How to deal with cold callers
Companies that use cold calling tactics are annoying and stressful but there are steps you can take to stop them. Rebecca Rutt looks into how you can escape from the cold callers and where you can go to complain about them.
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I used to get cold calls all the time from sales people telling me I've had an accident, flogging things or guilt-tripping me into giving money and it was so frustrating.
To escape them I registered with the free Telephone Preference Service. I used to work in a call centre and the only rules were not to call anyone on the TPS list. But even this was waived at times.
We were given minimal training and encouraged to Google companies on mass and call their staff, with no idea if they were on the TPS list or not.
But you do have some power.
If you get called and you're on the list, take down the time and date, get the firm's name and ask for a telephone number. You can then go to Ofcom. They've got an online complaints form and can take up your case and could fine the company.
Also check the small print when entering your phone number on anything and tell companies you don't want to be contacted by phone. My cold calling days are over but there's no excuse for companies doing this. Be aware, fight your corner and stop being bullied by the cold callers.
I still get calls from a companies who have call centres outside of the UK. Is there any way they can be stopped? I don't want to block international calls as I have friends abroad.
I have installed TRUECALL a box which filters calls. You can set up all your friends / family so that they get through straight away, whilst other callers have to say their name before the call is put through to you. If they do not say their name the phone will not ring.
This has cut down considerably on the number of cold calls I now receive.
If someone makes an unsolicited phone call to me I ask them to wait while I finish taking a call on my mobile. Eventually they give up and ring off . In my view making them wait means that they cannot pester other people so would all benefit if everybody did this.
I have often used this way of dealing with cold callers at my home address : - It cannot be used in all cases but it is so simple & effective when appropriate . I say to the caller that I am renting the property and am not the owner , they soon go away .
I am registered with the TPS service but still get lots of unsolicited calls. Don't know what else to do as they don't leave their number anyway, and when pressing 1471 it's not available there either.
It would help if you had provided more details as to how to access the TPS service
when i get these calls i tell them i am just about to make love to my neighbours wife and if they would like to hang on i will be with them when i have finished, needless to say they soon hang up....
I never answer the telephone - haven't done for years! How sad is that? I am available by email, text, and coded signals where I choose when to reply. A bit selfish, but I love it. What is it with these people who keep their mobiles switched on all the time?
TPS completely ineffective in my case
BT will block "number withheld" calls.
However they charge a monthly fee for this.
Given the annoyance caused by this problem, such an option, in a basic rental package, would surely be of marketing benefit
I too use this ploy. I say I'm renting the property and they very smartly go away.
Or I say he's not here, call back in 2 hours. They never do. I joined the TPS service but it is not 100% effective.
I often use the registrat
I understand that international call centres are not bound by the same rules as UK companies, so TPS does not apply to them. I just ignore calls that are listed as international, although it is annoying that they keep calling.
If Number Withheld.I ask for name of person they wish to speak to I then tell them he will not be home untill 7 oclock tonight.They never call back.
I always ask unknown callers from commercial organisations if I have asked them to call me. Sometimes they will waffle and say that they spoke to me some time ago and I asked them to call back. Highly unlikely and I tell them so; end of converstaion. I also use the Telephone Preference Service ploy which often gets them to put down the 'phone straight away. A multi-lingual friend will break into Spanish or German, purporting not to speak English. Someone else has been know to show great interest in what ever they are selling (could be solar heating or boiler-room shares) and ask all sorts of intentionally fatuous questions, before disentangling himself, having wasted the caller's time.
The most annoying callers are the silent ones who cut off as soon as you answer and where it's impossible to get a call back such as 1471. Any solution to these pests would be welcomed
Not sure why this is a problem. After signing up for TPS, to those few callers that still get through I just immediately say No Thanks and put the phone down. I certainly don't bother making up any story, or waste any time on them. I'm not rude cos these are people trying to earn a living, but at the same time I don't think cold callers merit the same courtesy, explanations, apologies, etc as other callers.
I'm with TPS as well but still get the calls. Many are "number withheld" or "out of area"; or "international"; or 0845; or actually go to dial tone the minute I pick up the phone. (I've done consultancy in call centres so know how it works - the automated number picker had just run out of call centre staff)
Some are local firms trying to drum up business.I'm usually polite initially. I've always "just" replaced my windows, bathroom, kitchen, whatever (and all lies) which has the desired effect without being rude.These people are just trying to do a job after all and here in the North East jobs seem hard to come by.
The ones trying to sell me financial products? Usually boiler rooms or con merchants. I start out polite and say no, not interested, immediately. If they continue, and they always do, then I tend to say something like "I've been polite so far but you aren't listening so shortly I'll tell you to **** *** and I really don't want to have to do that". The caller usually hangs up.
If I'm feeling kinder, or it's a woman, I just hang up.
One does has to be careful though. Earlier this year my bank "number withheld" rang to tell me that my credit card had been almost compromised just minutes earlier.Top Marks to Natwest Card Services. They had refused the transaction and called me. I was out at the time but they left a message with a call back number. The card of course was compromised even though the transaction had failed. (I subscribe to their "safe" system so the perpetrator couldn't provide the info asked)
Actually, before I'd listened to the message they rang again. I refused to give my details. They were fine about that and asked me to call the number on the back of my card - actually different from the call-back number. Would advise anyone to do that and NOT to give details to someone claiming to be from their bank. Ringing THEM will cost you but also save you potential grief if the caller is a fraud.
Similarly if "Microsoft" ring to say your machine has problems just hang up. It's a con. Microsoft don't ring people and certainly don't have your telephone number. Think Moneywise may have covered both of the above cons.
I will "name and shame" one British major company which calls me regularly. Talktalk. TT clearly take no notice of TPS or Ofcom. Next time I SHALL report them.
where can I obtain Truecall?
Answer in a foreign language; it generally puts them off.
Shower legitimate abuse and curse the cold caller. I can say that it has worked for me except automatically prerecorded dialled calls. There is no one to shower abuse and you will be wasting you breath !
i was pestered by 3 to take out a contract with them.i got 3 calls in 3days(Each time saying i wasnt interested).. On the 3rd call, once i heard who it was i simply asked them to hold as i 'turned off the stove' put the phone on my bed, and went outside to watch the footie on tv.
after 45 minutes,they were still holding,but soon hung up when i could not stop laughing. Have not been pestered by them since.They will stop once it starts costing them money. my next step will probably inclue loud music
I am an Insurance Broker selling medical Insurance in the UK, I once worked directly for Aviva and 90% of my business for Aviva came from cold calling. Telesales teams based in Sheffield would call people (usually businesses) and try and book me an appointment to go and see them. You would be amazed how many people weren't really interested until I spoke to them but after I had explained why Medical Insurance would be good for them in their own circumstances they were happy they took the original call. Some of these people are still customers of mine 7 years later. Aviva made sure they didn't call anybody who was on the TPS register and their teams were always very professional and courteous to the customer when calling. I understand that some people don't like it but please remember that millions of pounds of legitimate business is sold every year over the phone, please give people a chance and if you are not interested just let them know, they will be more than happy to move on as they make nothing from uninterested parties. There are two sides to the story you know.
Tell the caller you need to go and get a pen, put the receiver down on the table, so that the line stays connected - then go for a walk, bake a cake, whatever you were going to do.
When you go back to the phone it'll be pretty certain that the caller will have rung off.
Like the guests above, I have TPS but get quite a few overseas fishers and 'survey' people who are trying to get round the TPS. For the ones who want to fix my broken computer I tell them I don't have a computer and that is the end of them. The next thing I do when they ask for 'me' is to go on the asking 'who are they' 'what is their phone number' 'what country are they calling from' 'why do they want to speak to 'me''. They soon go away without geting any data from me. It is a pain though because they do stop me from doing what I'm doing at the time so an answerphone is not a bad idea too. The whole phone system stinks as if they had to broadcast their number and that was law a whole load of calls would disappear
Registering with TPS is a must and if you tell the caller you areTPS registered they often panic and hang up as they can be fined for calling you - I always ask for my details to be removed from their database too - haven't had a cold call for AGES so it's working!
We were advised by BT that the cold callers were often from call centres outside the UK and there was nothing that could be done if they didn't ahere to the TPS.
If 1471 brings we do not have a number for this caller,, it was from outside the uk..so we were told. I find it hard to believe that cold calling couldn't be better policed and the fact it isn't is because the phone companies aren't particularly worried by it, after all, whether its here or abroad, cold calling generates money for phone companies. Why would they really want to stop it?
Just answer your calls "Hello, Cold Call Capture, how may we help you?" If it's a sales firm, this normally causes a long pause as their script doesn't cover such a shock response.
Explain you are a call filering system and do not pass on such calls that are not "registered" with you in advance.
I tend to get very few repeat calls and the number of calls has dropped significantly recently.
Please feel free to join in using my method against these callers.
If there is a silence when you answer the telephone, the chances are that you are being cold called by a computerised system. Put the phone down straight away before they have a chance to speak to you. If it is a genuine call they will ring back.
I can confirm the quickest way of getting rid of cold calling tarmac drive layers, or double glazing salesmen is say you are renting. They don't waste another moment with you. They're gone.
I have subscribed to BT to pay £4 per month to filter anonymous cold callers. Its just useless and I still get many cold callers. If I press 1471 when I have put the phone down, it says number withheld. But I am paying a monthly fee to stop this. When I complain to Bt they say its not possible. You tell that to all the cold callers that still pester me. Its 100% possible BT and I am fed up with it. Sort yourself out BT or dont take my money. They are not interested at all.
I am TPS registered but still get calls from "number withheld" callers.
I listen to what they have to say and politely say I am not interested . Then I sometimes have to say again that I am not interested. If I have to say I am not interested a third time then I realise they are quite persistent. I think to myself how many times will I say that I am not interested before they will stop trying to get me interested . It can be quite fun actually
I have caller id on my phone(at no cost) so if someone rings up with a 'withheld' or 'unavailable' title I just do not answer it.As I have no overseas contacts(they come up 'unavailable') I manage to miss most 'cold calls'
Not a perfect system but it works fo me.
A good idea I got from my late next door neighbour and which I now use is, when one of these annoying calls, automated or otherwise, arrives just put the phone down (not on the rest) and walk away leaving them talking to themselves. Whilst their doing that they can't be bothering anyone else. After a while you'll hear a high pitched whining but even that stops before long and it's not costing you anything. Eventually they might take the hint! Replace the receiver before too long though in case friends need to ring you.
The TPS only covers sales calls so you will still get calls from research companies. Yhis is not against the rules as they are not covered by TPS but generally you simply have to tell them you are not interested and they won't call again - don't just say you're busy or don't have time as that is inviting them to try another time. I find that asking where they got your name/number from often results in them ending the call if they're an overseas call centre.
great tip ;-)
I used to get quite a lot of these calls even though I am registered with the TPS. I had no trouble in politely ending each call but there were always more calls received at another time. One day I ignored the caller's sales pitch completely and demanded to know his details stating that I would report him to the TPS. This worked like magic as he imediately hung up and I have had no more such calls. It would appear that all the calls originated in the same place, even though there were many different subjects, and when I threatened to act they finally removed my details from their "mug" list
My sister was looking after a friend's house while he was on holiday. His wife had died a couple of years before. The phone rand and she decided to answer it just in case it was an emergency. It was and Indian call centre, they asked to speak to the wife who was deceased, my sister told them that she had died and they then asked her who she was. She told them that she was a burglar, they couldn't put the phone down quick enough.
I constantly get calls which display as International. I answered it once and it immediately began dialling. I find this alarming as you could be caught in one of the horrendous scams where they hook you into a call that costs hundreds of pounds. I never answer them now and they disconnect when the answer machine cuts in. I am register with the Telephone preference service which does not stop these calls.
I too have had no joy from the TPS.
BT can bar "number witheld" calls. However they charge a monthly fee for this. To include this in their tariff would be a useful marketing tool for any company.
as the guest above, have registered with TPS, but still get calls. Only this morning got one, when asked to be taken off their call register, was asked why - when said was unsolicited call, they continued to try and pursuede me. Again said not listening, take me off register. In the end had to hang up.
I have blocked cold calls with BT.. I have gone ex directory
Who phones - cold calling?
BT
I almost give up!
just politely ask them to hang on a sec and walk away from the phone - play music or let them listen to your tv - they soon go away.
TrueCall is expensive, £80-£100 depending on where you buy it. But it soon proves to you that it's worth every penny. For instance you can set it so that number with-held calls do not even ring your phone. This means it's free, no need to pay BT a monthly charge.
You can enter all the phone numbers of those whose calls you want to receive, and they arrive just as before. Enter numbers of those whose calls you don't want to receive and their calls don't even ring your phone.
You can set times (eg at night) when no calls get through except those on your "friends" list.
Strangers calling have to state their name or company or they will not get through. Even if they do state it you hear their name before they get through giving you the chance not to speak to them.
For all of TrueCall's bells and whistles to work you will need to get your phone company to turn on Caller ID. In my case about £1.50 per month.
I ask how long its going to take and then tell them that the charge for their time will be £5 and I am happy for them to pay by credit card or Paypal. They always reply that they are unable to make any payment and hang up.
I'm with you here - I would never be rude unless "they" had become abusive (which has happened on occasion). Most, as you say, are just trying to earn a living, and are stuck in a God-awful job that they probably hate. One day this coould be you or me.
My particular bugbear is the recent PPI claims - they "have it on record" that I have been mis-sold a PPI. They will help me claim it back. We've NEVER had a PPI, so I know this is a lie, but the number of calls we get - some nights about thre/four! This tries my patience.
I was going to sign up for TPS, but it is £40 a Year. True-call varies in price
from £72 upwards. Why should you have to pay that amount of money for these pests who will not take "NO" for an answer?
I have tried several things, like asking them to wait,
Laying the phone down and let the witter on, putting the phone down, telling them I am not available or out, turning the TV up full blast. Usually something works and all those things cost you nothing at all.
Its free to register with TPS
just tell them you have just been made bankrupt so u will have whatever they they are offering and i say i wont pay you either that is when it goes veryyyy quiet verryy quick . bruce lincoln .
I registered with TPS as well but I still got lots of calls, from Indian call centres. I solved the problem by getting rid of my land line altogether and saved myself £12 a month. I have a mobile phone and don't have anybody cold-calling me anymore.Great!!
I too get lots of out of area calls, mostly from America. I politely explain that what they are doing is an offence in the UK as we have the TPS and that their call could lead them to problems with the FBI; I then ask them to remove our number from their database.
This seems to work as the numbers of calls are reducing
I'm exdirectory,but still get cold calls.