..to think registering with Telephone Preference Service makes no difference

[bigbluebus]

We registered with TPS a number of years ago and for a while its seemed to have some effect. However, we recently seem to be being bombarded with unwanted phone calls from India. Posted a couple of weeks ago about the calls (scam) where the Indian chap with the english name trys to help you sort out a virus on your computer - the computer he knows nothing about.

Now I am being hassled by a company who claim to be offering grants for loft and cavity wall insulation. They rang at 7.30pm last night just as we sat down to eat dinner - it was 'Leo'. My husband told him we already had cavity wall insulation and sufficient loft insulation. Then this morning whilst I was out in garden pegging out washing, I had to race inside to answer the phone (DH & DS were out so thought I'd better get it in case it was them ringing) only to find it was now 'Mark' from the same organisation that rang last night asking the same questions. Told him in no uncertain terms that we did not need a grant as we already had sufficient insulation, as we had told his colleague last night & would he please remove our number from their dialling list. He continued to ask me questions about when I got my insulation & why I didn't need any more loft insulation. I just repeated - remove our number from your list - at which point the line went dead - which seems to be standard for these calls - never a polite ending for having interupted your day unecessarily!
Is there no way to stop these calls?

I give the number 01234 567 890 on everything. I used to put 0800 999 999 but was worried that automated lines were clogging up emergency services, so changed to the other. Though maybe that's the way to get them to stop..?!

If I HAVE to give my number for a delivery I put it under the 'delivery instructions' bit and write in BOLD to say number not to be used for anything else.

I also put an extra letter after part of my name/address when ordering from a new company so I can trace if/where junk mail has originated.

We've been given a BT number that had previously been owned by a Mr David Haynes, I get at least 5 calls a week for Mr Haynes. BT say they can do nothing, I've asked the callers to remove the number from their lists but still they call. Even had Social Services leave a very "graphic" answerphone message!

My registration with TPS has stopped most of the nuisance stuff. I still get international calls and the occasional pre recorded message.

My worst nuisance caller was BT. They were forever bothering me to try and persuade me to return to using them. They got increasingly persistent and intrusive so I actually rang the BT nuisance callers line. When they asked me who was making nuisance calls to me and i said BT they were rather taken aback, but credit where it is due, they did sort it out and the calls stopped.

No difference here, stupid man still wants to fix the Sky box and insulate the cavity walls I haven't got

We had a message for the previous number holder timed before the engineer had even fitted the line, even he was surprised. Setting up TPS made little difference as BT had given us a buisness number .
It got really bad after someone tried to fax something every 6 mins starting at 10am and finishing at around 3.30pm, we dont have a fax machine. It happened twice in the space of two weeks, first time stopped when OH sent a fax (DB had one for his buisness) telling them to stop in not so polite a way and second time BT had to send a warning fax to get it to stop. The silly moo phoned, she was from a school in Fife trying to send something to do with exams, but would not say sorry as she was only doing her job and was quite short about getting a warning! She got a mouthfull about how she tied up our landline, 3 kids at school had to check just in case, and why did she not check the number after the first few fails.
We got a new number after that but still get calls even though BT said the line had been dormant for 24 months and re joining TPS.
Cold callers are easy just put a sign/note up saying no cold callers and they have to comply by law, well apart from Talk Talk who thought that sending unsolicited mail meant they could not be classed as cold callers .

i just tell them im council and it stops them :)

TPS has worked to some extent for me, although we still get calls from abroad.

This website, who calls me, is quite good. You can type in the number (if you have one) and find out who they are. Often they have been reported by a lot of other people too.

I find registering seems to make a difference.
Or now if there is one company who rings asks for Mrs SIngh I tell her she never lived here they then go on to rattle on about finance. SO I give them to my childrne to talk to whilst Ic arry on about my business.
Perhaps we should have a name and shame I think its Intelligent Finance which is a bloddy oxymoran is it not?

Re-registering

My phone is set up so that it clicks onto the answering machine after four rings. I never even try to answer it in time, just listen in to see if it's anyone I know leaving a message and pick up if it is. Or not if it's MIL

I get these calls a lot at work.
usually from someone on a very bad line with a very hard to understand accent who lies to me.

I had one the other day asking for the manager, and I asked who it was, so they told me they were ringing about the phone line. I asked them if they were ringing from BT, they said they were ringing on behlaf of BT about the phone service etc etc (basically a cold-call company that were trying to change me over) so I told him that I asked him who he was and he tried to make me believe that he was from BT, which meant he had lied to me and that was hanging up (as i hung up)

another one rang about the electricity bill, where upon I told him I was in a relatively new contract ,and he started asking me if he could speak to the manager - queue my interrogation, then he started talking about me getting the manager and referring to the manager as a man, so then I told him that I found it incredibly offensive that he automatically assumed that the manager was a man. Basically, because I told him that I didn't know how much my electricity cost (i was fobbing him off because it's none of his damn business - i've told him I'm not interested in changing, why would i then want to tell him what I consider confidential information?! ), he wouldn't believe that I, a mere woman, was the owner! I had to hang up on him after telling him how rude he was.

Both of those in the same day!

If you do get calls claiming to be BT, you can ask for the caller's EIN Number - any BT employee should be able to rattle that off without a second thought. It's a nine digit unique identifier. If they don't know what you mean, they're not from BT.

My favourite was from some legal firm trying to sell me a will. I pointed out that I already had a will and that I was with the TPS so they shouldn't be calling at all. Moo on the end of the phone claimed that my registration with TPS had lapsed and therefore she was within her right to call me. For reasons that fail me I entered into "conversation" with her rather than hanging up. She tried to argue that my TPS membership had lapsed. I told her it couldn't and hadn't lapsed, she persisted that I was wrong. I asked her why I would want to engage in legal business with someone who had no grasp of the laws around the TPS.

I reported her. She was fined.

YANBU - we are registered, we got a call at 5am the other morning. My mum had been in hospital the night before and was feeling a bit worse for wear, I immediately feared something bad had happened and almost had a heart attack trying to get to the phone (downstairs). We missed the call, did 1471, of course, number withheld. No more sleep for me, worrying in case it was the emergency services trying to get hold of me, didn't want to call my mum in case it wasn't her and I disturbed her. BASTARDS.

We had the same oliviafrombolivia but it was at 3.40am with no number or message, couldn't get to sleep after that, but they were very, very lucky DH did not get to the phone in time.

Mine are always called Christopher or Brian, like having a very English sounding name will somehow add gravitas to their bullshit

How many times do i have to point out i don't have cavity walls? but no BT cant do anything about the calls from outside the UK.

Worryingly i had a scammer call today, that when i picked up, immediately rang at the other end.. wonder if that means i paid for the call?

swingingcat I think you can register other people with TPS - we registered after we moved and I seem to remember registering the previous people in the house as well - or was that with the mailing people as well.

I've had Leo about the insulation as well. I have spoken to these people many times over the last few years, I am no longer polite - I used to be because I think insulation is a good thing - I am now rude. I've even got to the stage where I enjoy my rudeness!

YANBU, hasn't helped one little bit.

We are TPS registered but apparently it doesn't apply to British Gas, BT or Sky who all kept phoning because "You used to be customers so we can".

I tried explaining politely why that was bollocks and not to call again, then less politely and then just "stop calling me".

They now all think Dh and I are dead. And the calls have finally stopped

We registered with TPS after years of calls driving us mad and they have stopped a lot. The only one we get now is from some 'Energy Solution' company (selling solar panels as far as I can tell). I've told them at least six times we're not interested and to take our number off their list