Nuisance Telephone calls ....GRRRR!!!

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Am I the only person in the UK that must have a little spy camera installed above my dinning table? It seems that every time I sit down with my family to eat a meal the damned phone rings with some numpty trying to sell me something I don't want, need or desire!! Then, last night at just after 9 O'clock the phone rings and on the other end is a rep from a well known holiday company asking me if I had decided on taking up (their very over priced) quotation for a trip next year, I asked her if she knew what the time was,that was met silence, so I asked her "do you know what is plastic and clicks?" , "no" she replied, Told told her "its a phone hanging up"...CLICK.
 
I get 2 or 3 calls a day, International, Unobtainable, 0845 and 0844 numbers, all either straight scams or PPI scams or solar panel scams. I let the answering machine take them.

What aggravates me is BT have the ability to let you block nuisance calls but they charge for it as a separate service (about 4-5 quid a month) and they're going to change the deal again soon to charge more for basic functions.
 
Agree with Steep, an answer machine is the way to go. TPS is fairly good but can't deal with all nuisance calls. Family and friends know we have an answer phone so leave a message as do non-nuisance companies, the others just hang up.

Dave
 
I used to get a lot of the " We are Microsoft, calling as your computer has shown you have viruses".
I used to let them get on with their spiel, and at an opportune moment tell them that I was recording the call and can I ask again who they were. Funnily enough they always hung up and <touch wood> havent had any in quite some time.

It may just be coincedence but so far so good......plus I enjoyed toying with them. lol
 
I get about 6 or 7 a day. I never answer the phone, just let it go to answer phone. If its anyone we know or anything important,they'll leave a message and I'll either pick up and answer or ring back.

TPS is a waste of time, made no difference at all.
 
We get a lot of them too, it gets tiresome but most of the time I just take ridicule them, I convinced one of the Microsoft scammers that I held a double doctorate in differed computer sciences and that as a director of development for Dell Computers I was extremely concerned so would pass him to a securities manager to discuss the issues further, at which point I left him on hold listened to James Blunt on YouTube :lol:
 
TCR4x4 said:
I get about 6 or 7 a day. I never answer the phone, just let it go to answer phone. If its anyone we know or anything important,they'll leave a message and I'll either pick up and answer or ring back.
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Ditto for me:thumbs: Although I've been on TPS since it started and that works well. Other than that, I've got caller display and never answer international, unavailable or withheld numbers.
If I'm sitting down with food I let it go to answer phone and my mobile number is in the answerphone message.
 
MWHCVT said:
We get a lot of them too, it gets tiresome but most of the time I just take ridicule them, I convinced one of the Microsoft scammers that I held a double doctorate in differed computer sciences and that as a director of development for Dell Computers I was extremely concerned so would pass him to a securities manager to discuss the issues further, at which point I left him on hold listened to James Blunt on YouTube :lol:
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How long did he stay on hold for? :whistling: did he get the whole album?

I read something recently that a guy set up a premium number and got cold callers to call him back on it or wouldnt speak to them and hence earned a tidy sum.:clap:
 
Derek.Laurence said:
How long did he stay on hold for? :whistling: did he get the whole album?

I read something recently that a guy set up a premium number and got cold callers to call him back on it or wouldnt speak to them and hence earned a tidy sum.:clap:
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About 5 minutes :lol: I like the sound of that premium number one :D

I think my favourite one recently was when my dad picked up the phone and I could tell exactly what the call was...so after about 30 seconds, I said loudly Mr Hancox you know your not meant to answer the phone, took the phone from him and greeted them with "good afternoon, Dunsmore Mental Asylum, your speaking to warden Jones, I apologise one of our more unstable patients picked up the phone, how my I help you?"

That killed that call stone dead
 
BT privacy is worth paying for. It includes caller display as well as anonymous call reject. The latter kicks off quite a lot of the cold callers. Also be very careful when filling in your phone number for any service as this often has 'sell to any b*****d' as an option you have to untick.

I take it back. It doesn't seem to have ACR included any more. I'm sure it used to.

This is one of the reasons I switched to vonage as even with the basic package you have caller display and anonymous call reject as options, all free. Much cheaper than what is offered by BT or VM.

I just want a mark last caller as spam option now...

Swear filter seems to be working now ;)
 
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If I ever answer by mistake, I let them go on and on about what they are calling for, then near the end, I ask if it's still ok to continue if i'm only 17..

I normally hear a click.. I know it's not the callers fault, least they have a job instead of benefits.. But they do get annoying at times.
 
arclight said:
trueCall

https://www.truecall.co.uk/call-blocker.aspx
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:plusone:

I've had one for about 2 years now - fantastic bit of kit - i've not been bothered with any of the calls since setting it up - took a bit of faffing to get the whitelist/blacklist numbers into it - but I was importing my business address/phone list into the allowed calls list - but it's worth every penny :)
 
TheBigYin said:
:plus1:

I've had one for about 2 years now - fantastic bit of kit - i've not been bothered with any of the calls since setting it up - took a bit of faffing to get the whitelist/blacklist numbers into it - but I was importing my business address/phone list into the allowed calls list - but it's worth every penny :)
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I have had a demo. It is being supplied on Monday.

Cost £100, but I pay BT £4.75 per month for anonymous call rejection and from January my free Voicemail will cost £1.75 per month. trueCall will save me £6.50 per month so it will soon pay for itself.
 
srichards said:
Also be very careful when filling in your phone number for any service as this often has 'sell to any OI!' as an option you have to untick.
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Deep in the BT website there is a list of regionalised "Fake" telephone numbers. They are mainly for the use of TV and film companies who sometimes need a phone number in their productions, but obviously don't want a real one that can be rung up. Just put one of these in your on-line application, and change to your correct one if you ever think you are likely to want to accept their calls. Most useful when doing on line price comparisons as it stop all the various companies ringing you up.
 
I find TPS quite good, it has cut the calls down a lot.
I also have caller display which helps and I can allocate different numbers on my phone to different categories, they then play different tunes and the display comes up with a different colour depending on the category. One advantage is that I do not have to answer the phone when the MIL calls (Swan Lake means leave the phone alone :) )
 
mickledore said:
Deep in the BT website there is a list of regionalised "Fake" telephone numbers. They are mainly for the use of TV and film companies who sometimes need a phone number in their productions, but obviously don't want a real one that can be rung up. Just put one of these in your on-line application, and change to your correct one if you ever think you are likely to want to accept their calls. Most useful when doing on line price comparisons as it stop all the various companies ringing you up.
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Oohhh that's handy... i've been putting my local MP's office phone number in those boxes - thought I may as well make them work for me :lol:
 
Not sure if this works but if you get a call from one of those recorded messages, loft insulation etc, keep tapping the hash key, about a dozen times, before hanging up. Have been told it confuses the computer the call came from and removes your number from it's list. No harm in trying.
 
Call screening and an answerphone. We also are on the TPS list so (in theory) shouldn't get called. We still do, so I ask to speak to the supervisor and let them have both barrels, finishing with the comment that their company is on a s***-list and will not be used for whatever service they're selling in the future. International calls (depending on my mood!) either get ignored or answered in Greek - the only international calls we would want are from there. My wife has kept her maiden name so when I'm asked if I'm Mr Mrs Nod or she's asked if she's Mrs Nod, the caller gets told theyre's no such person living at this address.
 
Oddily enough but I actually very rarely get those kind of calls now you have come to mention it. Could it be where I've been ex-directory for as long as I can remember have something to do with it?
 
I had one from foreign parts ring up about my accident (none) I let him give me part of all his sales pitch, then I asked him if he meant the accident where I lost my arm and a leg. He said yes and then went on some more. Got as far as him saying he would send around the assessors then told him what a complete and utter pratt he was and could he not see that I was winding him up. The language he came out with is unrepeatable but I haven't heard from him since. LOL
 
Ian D J said:
Oddily enough but I actually very rarely get those kind of calls now you have come to mention it. Could it be where I've been ex-directory for as long as I can remember have something to do with it?
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Nothing at all I've been ex directory for years too, and since moving very few people have my landline number, and certainly no businesses, I always say I don't have one and just use my mobile number, yet I still get the odd one, as above I let the ansaphone take them, those that have my number know to speak, if they don't then I ignore it
 
Ian D J said:
Oddily enough but I actually very rarely get those kind of calls now you have come to mention it. Could it be where I've been ex-directory for as long as I can remember have something to do with it?
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not really - one tactic is to use a offshore company with an autodialer that literally ploughs through a range of numbers - say 0113 260 0000 to 0113 260 9999 - as soon as someone answers (or an answerphone picks up) it hangs up and puts the number onto a "verified" list. The "spamhaus" then sells this verified list to other companies to use instead of a list from the phone book as it'll include all the ex-directory no's as well. Theoretically, any reputable telesales organisation should run the list against the TPS "opt out" list, but not all do...
 
Reputable? Telesales organisation? Oxymoron alert!!!
 
yeah, i meant to put it in quotes and italic to emphasise that it's about as unlikely as seeing Lord Lucan riding a Purple Sparkly Unicorn down the street in Wakefield obviously...
 
I get about 20 calls a week hassling a Billy Ray. If I ever find the little toad...
 
Ian D J said:
Oddily enough but I actually very rarely get those kind of calls now you have come to mention it. Could it be where I've been ex-directory for as long as I can remember have something to do with it?
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I think a lot of these companies use software that can dial all the numbers that are not in the telephone directory. They don't know who they are phoning, but can make the phone ring. I also have been ex-directory for years and it does help.
 
Tringa said:
TPS is fairly good but can't deal with all nuisance calls.

Dave
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We've been on this for years now but are still getting a spiralling number.
The increasing trend is in recorded messages, you can't even be rude to them :lol:

If you can bear to listen, you can note the company name and time of call and report it to the TPS.
There have been successful prosecutions.
If it's a real person ask them for details so you can report to TPS, they will probably hang up!
It is becoming a serious abuse of the telephone system when most calls received are unsolicited marketing.
http://www.tpsonline.org.uk/tps/index.html
 
arclight said:
I think a lot of these companies use software that can dial all the numbers that are not in the telephone directory. They don't know who they are phoning, but can make the phone ring. I also have been ex-directory for years and it does help.
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that's what I was saying a couple of posts above, about using a "Block Dialler" - point it at a block of numbers and away it goes.
 
I wish there were a way of automatically crashing these block diallers. They should be banned altogether. They do nothing but cause nuisance.
 
TheBigYin said:
yeah, i meant to put it in quotes and italic to emphasise that it's about as unlikely as seeing Lord Lucan riding a Purple Sparkly Unicorn down the street in Wakefield obviously...
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Been a long time since I've seen a sight like that!!!
 
4wd said:
We've been on this for years now but are still getting a spiralling number.
The increasing trend is in recorded messages, you can't even be rude to them :lol:

If you can bear to listen, you can note the company name and time of call and report it to the TPS.
There have been successful prosecutions.
If it's a real person ask them for details so you can report to TPS, they will probably hang up!
It is becoming a serious abuse of the telephone system when most calls received are unsolicited marketing.
http://www.tpsonline.org.uk/tps/index.html
Click to expand...
yes its got so bad for us that we now dont answer the phone at all and keep in contact with family with Skype
we do have an answering machine and just check that
 
we kept getting them calling from consumer lifestyle when i say kept getting them every half hour on the dot we told them no , threatened legal action but what worked was when i said hello this is humberside police inspector so and so the guy crapped himself i asked him what he is going to do to stop harassing this family i got a answer of never call again i said that's right

that was 4 weeks ago and no more phone calls

i understand what i did was probably illegal but i don't care they was harassing me and the police would not of done anything about it
 
4wd said:
If it's a real person ask them for details so you can report to TPS, they will probably hang up!
It is becoming a serious abuse of the telephone system when most calls received are unsolicited marketing.
Click to expand...

Companies are increasingly getting round TPS by claiming to be "conducting a survey" On whocallsme it's a common response when people say ***ger off I'm on TPS especially from the solar panel floggers.
 
the annoying thing is that on my mobile I can easily add a nuisance call to the blocked list but BT charge you for it they could easily stop this abuse if they wanted to
 
wegotitugetit said:
and the police would not of done anything about it
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Could not, not would not unless you recorded it and there was clear evidence of a crime. The police cannot act without evidence and/or a complaint. That said, well done getting them to stop :)
 
Steep said:
Could not, not would not unless you recorded it and there was clear evidence of a crime. The police cannot act without evidence and/or a complaint. That said, well done getting them to stop :)
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even with evidence they would not do anything

a few years ago i got hit in the face was recorded on cctv they let the guy go

i have no faith in the police or should i say cps which ever one there useless
 
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