How to finally put a stop to cold & silent callers.

[Sara_H]

We bought a phone recording device after a few dodgy dealings with an insurance company last year. On the odd occasion I've used it I've always informed the caller in much the same way I'm informed when they're recording me.

My moment of greatest joy in life was when a caller from the insurance company gave me the standard "just to let you know, we're recording this call for training and security purposes" line, to which I simply replied "me too"!

 

[Sara_H]

Greatest joy?

Yup, highlight of my life so far - at least since I became victor meldrewish in my attitude towards insurance companies, the police, etc etc

 

[Andy_R]

hehe...I've just had a thought.....something along these lines:
Caller:"Can I speak to Mr xxx/Mrs xxx/the householder?"
Me:"Just a moment, I'll get them for you."
Me (off the phone but loud enough to be heard by caller)"Mum, the man on the phone said he wants to hold my willy.......yes, he definitely said willy"
Listen quietly, see how long it takes them to hang up

 

[Arch]

hehe...I've just had a thought.....something along these lines:
Caller:"Can I speak to Mr xxx/Mrs xxx/the householder?"
Me:"Just a moment, I'll get them for you."
Me (off the phone but loud enough to be heard by caller)"Mum, the man on the phone said he wants to hold my willy.......yes, he definitely said willy"
Listen quietly, see how long it takes them to hang up

There's lots of fun you can have if they do you the courtesy of ringing in person, but I only ever get recorded calls, so I can't even play with them and my "F off!" and slam the phone down goes unregarded.

 

[cookiemonster]

Just bear in mind folks that there is a human being on the end of the phone, who is just trying to make a living, especially if they are in a 3rd world call centre, as you tell them to F off or blow whistles down the line to get rid of them.

A little bit of compassion and courtesy never hurt anyone.

Just a thought on what has been said here and on various news channels/blogs.

 

[Arch]

Just bear in mind folks that there is a human being on the end of the phone, who is just trying to make a living, especially if they are in a 3rd world call centre, as you tell them to F off or blow whistles down the line to get rid of them.

A little bit of compassion and courtesy never hurt anyone.

Just a thought on what has been said here and on various news channels/blogs.

Let them earn a living helping me when I ask for help, not bothering me with false assumptions. One recorded call I get starts "Our records show you may have taken out a loan....". Their records are false (IE, made up), because I haven't. And I don't even get to tell them that, and ask them to stop, because it's just a bloody recording.

 

[bicyclos]

I used to get annoyed a few years ago until I bought an answer phone which solved the problem. I am pleasent with the person on the other end of the phone but I am firm and always cut the call short.

 

[summerdays]

I have been known to confirm that yes I have had an accident .... "and you say I can get £3500 for stubbing my toe on my dishwasher" - at that point they normally hang up

 

[Black Sheep]

It's an offence buried deep within the Telecommunications Act to record a call made on a 'public telecommunications system' without the consent and knowledge of all those party to the conversation.

There is then another raft of legislation and case law to determine what is accepted as sufficient to inform any parties of the call being record, and yet different rules still apply to the dibble, councils etc.

So yes, unless there is something not reported in the story the gent had commited a criminal offence by that act, although as a civil hearing the small claims track of the county court won't care.

I've seen criminal cases collapse because a victim thought they'd be clever and try and obtain evidence in this way.

but the sales person knows that the call is being recorded since it's standard practice in the industry, they say that the call is being recorded, as such it's already been said and under freedom of information you can request a copy of the call, as such you're essentially making a duplicate of it.

 

[Dan B]

http://www.itccallrecording.co.uk/legal-summary.htm

Point 2 is the one pertinent to us, and doubly pertinent in this case as the gentleman was pursuing a business debt, the fees he was charging the PPI company for answering their calls etc.

Point 2 on that page refers to interception, not to recording. The Telecommunications Act is online, though, perhaps you can just tell us the section number?

 

[Pennine-Paul]

We've unplugged our landline the only people ringing us were
ppi,surveys and scammers,such as................
"Hello my name is Elvis and I'm calling you from microsoft" in a broad Indian accent

Yeah,course you are

 

[classic33]

Let them earn a living helping me when I ask for help, not bothering me with false assumptions. One recorded call I get starts "Our records show you may have taken out a loan....". Their records are false (IE, made up), because I haven't. And I don't even get to tell them that, and ask them to stop, because it's just a bloody recording.

Ask where they obtained your details from. The law(UK) is quite clear on this.
They have to check the information they receive, relating to you, is correct, upto date & they have permission to use it. They have to do this when they get the information & before they attempt to use that information(phone you). If they have not done so, they are committing an offence.

On the subject of recording calls. If you state at the beginning of the call(once you're talking to a person) that you are recording the call, you are then in the same posistion as the person/company making the call. Most do not like this & will try & get you to stop recording before continuing the call. You have a right to ask them the same.

 

[Night Train]

On a slight aside...

I have, on occasions, had calls from my bank. The first thing that ask is for me to identify myself with my name, DoB, and the amount of my mortgage payment.
I have refused to give that information until they identify themselves to prove they really are my bank but they always refuse, as they don't know who I am. That works both ways, surely.

How can the bank expect me to divulge my identity information and information about my account to a complete stranger who won't prove their identity to me?

I now wait for a letter or pop down to the local branch to find out what they want me for.

 

[Arch]

Ask where they obtained your details from.

Tricky when it's a recording!

 

[MacB]

Just bear in mind folks that there is a human being on the end of the phone, who is just trying to make a living, especially if they are in a 3rd world call centre, as you tell them to F off or blow whistles down the line to get rid of them.

A little bit of compassion and courtesy never hurt anyone.

Just a thought on what has been said here and on various news channels/blogs.

This is a good point and one I generally ascribe to, it's rarely going to be the chief/architect scumbag that's calling you. However it also smacks a little of the prison camp guard type excuse, just following orders and all that. From personal experience it can be monumentally difficult to stop these calls and they do target the more vulnerable. For example:-

Sick elderley mother being plagued by 6-10 of these calls a day. No matter what I say she just doesn't do rude and eventually the inevitable happened and she had a fall while trying to reach the phone resulting in a hospital stay. Yes I have her registered with TPS etc but this does nothing about the overseas calls which do seem to be on the rise.

So while I agree that it's just someone trying to make a living I also find abhorrent the fact that they can cause such misery for people.