I worked in a PPI cold calling centre AMA

[Kindofnewtothis]

Ready to get flamed

How does it feel when people are rude or dismissive on the phone?

What are you going to do after the 29th August?

People were constantly rude and dismissive on the phone, and you can't blame them, after all they weren't expecting the call! So many death threats etc, people think they're being really scary and clever when, in fact, we've heard it all before. Most of the time we just laugh at this or put the phone down for the next call.

I don't work there anymore, however after August the companies still need lots of employees in the chase, finance and admin departments to finish off the claims already started. Also many of these companies, including the one that I worked for, have already started new ventures, so will for example have one half of the call centre ringing about PPI and the second half will be a different sales venture.

Where do call centres get phone numbers from?

Did you never feel guilty? When my father was elderly and confused, and dying, he was tortured, absolutely tortured with PPI type calls. We tried to block as many numbers as we could but it didn't work. When the phone rang he would try to answer it, and sometimes fell and then ended up hospitalised, and every hospitalisation made him deteriorate a bit more. People used to say 'well, these people are doing an honest job, he doesn't have to answer' but he was too confused to understand that he didn't have to answer. Cold calling made his last few months much harder than they should have been.

The data is opted in data bought from various companies. This basically means that somewhere along the line you've filled out a form and ticked a box which have allowed your details to be passed over, usually when you've filled something out online there'll be a little box that you tick for your details to be passed over to third party companies- and that's us. So even though you don't want the call, technically you have agreed to it

Of course it is so easy to do it yourself that the fact these companies have made all this money is rubbish and their tactics deplorable. I got all my ppi back and it couldn’t have been easier

I completely understand that sales companies can often exploit the elderly and can have harassment like techniques. Whenever I spoke to an elderly person who didn't seem at all there or who seemed upset, I would immediately apologise, end the call, and erase their data so that we wouldn't contact them again or pass on their data. I know that not everybody else did this. Sometimes I did feel guilty, and because of this I would always speak openly on how to make any complaints or data requests. I would also advise people to opt into the telephone preference services which blocks marketing calls.

I agree that it is easy enough, however when people pointed this out to me o would say 'well yes you can do it yourself and it will be free, however it's been 6 years and you still haven't got round to it so why don't I just do it for you now".

People don’t realise it’s just a form I think they think PPI companies will spin it when in reality you guys basically completed the form with the customers information. Just saying this so any folks reading can do it some forms are even online

The thing is though @Kindofnewtothis it's no good registering for TPS if you're going to opt in for marketing because that voids it. It's also not applicable to mobiles (or didn't used to be).
I spent a long time as a manager for account managers that looked after our product that was sold by outbound sales agents and left because the agents often had morals, it was the contact centre managers that lacked them.

To the best of my knowledge TPS should block out all marketing calls. The law now is that all marketing calls are made using opt in data, but TPS blocks these out. Also TPS is available for all mobiles. If you register with the TPS and stuff receive calls, you can make a complaint and the company will be investigated into.

I definitely agree that if anyone wants to put in a PPI claim then definitely do it yourself to avoid the fees! There's lots of info on moneysavingexpert

I would also advise people to opt into the telephone preference services which blocks marketing calls.

Did your company adhere to TPS rules? Because my father was registered but it made no difference to the companies who called.

I'm registered too and it doesn't stop the calls to my number either.

I've reported one company dozens of times but still they ring.

I would also advise people to opt into the telephone preference services which blocks marketing calls.

That's the funniest thing I've read this week.

If people told you that they didn't want to be telephoned again, was there a procedure in place to remove their details from the database?

Also, with regards to the elderly, the problem for many of them is actually answering the phone, getting up out of their chair etc. Apologising and offering to remove them from the database won't cure a broken leg from a fall.

Treacle - not to mention the disappointment of an elderly person finding it's not a friend or relative on the end of the phone but a low life parasite.

If somebody wanted their number to be taken from the call list, I had the power to do this. If you asked me to completely remove your records I would've had to give you an email address or phone number for it to be done properly, this was annoying as obviously nobody wants to do this and it's unfair that someone should have to go through hassle for someone to no longer have their data

Having elderly people, vulnerable people and sometimes children on the other end of the phone happened so much and was one of the worst parts of the job. There was obviously nothing I could do to stop this apart from remove them from the call list and give them advice.

Oh a low life parasite, if I had a quid for every time I was called that! At the end of the day, most large companies are morally questionable and having the experience of working at a PPI company most people there are either students, parents, young people from school and just generally anyone trying to get by. I was screamed and shouted at a lot, and I don't blame the people for it, however I do think that anger is best directed at the top to change legislation and bring these companies down, or at least make them more regulated.
The people at these call centres are real humans, and are just trying to make ends meet. These jobs are, for many like myself, stop gaps for people who are between jobs and can't afford time off. I wouldn't judge anyone for working there, as I'd do anything to put food on the table for my kids.

I've registered all our phones with TPS and we still get the calls. How did you deal with people who advised you that they were registered with TPS? In my experience either I get called a liar by the call handler, or they put the phone down on me. Is that because it deviates from the script, or are those handlers just assholes?

I'm unsure if I'm remembering this rightly, but I think you may to re-register with TPS every year, and once you register it may take a month or two to stop calls. If you still get calls, probably my best advice would be to calmly ask the salesperson what are the contact details for the companys data controller. By law they have to give this. You can then ask them where the data was from, why TPS didn't work etc. If they don't give you any contact details or hang up, which they often will sadly, then contact TPS and ask them to investigate the firm. They will also aid you to complain to any other authorities relevant to the particular company.
If you can't be arsed doing all of that, then just ask the salesperson to ERASE all of your details and never contact you again. The word erase is a buzz word, we were told to be extra careful when people said this word.