STOPPING COLD CALLERS ....driving me mad!

[AliceK]

I let all calls go to answerphone, I have it set to just 2 rings, sometimes I'll pop over and have a look at the number on the display, someone selling something will never leave a msg. No-one that I need to speak to ever calls my landline as everyone has my mobile and even potential new parents call my mobile so I pretty much know that if my landline ever rings I will not want to speak to whoever it is.

xxx

[funemnx]

I just tell them I'm the houskeeper/nanny/cleaner and can I take a message - they know I'm lying but what can they say!

Hubby got the computer one and they asked for him by name but were really thrown when he said he had a MAC!

[Babycat]

We get this like up to 6 times in a day!! then we have even been known to have evening ones honestly. The kids now sing a song too "go away PPI go away GO AWAY" because it honestly drives us all batty :P

[rickysmiths]

We have been with tps for years now and don't get any calls at all.

If you are getting a lot get a whistle and keep it by the phone. Blow hard when they call and you won't hear from them again.

[WibbleWobble]

they seem to want to talk to my old name.....i have been married 4 years!

I tell them Mrs Whatsit has

a run off with the gas man and has left 5 kids

b has died....a tragic accident with a flannel

c has changed sex and now is known as Mr Whatsit....shall i get him?

funnily enough these seem to get the callers flustered.

Wibble x

[migimoo]

My kids usually answer the house phone say "i'll just get my mum" then leave the phone on the side till they give in and hang up!

Mind you our home phone has been missing for weeks and as it's cordless the batteries dead so we can't find it which has given us some peace....anyone who wants us rings our mobiles anyway!

I agree that these websites you register with are a waste of time too

[mushpea]

I got so fed up I now dont have a house phone and just use the landline for the internet.
somtimes I used to play along and wind them up, somtimes I would just leave them to it and carry on working, the ones when they say theres somthing wrong with my computer I used to say what computer I dont have one, are you giving me a free one,,,, and other times I would say I'm not interested in what your selling but let me tell you what I am selling then describe what ever the nearest object is in great detail untill the got fed up.

[blue bear]

You lot are all nuts, this post has given me a good laugh just when I needed it. Thank you

[Kiddleywinks]

You lot are all nuts, this post has given me a good laugh just when I needed it. Thank you

You think they're funny?
A friend of mine was a self employed builder so therefore had liability insurance.
He was getting 'accident claim' calls multiple times a day and was getting fed up with it, so one day, he decided to play them at their own game.
He allowed the initial schpeel, and said yes, he would like to make a claim...
the guy, after he had recovered from the shock, then started going through the information required, name, address, contact details etc.
Builder friend gave his name as: Unwin Thomas Watt...... (apologies if the abbreviation offends anyone)

After all the personal info had been given, the details of the accident/injury was requested, and this is where it really got funny.
The claim call guy was told that Mr Watt was hurt at work, on the job. This apparently got claim call guy VERY excited and enthusiastic.
Mr Watt explained that he had been up a ladder and had fallen off into a cement mixer, which given the length of time it took to raise the alarm, the cement set solid with his legs still inside.
He had to be cut free, and as he was on his own, had to do it himself and the angle grinder he used had sliced both his legs in half.
(Cue lots of sympathy from claim call guy)
If that wasn't bad enough, Mr Watt had also severely banged his head and was suffering recurrent headaches and nightmares as a result of his ordeal
(Cue even more sympathy from claim call guy)
It was at this point Mr Watt pointed out that he shouldn't even have been up the ladder in the first place as he was registered blind and his boss refused to accept responsibility, and was indeed making him continue to work to pay off the cost of replacing the cement mixer and angle grinder he'd damaged in the process!

Mr claim call guy at this point went on a rant about the injustice of it all for a good 5 mins, about how much his company could get for him in compensation blah de blah de blah
and at this point requested the name of his employer and the person he would need to contact

Unwin Thomas Watt Builders was the company name
and he wanted to sue Mr Watt the builder

Cue some silence

Sorry sir, could you repeat the name of the person that owns the company
Give name again
Sir, is that not your name?
Yes
Sorry
Yes
So.... who exactly do you work for...?
Myself.
Ok... so who are you suing.....?
Myself
But you can't do that Mr Watt
Why not?
Because you can't sue yourself
But I'm insured

Cue another 10 mins of this before the penny dropped

He said it was the best half hour he'd had all week

[peanuts]

our number is registered with TPS but still get calls. Latest one is from solar energy. very annoying.

[Carol M]

Don't ever answer any surveys. These are done by a third party for leads. Usually the person is very polite asking if you have a few mins to help with a householders survey. Questions include about mortgage, life insurance,PPi, energy supplies, double glazing, home extention plans,etc. Your details are added to MANY lists and companies have the right to call you as you have answered the survey!
Forget the BT caller preference thingy, it won't stop these calls.
I am fed up too with constant PPI callers so after telling them I don't have PPI so will not have been mis sold, I have let one company take details of credit cards to check. We will see, I hope they either get me back some money or will waste their time.
The life insurance calls, well, I told them since taking out life insurance years ago both DH an I have life threatening illness, felt a bit naughty as not true, but he appologised profusely and said our number would be taken off their list.
Carol xx

[jumpinjen]

My husband speaks in Welsh to them which they can't cope with.... and I just deny..... no s/he doesn't live here anymore, no I don't have a computer, no I don't have any debt, no sorry, thanks for calling, by the way is your name really Allan/Keith/Bernard?

I asked one once to take my name of their lists as I was fed up of them calling and I wasn't going to buy anything from them.... he threatened me!!

I tried the police and every avenue I could - yes they are illegal.... but only for Uk companies, those outside the Uk can do what they like and can't be blocked either - I very rarely answer my house phone now and do it all through mobile.....

Jen x