I found the best tactic against cold call salespersons was to appear really enthusiastic about their product, fitted kitchens, for example. Tell them you're so glad they've called because it is just what you are looking for and you are willing to spare no expense, you are prepared to go anything up to £150 to get the very best.
Don't take no for an answer, badger them for an appointment and ask about their low interest long term finance option, lifetime gaurantee etc. Do it right and you can have a little fun before they finally hang up on you.
Salespersons are trained to overcome resistance, hit them with the unexpected and they crumble. With a bit of luck you will probably be black listed from their mailing lists.
I speak as a former door to door central heating salesman.
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I agree absolutely. Go for anything which is not in their script and they lose it. If they are good sales people, then they are usually not working for a call centre.
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Whatever they sell,I just ask them what sort of repayment scheme they can actually offer to a bankrupt person! (I'm not,incedently!)Usually confuses them!!
Mark
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I too used to have this problem, although I had already registered not too receive junk calls.
First I got Caller Display (about £4 a quarter from BT). Call centres usually phone around 6 to 9 pm, and always withhold the call. So just ignore any withheld calls between these times.
To be really sure, go ex-directory, which is free. I now never get these calls.
Pete Mansell
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I am ex-directory, but still get pestered by BT!! trying to sell some new plan.
And they always withhold their number.
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"I am ex-directory, but still get pestered by BT!! trying to sell some new plan.
And they always withhold their number."
Doc,
Report them to OFTEL, they aren't supposed to use ex-d numbers for marketing because this means they have an unfair advantage over their competition, as BT can get access to your ex-d number and the competition cannot.
I did this and have never had an unsolicited call from BT since.
VD5D
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Sorry to hear you are still having trouble I phoned the help line on the 9th Dec. and was told the calls would stop after 28 days,have you waited this long?,or are my hopes going to be dashed.
Regards
ndbw
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I don't get many junk calls because I have 2 lines - one private (ex-directory which only friends/family have) and 1 for business. Although this line tends to attract junk calls I leave my business answerphone on in the evening so it's no problem, they just hang straight up.
Rather than argue with these people, a mate of mine who used to get loads of such calls in the evening, decided on a different approach. He'd answer politely then quickly make an excuse like "I'll just go and turn the tap off", put the phone down (not hanging up) and go and watch TV for half an
hour ! It certainly disuaded a couple of repeat offenders and he told me it always made him feel a lot better !
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ps How long before Mark deletes this non-motoring thread ? ;-)
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Bosses perogative and all that.
Or we could bring it back on topic.
Has anyone got any cold calls from a car company?
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I was impressed with how quickly the calls stopped when I registered. I think I've had one call in 6 months and when I asked for his supervisor and why, they really panicked.
In the old days for double glazing, kitchens etc the easiest way to stop them was to say "not mine, its rented"
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Two things on this:
1. When my RAC cover was running out I asked them to swap the cover from personal to the car (only the Clio would need this). They couldn't or wouldn't so I went with the AA. Two weeks later my answerphone was regularly full of blank messages and a few times I answered the phone and got no-one. Turns out the RAC were trying to contact me with a mega offer, but used a computer to dial out. If there was an answer at my end, the call would be transferred to an operator. Only it was trying many times a week and looking like a nuisance call. I've registered to stop all this, but apparently these machines are legal - very odd.
2. And from Seinfeld:
Phone rings, Jerry answers : "Hello? Yes? Actually I'm a bit busy now. Could you give me your home number so I can call you back this evening at your home to discuss this? No? Well, you know how it feels then..." (hangs up)
Lee.
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HJ, you should of asked where they got your number from. They have to tell you by law i believe.
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...or the Growlette method? "Did I specifically ask you to call me? "No?" "Then b+++++ off!" Slam!
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A chap that I work with was telephoned a while ago by a double glazing company.
He had all the usual questions asked, but, instead of just hanging up, he played along with them. After a while, he asked if the company's window installers were OK about working at heights, to which the reply from the salesman was something along the lines of "Yes, we're very experienced, sir, and our fitters will make sure they install the correct scaffolding and everything will be done with safety in mind".
My friends answer to this was " Oh, I'm very pleased to hear that, because here we're on the 22nd floor!!". He lived in a tower block.
Silence, followed by "I suppose you think that's funny?!" and the phone being put down at their end.
They didn't call again!
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>>Has anyone got any cold calls from a car company?
Yes, some lady from Saab tried to sell me a 95 estate a couple of weeks ago, told her I'd just bought a Volvo becaue they were better and she soon hung up.
VD5D
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ps How long before Mark deletes this non-motoring thread ? ;-)
>
Volvo you have called me over-sensitive in here. And I'm sure you're right.
If I may just make one point, to the room not just to you.
M does a horrible job where whatever he does is going to annoy someone. It seems at the moment that whatever he says or does gives someone their grounds for complaint.
At the moment, I think, the thread in contention is something re males v females - if M sees it fit to delete this, then just accept it. He's doing what he can, he's doing his best, to make this site a friendly-for-all place.
('wishing I could have added to earlier thread!!!')
HF
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ps HF - Have you just made my point about bring over sensitive ? ;-)
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ps HF - Have you just made my point about bring over sensitive ? ;-)
>>
Yep, I guess you are right! ;)
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>>ps How long before Mark deletes this non-motoring thread ?
It would seem to be a bit of a cheek if Mark deleted a thread started by HJ, after all he owns the site not Mark!!
VD5D
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Recently had a call trying to sell the wife a stana chair lift (spelt wrong i know)she explained that we were happy with the loft ladder we had, he wouldn't be put of and continued with his spiel, after a while the wife interrupted "but we have a Bungalow"
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Difficult to stop the calls, but easy to turn off the salesman.
I just tell them that I do not buy anything from telesales people - period.
No matter how good/cheap/irresistable.
If I want something then I seek out a company selling it - end of story.
You're not going to get any further buddy.
Please use your time to better advantage on someone else.
I'm not even listening and I work these calls on autopilot.
BTW, I am always polite - after all the bloke (or blokess) on the other end of the phone is a human being, and entitled to basic courtesy.
Ian Cook
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On the basis of my experience with Zenith windows NEVER buy anything from them (although the product seems OK) and certainly NEVER give them your xd number if you do!
Even before the goods were fitted, they were back on the phone selling again, even after the installation they were back selling again.
I never imagined I would have to register with the TPS just to stop Zenith calling.
Incidentally, if you have been registered >28 days and you get a sales call, get all the info you can about the caller, report them, and they are frequently prosecuted for their trouble.
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HJ,
Have you tried using BT's "Choose to refuse" service.
Can bar up to 10 numbers from calling you - even if they're withheld calls.
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Try the telephone, fax and email preference service on
0845-070-0707. This and ex-directory should eal with 99% of calls.
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Nothing to do with telephone selling but a scam was reported on our local radio the other week which is worth telling as a warning to others.
Scenario... A knock on the door and when answered a Lady stands there asking if she could use the phone as she has broken down across the road and needs to call her husband to come out to help.
Uses the phone and is delayed a little time as her husband is in a meeting and has to be called out.
Thanks very much and off she goes.
Telephone bill arrives and there is something like an hundred pounds charged to one of these 09....numbers.
This has been set up the Lady and her accomplices and of course this is the number she was ringing when supposedly calling her husband.
Apparently anyone can set up these numbers for such things as horse racing tips and you can set the tariff for callers.
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I registered with the Telephone Preference Service a few months ago (see link below) and have had just one sales call since then. On that occasion after I had told her that I had registered with TPS the salesperson sounded quite embarassed and hung up as soon as she could.. works for me!
www.tpsonline.org.uk/tpsr/html/default.asp
Boff
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The elderly mother of a neighbour of mine kept getting odd calls. The phone would ring, she would answer and they would hang up. She would dial 1471 and return the calls which were then answered but all she could then hear was muffled voices and music.
It was only when she got her bill that she found out she'd been connected to premium rate lines charged at £££'s per minute.
The easy way to stop this is to bar all outgoing calls to premium rate numbers. Call barring is available for a minimal charge and can be switched on/off as desired by the homeowner. If you leave it on then you won't get caught out because if you dial such a number inadvertantly, the line will go dead.
You can always switch it off temporarily if you need to make a premium rate call.
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I agree with budu i reguarly received 5 or 6 calls an evening from double glazing firms and every other sales company u can mention the bt preference takes 28 days to become active but now we don,t have half the trouble we used to have. The odd ones we do receive i just inform the salesperson that if they ring again i,ll take kegal action. that seems to do the trick also.
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I registered with the TPS a couple of years ago and the effect has been pretty good, although it took about 4-6 weeks to kick in properly. The odd stray call I have had I've just had to tell them I'm registered and they've removed me from their list. These cold call companies are all aware of their responsibilities and one reminder is all it usually takes.
Recently however, I've started receiving calls from call centres based in India. They have been calling on behalf of Orange and Safeway (Orange called three times in less than a week). As I understand it, because they are not customers of UK service providers they are not covered by TPS.
Be prepared for the deluge to start again.
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Recently however, I've started receiving calls from call centres based in India. As I understand it, because they are not customers of UK service providers they are not covered by TPS.
Same applies with Ireland. Mate kept getting a call from a company there selling something on behalf of whatever. My mate has a caller number display and withheld caller rejection, but they still got through. The display said "Unavailable" He lost his rag with them big style because for weeks they kept calling and his wife would answer as he was at work. All they kept asking was "could I speak to the Man of the house" His missus thought he might be having an affair as the woman at the other end would not go into any details of the call unless they spoke with him. This is why my mate lost his rag when he eventually answered the phone and it was this woman again. Funny thing is my mate never did find out what they were trying to sell. They hung up and promised never to call again once he gave both barrels down the phone!!
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I work for a fair sized company and when I call my friends (For business purposes you understand!) my number always comes up on their phones as number withheld or suchlike. From what I am led to believe it isn't the case that I am withholding my number but the fact that my call is routed through the company switchboard. So please bear that in mind when screening your calls. I guess that I won't be calling you personally all the same!
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Recently however, I've started receiving calls from call centres based in India. >>
You should've taken the opportunity to order a decent curry ;-)
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My take on this is to say for window sales "Oh i'm sorry we live in a conservation area", (which we do) "we can't change the windows" (we can). End of conversation. For kitchens "Oh we only fitted a kitchen 2 years ago" its actually nearer 6 but who cares. The telesales persons not upset unduly I'm not and I can sleep at night.
Bill
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On similar lines, can anyone suggest any way to stop cold-calling from firms that appear to have the wrong number? I get quite a lot of calls for someone with a foreign name (can't remember ATM!). They have all their details - address and whatnot, but for some reason they have my number not theirs. Every time they ring I tell them not to call again, but it keeps on happening. All I can imagine is that this person is giving a corrupted version of their own number when asked to avoid junk calls. I don't really want to change my number as it would be a lot of hassle... I know some people charge for their time in dealing with junk email - would it be legal to make a charge for dealing with such calls?
(As a suggestion to Mark, maybe this could become the next installment of 'I have a question' so as to keep people happy about OT threads!)
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You can report nuisance calls, I did it recently when my daughter was becoming uopset when the phone would rimg, she'd pick it up, and nothing there.
The nuisance call bureau told us firstly to opt out of all telesales, which we did, and has been very successful. Then, as soon as we received one of these calls to call them and they would immediately trace it and call the caller (they would not divulge to us who it was, but they suspected a piece of faulty machinery - modem or fax). Over a very short period, it stopped.
Subsequently a friend told me it might well have been a telesales outfit. In these, lots of "agents" sit in their little hutches. The autodialler selects a number to call, calls it (e.g. mine) and as it is ringing it routes the call to a free telesales person, along with my details on their screen. However, some glitchy software can cause two calls to be routed to the same agent, then the computer automatically drops one. Whether its true or not is beside the point, but it's a frightening view into the way these places work.
I subsequently visited a call centre and the technology in use is amazing. This particular one set up specific desks for different customer long or short term needs. The desks weren't always product or even customer specific. For instance one desk was dealing with calls from Wall's Ice Cream customers from a number printed on lolly wrappers, and engine oil, and a few other things. The agents are presented with the correct script on screen by dint of the external number which the customer had called in on. This is exactly why it isn't worth asking them anything "outside the box".
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You can report nuisance calls, I did it recently when my daughter was becoming uopset when the phone would rimg, she'd pick it up, and nothing there.
I had same problem .BT traced call, found it was auto dialer at a catalogue company my wife was agent for, cut long story short rang catalogue company told them if i was not removed from auto dialler my wife no longer agent. problem solved.
chris
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My local GP surgery now withholds the number on all calls they make - patient confidentiality being their reason.
I assume many other medical organisations do this.
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I went for an interview at a place that wrote call dialer software, apparently the number 1 in the industry, basically you get a list of say half a million phone numbers who are your target group, let the system know how many operators (10) you have and what the ideal dropped call percentage (0.5%) will be
it will then start dialing and judging by the length of calls etc, it will dial more than the amount of operators. maybe in this case 20 people at a time. If a call is answered and there isn't an operator available they just hang up the call.
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A few years ago we had a problem with calls at all hours of the day or night intended for Epsom hospital - our number was 1 digit different and if callers used an old dialling code (predicatably the infirm or elderly who would) they got us instead. We reckon we got over 200 calls a year and we put up with this for nearly 2 years. BT refused flatly to do anything about it - all they eventually offered was a change of number. So, I changed number - and changed telecom supplier as well. BT couldn't understand why I did this and all too late tried to offer something that might have passed for customer service. Since going to NTL, going ex-directory and registering with TPS, only 1 nuisance call and 1 sales call from NTL when I politely asked them to remove me from their calling list.
Now we get old fashioned door-to-door cold calling, nPower and Anglian being the worst offenders. The last Anglian rep didn't even recognise his own company's products all over my house already!
Terry
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