To think that automated calls are dangerous and should be made illegal?

[AKMD]

This might not be so relevant in south-east England but here goes...

Long experience of automated calls with an 'important public announcement' turning out to be about how to write off my non-existent debt by taking out another loan or some other rubbish advertising something or other mean that I now hang up every time I hear a robot voice on the phone. If there was an actual emergency message, I would completely miss the warning. Examples I can think of include an explosion at a power station or chemical processing plant necessitating everyone staying indoors (happened around here a few years ago), madman with machine gun roaming the streets (ok, unlikely), civil unrest (very likely where I live when there's a football game on!) etc. Thinking back to the bushfires in Australia last year, isn't there an automated telephone warning system if your community is under threat and residents need to leave? What would happen if people got used to automated calls and so just hung up?

So, AIBU to think that such automated calls should be made illegal so that should a real emergency ever occur, warnings don't get ignored?

automated calls?

where the feck do you live?

never had one or heard about them to be perfectly honest

yanbu i totally agree with you.i get those automated calls all the time.they are so annoying.

I get them. (Scotland)

"Connnngratuuulaaaaations!You have been selected...blabla"

I didn't know there was an automatic call system for national emergencies....

Never heard of automated calls for emergencies. I always hang up if I get one as we get loads. Is there any way to stop them? the rubbish ones that is.

Why wouldnt this be relevant in the SE tho? confused about that.

you are totally totally NBU. It's abuse of the telephone system. What if you're in the shower and get out specially to answer the phone, what if you're expecting an important call... they make me fume, as do the stupid mobile phone/internet call centres that call up three times a week. Yes, they should be illegal.

I get these and just hang up. I doubt they would be used for any real public service announcement as not everyone uses land line phones these days (well lots of people I know only have mobiles).

I hang up on any call when someone doesn't speak immediately as am so fed of automated calling systems/call centres etc.

Hmm, I'm fairly sure they wouldn't use the phone to tell people about such serious incidents over here! I rarely answer my home phone anyway so I'd be screwed

Automated calls, or any call where you have to wait a few seconds before another person speaks are highly annoying, but I really don't think they can be classed as dangerous. Unless you're one of those people who leaves unattended boiling water / fire / bleach to run off and answer the phone at all costs.

I don't know about for national notices, but they should be illegal because they take up your phoneline and you'd be fucked if you needed 999 whilst they're connected (they remain connected even if you hang up, sometimes)

and they're pointless and a nuisance

Tulips - might be stepping into a minefield here but I think OP refers to calls which say you have been selected for a prize, entitled to special discount, something to do with credit ratings or eliminating debt etc or from utility companies with overseas call centres blah blah.

These can be generated automatically from sales offices etc. Have you never experienced that type of "automated" call?

I have had a few automated calls that I also hang up on and I am in South East.

But I have never heard of important public announcements being made by an automated service! Surely that would come via radio/TV news and the like?!

ShauntheSheep That was thinking out loud, sorry. I had bushfires stuck in my head and so was trying to think of situations relevant to south-east England where an automated phone warning could be used.

I know that automated phone call warning systems are part of emergency planning in other countries so just assumed that they would be in the UK too, along with TV/radio announcements, text messages etc. to try to reach as many people as possible (or am I giving emergency response planners too much credit here?!).

Apart from that, they are just annoying.

I think the OP is referring to the recorded message phone calls which state "this is an important public service announcement, do not hang up".....which turn out to be about clearing debts etc. not just the random automated dial call centre ones (which although annoying are not claiming to be of extreme importance)

Shaunthesheep - you can register for something called the Telephone Preference Service (you can do it online) - once you are on it these compa ies are not supposed to call you (it takes about a month to kick in). I registered about two months ago and the calls have all but dried up - if you do get the odd one (this won't work for the automated ones, admittedly) you just interrupt and say you are on the TPS list and they should not be contacting you. tThey usually bugger off pretty fast as they can get into trouble for calling people on the list.

You can't interrupt these though as they just recordings - how on earth can you stop them if they ignore the TPS list?

I'm registered with the TPS and I don't get these calls. They don't stop calls from overseas, but fortunately I only get one of those about every 6 months.

I get these (London) - always at the same time of day - 2.30 and 6 ish. Don't even pick the phone up at these times

I must say that even the totally automated ones have dropped off since registering with the TPS. It's worth a go.

we get them here also Scotland she says "are you awar"?2 and i bang the phone down ill never know if im aware or not they are so annoying

Telephone Preference Service

aware*

I get these in the South east too.
And the floodline warnings might be automated.

YANBU!

I'm on the TPS and registered my home phone number when I moved back, but we are still getting the calls on occasion! I had one on my mobile in the past few weeks who I told that I was on the TPS list and he started arguing with me saying that I wasn't, it takes a month to work, etc. All well and true but when I've been on it for over 6 months it's illegal for them to call. I got a call back from their supervisor apologising though

They really should ban sales calls of all kinds I think, because the opt out system is not working!

I am registered with TPS (and have been for the last few years) and still get these calls!

I get these too

also on the TPS list, but they seem to get thru, and it makes me mad, aspecielly when I am poorly like now and they happen, and there is no way to vent my frustration to them

I am in bournemouth, so south west.