STOPPING COLD CALLERS ....driving me mad!

[angeldelight]

Since we moved house we get these constantly by telephone

All hours too it's driving us mad.

Some answer and ask for someone who does not live here,always asking for different people.
Some are just automated message when we pick up
Others do not even speak.

We have caller id but not a great help if they withhold their number

If anyone else asks me about ppi I'm going to scream

Anyone else get the same?

How can I stop these,any ideas?

Angel xx

[jellytot]

have you done call preference I think it is called, you register your number and companys are not allowed to use your number.

http://www.tpsonline.org.uk/ctps/number_type.html

this is the link for it x

[Kiddleywinks]

Register on telephone preference service with BT, that will start reducing them in a couple of months

In the meantime, if you accidently answer a call, ask them if they use the TPS service, 9 times out of 10 they'll put the phone down or say they do and apologise before hanging up.

If you get chance, before they hang up, tell them to remove your details or you'll report them - they must delete your details if you specify it.

[charleyfarley]

Morning angel

We have the same problem and it really bugs me so what I've started doing is once I answer the phone and know its a cc I put the phone on loud speaker and put it on the side letting them spout off to themselves till they realise I'm not there :laughing:

There is a number you can phone to stop most of them and bt can help too.

Hope you stop them soon angel, they are so annoying

Carol xx

[angeldelight]

Morning angel

We have the same problem and it really bugs me so what I've started doing is once I answer the phone and know its a cc I put the phone on loud speaker and put it on the side letting them spout off to themselves till they realise I'm not there :laughing:

There is a number you can phone to stop most of them and bt can help too.

Hope you stop them soon angel, they are so annoying

Carol xx

What are you doing here Carol ....go enjoy your holiday :laughing:

Angel xx

[charleyfarley]

What are you doing here Carol ....go enjoy your holiday :laughing:

Angel xx

I am angel but been up since 4am as I can't sleep, it's now 5,56am.

Off to get a shower now reay for the day ahead:)

Carol xx

[Twinkles]

We're registered with the telephone preference service but we still get calls from the PPI companies. They say they are exempt as they are not 'selling' anything.

A loophole I guess :(

[sarah707]

I leave the machine on and look at caller display - if there isn't a number or I don't know it then I let it go to the answerphone.

if it's a new parent or someone who really wants me they will leave a message :D

[aly]

tbh using tps is pointless, we are a member of it and we still get these blasted calls.....theres nothign we can do about it.

Next time they ring I will either just put them on hold as its their call charge not mine, or get a whistle and....well you can guess the rest.

:littleangel:

[bunyip]

We're registered with the telephone preference service but we still get calls from the PPI companies. They say they are exempt as they are not 'selling' anything.

A loophole I guess :(

I read somewhere that the 'automatic diallers' used by PPI claim companies are exempt, because they're not using numbers from a list. They really are annoying.

I think TPS remove your number from existing lists (it can take a few weeks to correct) and then you have to make sure you don't end up on any new lists by ticking/unticking all the right boxes on forms and websites. Otherwise you just get added to all the new lists and have to start all over again with TPS.

[Chimps Childminding]

My DH just answers the phone then puts it down on the side and carries on with whatever he was doing - watching TV usually :angry: Me I'm too polite but have got quite good at saying I'm not interested and hanging up before they start waffling again!!!

Oh and the ones that tell me I have a problem with my computer :angry::angry: A friend's work colleague had a call, played along turned on computer, supposedly pressed buttons as instructed (he was an IT technician so knew what he was doing anyway) and when he was asked what it said on the screen he replied "It says :censored: off and leave my computer alone" and hung up :laughing: I keep trying to do it, but end up sniggering too much as they are telling me what to do that I would give myself away!!!

[bunyip]

This is not necessarily a recommendation, but some useful tips here:-

http://www.vigay.com/misc/coldcallers.html

;)

[onceinabluemoon]

Havent read other replies as I'm working (school age kiddies are eating lunch in front of me) but what I did was buy an answer phone and use it to screen calls. I dont bother to pick up unless its somebody I know. x

[Rubybubbles]

I have had this loads since I have moved angel:( I can tell by the times!

I spoke to my hairdresser who said she gets loads as our numbers are out there for childminding! Most of my are auto for PPI though:rolleyes: so cant tell them to bog off:laughing:

[Tippy Toes]

I leave the machine on and look at caller display - if there isn't a number or I don't know it then I let it go to the answerphone.

if it's a new parent or someone who really wants me they will leave a message :D

This is what I do to now.

Have been having calls for months and months, drives me mad!!! And they always seem to call at NAP TIME :angry:

Ive tried everything to stop them but nothing works.

[sue m]

I'm getting about 2 a day of the ones going on about the PPI and I'm sick of it. I've got caller ID and they often come up 'International' so I ignore them but then have to see if anyone left a message as it could be my son or a couple of friends who live abroad.

I'm registered with the TPS and don't often get unwanted calls from this country. :thumbsup:

[bunyip]

The PPI ones seems to have you press a key to speak to someone. I've always wondered who pays for the call if I press?

[cabby]

i find swearing at them helps....:littleangel::littleangel: :D:D





i am joking xx

[angeldelight]

i find swearing at them helps....:littleangel::littleangel: :D:D





i am joking xx

Oh I tried that,it didn't work :laughing:

Angel xx

[cabby]

Oh I tried that,it didn't work :laughing:

Angel xx

your not using the right words then.........would you like me to tell you which ones work..lol x

[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! :laughing:

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

[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 :laughing:

[Kiddleywinks]

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

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 :laughing:

[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:confused: 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