received a cold caller and left the phone off the hook

[crystalglasses]

We have registered not to have cold calls but one company just keeps calling - from India by the sound of the accents and I've receved a about half a dozen calls this week - wanting to know if I've had a road accident and need their assistance. I usually just say no sorry I'm busy and hang up. Last time I asked for his phone number so I could call back and he hung up. Today I decided enough is enough and I just walked away from the phone, leaving the caller to talk into empty space. I think this is going to be my tactic in future . I wonder how many more calls I get from this company? What do others think and how tdo you deal with these callers?

I get the same - Indian call centre asking about car accidents. They nearly fooled me as I'm in loads of car accidents. Thankfully DH insisted they give him their number and they hung up. They're called Accident Investigation Bureau.

We googled them and oddly enough the first or second thing Google brought up was an old MN thread.

I've registered with the TPS but keep getting calls for someone who used to have this number at a different address. We have had this number for over 2 years but still get lots of calls for this other person. Despite saying every single time that they have the wrong number we keep getting calls. Any idea on what we can do? This person gets more cold calls than we do!

I don't answer the overseas calls

but I do like

Caller display and an answerphone.

If you ever get them again, ask for their name and address, and the purpose of their call.

It might be debt collectors.

Write, recorded delivery, saying that the person they want is no longer on that number, and that you require them to stop calling it.

Having done that you can complain to their trade association or something.

If it is debt collectors there are legal controls on what they are allowed to do.

Do you wish to speak to Mrs Andrews?
Do you have a Ouija board?

I'll just go get her
Sorry, she's still under the lawn - six feet under

I'll go wake her up
Whoops she's dead, as you are blocking my phone line, could you call an ambulance?

we did all of the above about the lady who'd lived in our house - and her widower (with whom we were in touch) suggested them and some even more distasteful ones :-)

I like that.

Next time I get a scammer asking for my mother, I'll tell them she's in the garden and not expected back in the house.

I blew a whistle at the charlatan who was trying to eek my credit card details and would not hang up and kept my line closed for 90 minutes cursing me...
AND would do it again
I happily do market research, talk to charity callers and am usually polite and say not interested...
The whistle is for the feckers

Our caller display no longer works as Virgin charge extra for it. I begrudge paying for the phone but we have to have it for broadband. I use my mobile phone for all calls which means that the landline is just used for incoming sales calls.

I had a ppi one the other day

I was feeling quite chatty

Him- hello is that Mrs XXXXXX
Me- yes it is
Him - I am from xxxxxx xxxx (something insurancy I suspected)
Me -OOOOH HOW LOVELY
Him - I am phoning as I think you may have been...
Me - Oh this isn't going to be about ppi again is it?...how Dispppointing, I haven't got any kind of loan insurance or indeed any loan, what else?
Him - hangs up

I was most disappointed at his rudeness as I'd been looking forward to a chat

I used to cold call businesses and I have to say it would have made my day to have some of the more inventive ways of dealing with my calls than the usual "oh ffs, will you just feck off and die!" (Yes I got that SEVERAL times in my first day!!)

I get several cold calls on my LL, when my SIL lived with us for a couple of months I got home one day to find her having a rather...odd conversation, along these lines (I'm parrot-phrasing here as I can't remember the actual words)

SIL: oh yes, I have to say I love yoghurts
Caller: can I speak with ms 84 please
SIL: yes you can, but first, I just HAVE to tell you all about when I went shopping today, could I find what I needed, could I buggery!! How hard can it be to find a decent bloody vibrator?? Have you had that problem
Caller: erm...
SIL: aw come on, I'm sure you must have bought one once??
Caller: click

I was in hysterics!!

Personally, I'd say the whistle goes too far, however, if the usual "I'm not interested" etc, haven't worked then I can see why people resorted to such tactics

Would like to point out that the companies I have worked for have all been legit! :)

I'm registered with TPS (have been for years) and ex directory. This means I've done what I can to stop unwanted calls (from the UK anyway) and am clearly indicating that I do not welcome intrusive, unwanted telephone calls in my own home. If I am still called then it means that the caller is likely getting the number by circumventing the Data Protection Act. Therefore they are fair game.

If it is clearly a legal company I always ask the for their full name and place of business and tell them I have made a note never to do business with them. If I need something then I already know I need it and am perfectly able to make a call, go to a shop or go online to get it. And as they have a snowball in hell's chance of selling me anything they are wasting their company's time and money.

The scammers like the fake Microsoft are scumbags. I don't use a whistle but how I deal with them depends on how inconvenient their interruption is. The last one I simply mildly told them to get an honest job instead of trying to defraud people who are nice enough to believe that toerags like them don't exist.

"Caller display"

OH is self employed and most of his business is from outside the UK - often in the far east. Caller display (which is a payable extra from our supplier) would be a complete waste of money, so we just pick up the phone. We don't get too many of these calls anyway and are quite capable of dealing with them.

I had an actual person call about PPI the other day. South African accent so not a call centre in India for a change. I acted very interested, asked lots of questions about what sort of things would mean I should claim PPI etc, and he got very excited thinking he had a lead. I then said thank you so much I think I will follow that up, nope no need for you to do it for me, yes I am sure the forms are difficult but I am a smart woman so I am sure I can work them out, goodbye. He was not happy :) no calls since

friend of mine put the caller on 'hold' then put phone next to stereo and put on an entire Venom album loud. The caller did not like Venom and never returned. Thrash does have it's uses...

Like he idea of putting a toddler on, DS will talk on the phone for hours and it's all really random!

The problem with these calls is that they invariably interupt something far more important and so I get very irritated when I have to drop what I'm doing to answer them.

Living in la accom does have it's good points I find.

"We are in your area and can offer you a wonderful deal on replacement windows/loft insulation/new boiler."

"Sorry, can I stop you there, this is a council house".

click

Problem solved.