To say "No!" and slam the phone down to the millionth junk phone call to the wrong person.

[TotalChaos]

I get at least 10 phone calls per week for a Mr. GXXXXXX. A Mr. GXXXXXX has NEVER lived at my address. I suspect he may have had our phone number before we got it 6 months ago. Today I cracked - and just said "No!" and slammed the phone down when someone asked to speak to Mr. XXXX. Then the woman called me back to tell me off for being rude then slammed the phone down on me!!!! From what I can ascertain this Mr. G is on the phone list of dodgy loan companies etc.

Blow a whistle down at them.

It could still be a computer, that calls you and then transfers you to a person when you answer and as you answered, they called back.
It does take the piss though.
We're changing our phone number.

VS - that's what DH thinks we should do. Suspect we will end up doing son.

I have started teling them that data protection prevents me from telling them if so and so is there.

seems to be getting to them slowly!

Do you still have to pay to change your number through choice?

You don't have to pay to change your number. And BT can change it for you within about 24 hrs. They can put a block on it so your number never appears on anyone's phone (and is then written down and passed on, etc). And they can link you up with a service which automatically blocks random marketing calls (that takes about 28 days to kick in)

we did this and its a life saver, especially with small children you don't want woken just at the wrong moment.

MrsTiddles, that's interesting. I am desperate to have random marketing calls blocked. We get at least two a day- computerised recorded messages telling us we have won this or that. It is driving me round the bend- we seriously considering junking the landline and just having mobile phones. We are with the TPS but it doesn't seem to make any difference. What is that service you are talking about and do you think I can get it through Virgin?

Our line doesn't let through withheld numbers (you get a recorded message instead). That and the TPS have stopped about 95% of junk calls (going by the reduction in number since).

The only ones that get through now are the ones calling from outside the UK. Since I don't know anyone outside the UK who would call me, I just don't answer the phone (caller display).

Not quite the same thing as they weren't companies ringing, but for the first few years we lived here, we had countless calls for a Mr L... and when I asked callers where they had got the number, they said it was on the side of a builder's van! So for goodness knows how long some guy was driving around advertising his business with the wrong number.

I freakin hate those recorded voice things too, I seem to get an awful lot of them. You pick up and say hello, there's a huge long silence and a perky voice says 'Are you aware that millions of people in this country are in debt...' or something. I hang up pretty sharpish.

I think its the TPS but we signed up to that at the same time as changing the number. We had someone live here (3 or 4 people before us) who were in debt so we had some scary calls that really upset me when I was heavily pregnant. I definitely told BT about this when they sorted it out for us, I don't know if that made it any faster or more effective...?

I had another one the other day from a person telling me that they had picked me for a new kitchen - I just asked said good ruose, he isn't here and you shouldn't be calling him here. It will end in tears you know he breaks many hearts your a bit cheeky phoning hear you know - she said good bye and put the phone down it was all very polite she never rang back either as it was a random number call as I am ex directory and dont give out my landline only my mobile.

thats quite funny

Ok. I am now going to throw the cat among the pigeons now....

I have had to do a similar job recently because I am going to university in Sept and need to save as much money as possible. My DP has been out of work a fair bit recently too and this is what has been feeding us and paying our bills some weeks. I don't phone people up at home though - I purely deal with business to business sales.

The gods honest truth is it is a horrible, stressful job with little prospects (thank god I will only be doing this for another month or so) and people can be absolutely nasty to you. If you don't hit your impossible targets you get threatened with the sack and these targets include how many people you have called as well as whom you have sold to.

I undersand these calls are frustrating and annoying, especially when you are busy. I don't like them at home myself. But please spare a thought for the poor person on the other end of the phone trying to do a soul destroying job just to feed their families (most of the people where I work have kids and only work there because they have to). Please don't play games trying to keep them on the phone for as long as possible and please don't be rude to them. A simple no thank you and a mention of TPS will be enough. I have been sworn at, threatened and have people assume I am very stupid over the past few months and it makes me thank my lucky stars I won't be there forever. Most of my colleagues are not so lucky.

On the other hand don't get me started on the recorded ones that are still there when you put the phone down. Grrrrr

www.youtube.com/watch?v=J5z4Vs26-TI

Thing is for some old people these calls are a blessing, they get someone to talk to and they might be the only voice they hear all day.

You can complain to TPS if you are still getting unsolicited calls after registering - I did this as my registration seemed to stop working after about a year. It did the trick.

Also be really careful about giving out your details and always tick the "no marketing" boxes on any form you fill in ever (or make a point of asking for no marketing if there isn't a box). Otherwise you could be deemed to have solicited the call by giving out your number and showing you are open to approaches!

Mad old lady behaviour perhaps, but I get maybe one junk call every few months now.

I do agree with Notalone- I have done cold calling too for a job. "No thank you" and put the phone down is plenty- you are abusing the wrong person if you have a go at them.

I'm going to go back to the TPS after this thread- Coldspaghetti you have inspired me!

notalone, you shouldn't have to mention TSP, they shouldn't be calling thats why people have registered and then if they still insist on calling then people will often be frustrated and get rude to try to get the message across time and again.

This is why instead of getting frustrated - which is possible as I am ex directory and dont want the calls - I have a little fun instead, not rude or abusive. If the employees dont like this then they should think about not calling people registered with TPS and ex directory numbers, then they wouldn't be wasting there time and could get on with phoning people that are interested in the product or whatever it is they want to sell.

I've had this recently. Lost it big time when the same person phoned 13 times in the same day, when DD was sleeping, when I was showering, when I was pooing (sorry TMI!), etc.

Call BT and ask for the nuisance calls department. They will put call blocking on your line free for a month.

When the nuisance caller rings, you hang up and immediately put a code that BT provide into your touchtone phone.

That number is then blocked from calling you again.

Has worked well for me. I ended up with just one company who couldn't be barred, probably calling from India from the accent. I said the person they were looking for had moved, and gave them his new number (my old, unused mobile phone).

None at all now

And your registration with TPS only lasts a year. You have to reregister every 12 months.

Message withdrawn

Actually Onestonetogo - that is not a lame excuse at all and I think you are being unduly harsh. Where I live is a deprived area and that was the ONLY job going at the time unless I put myself forward for hairdressing or hod carrier work which I am not qualified for. Would you rather I had gone onto benefits then while DP was out of work or is that a whole different argument?

Oh and comparing what I have done to support my family to weapons manufacturers, drug dealers and criminals btw is downright ridiculous. Sorry. Yes, you may be annoyed but I am not hurting anyone and at the end of the day I was just asking people to be polite

I think you will find that if you fill in a form and dont tick the no contact boxes this can cancel the opt out of mailing preferences and possibly telephone preferences. Im obsessive about not letting companies, their subsidiaries or carefully vetteed...blah blah contact me so I ALWAYS tick boxes on forms to say NO CONTACT. My TPS has worked for years but we are ex-directory anyway so I think that helps, if I get a cold call now I say "im registered with TPS but Im also ex-directory could you please tell me how you got my number" they cant hang up fast enough

TPS site www.tpsonline.org.uk/tps/

I dont use this but it was recommended on another site I was viewing about TPS - allegedly it blocks the silent calls www.ukdatait.co.uk/cgi-bin/sgAddNumber.cgi

I do think its a bit harsh to liken these callers to arms dealers to be honest Ive done call centre jobs in the past you do have targets and it is very stressfull, I would never choose to do it again in an ideal world but if I was desperate for money I may have to. I just say "no not interested, have a nice day" and hang up.

Cat64 - have just checked website. You only need to reresister if you're a company or if you change your phone/ISP provider.