Oxford, OX1 1RX
Telling them you no longer want unaddressed mail...
And Royal Mail has launched an email address - optout@royalmail.com - in addition to posted requests from customers to end junk mail deliveries.
But beware, if you take up this option all non addressed mail will be stopped, i.e. all mail from HM Gov, the Council and the like, addressed to "The Householder" will be stopped.
Unaddressed mail can be stopped. It is not as straightforward as the MPS which can be done online.
You have to write to
Opt-Outs, Royal Mail, Kingsmead House, Oxpens Road, Oxford, OX1 1RX
For addressed mail - Mail Preference Service (MPS), Freepost 29, LON 20771, London, W1E 0ZT or call 0845 703 4599
Unfortunately this will not stop letters addressed to "The Occupier", which the postman is legally obliged to deliver.
Try the low tech method of a "No Junk Mail" on your letter box...
This was all brought to light recently by the news story of the Postie who told people on his round how to opt out - the guy is facing the sack for trying to lighten his sack.....
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/5294708.stm
Oops bigpete beat me to it....
j4bberw0ck
06-Sep-06, 10:19
But beware, if you take up this option all non addressed mail will be stopped, i.e. all mail from HM Gov, the Council and the like, addressed to "The Householder" will be stopped.
Sounds like a positive to me! :lol:
Golach, I'm quite a conservative sort of person in many ways (note the small "c" if you will) so I value my government (to a point) but I'm pretty sure I never, ever, got anything of any importance from the Government or Council that wasn't personally addressed to me.
I get bombarded with Capital One credit card mailings..... obligingly, they include a reply paid envelope. So I put all my other junk mail for that day in the envelope and post it back to them next time I'm passing a postbox. Generally the weight is over 60 grammes, so they'll be surcharged.
Smallminded it may be; sad, even........ possibly I'm just stupid. But I admit to a feeling of satisfaction when the envelope is full :lol: .
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