How to stop telemarketing calls?

kaiowas said:
Sounds like an autodialler then. Is TPS likely to stop this?
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If the company concerned is reputable, yes. Some of the dialers just pick sequential banks of numbers and dial them all, which is technically against the law, but they still do it anyway.
 
semi-participate but tell them you want to know what company wants the info, then once you have the company name google it and find out if theyre british and threaten to sue because they've called you even though your on the TPS register

i used to get loads of calls at my last place, TPS knocked them down. then i told the rest that i wanted them to remove my number from their system and to do it while i was on the line and made them confirm they had. other times id just be down right arsey and mean to them. didnt take too long before the calls stopped though

at the end of the day if they want your details there is money in it for them, they either sell your details or call you back another time to sell you somethin, so they take up your time to invade your privacy and sell your details to other companies that'll bother you, i dont have any guilt in being mean to the person on the other end.
 
n3vrmind said:
.... so they take up your time to invade your privacy and sell your details to other companies that'll bother you, i dont have any guilt in being mean to the person on the other end.
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I don't have any guilt about that either. If someone rings me at home to sell me something, I don't want it regardless of what it is or how good a deal they think it is. I simply don't want to be pestered at home PERIOD.

So, anyone doing it risks a mood-dependent response. At best, they're going to get a terse "not-interested" and a hang-up without waiting for a response. And if they catch me at the wrong time, it's going to be an explicit, x-rated, anatomical and expletive-laden analysis of their parentage .... or lack thereof. And if I can make their day a bit more miserable in the process, I regard that as objective achieved.

There is also a certain double glazing company that, having repeatedly and unsuccessfully tried to get them to stop pestering me, were the recipients of a legal snottygram from my lawyers informing them that unless a written affirmation that no such further calls would be undertaken was received within 7 days, they would be pursued in civil court for harrassment each and every time such a call was received. And I meant it, too. They must have believed me, as I got my letter and, would you believe, not ONE more call from that company.

I'm sure some people will read this and think that threatening legal action is either excessive, or an empty threat. It was neither. I seriously object to this marketing technique, because when such calls are made despite frequent objection, including several written objections, the message is clear - they aren't prepared to acceed to what is not only my clearly expressed wish to be left alone, but my legal right to be. So, I attack the very principle of this type of direct marketing, which is that it is only worthwhile if the cost per call is small, since the percentage hit rate is certainly small. Companies KNOW many people don't like it at all, but they blithely and arrogantly disregard that and do it anyway, including to people who have made their objections patently clear.

So what happens to their marketing costs if calling the wrong person lands them in court every time?

I'm convinced they ignored requests not to be called either because they couldn't be bothered to follow it up, or because the cost of doing so was unattractive. So I made the cost of not doing so even more unattractive. It worked a treat. :)
 
I did the whole tps thing but I still get calls, but my little sister adds a twist to these calls. Yesterday I got a guy trying to sell me a lame contract with an old handset, I kept talkin to him for about 5 mins then handed the phone over to my lil sis who did her usuall funny voices down the line along with random comments and insults thrown in, rather amusing to watch tbh
 
I had a telemarketer call me once trying to flog me windows, doors conservatories, that sort of stuff. I had a few hours to kill as I was bored. Basically strung him along, saying “hold on someone’s at the door”, left the phone on hold for 20 minutes, he thought he was going to get a potential sale for a 25K conservatory… I managed to keep him on the phone for about 90 minutes in total, and he sounded well excited he might get a 25K conservatory and possible new windows. He was a little puzzled by the request for a front door that wasn’t going to be external, and he also questioned why I needed only two new windows.

I then proceeded to tell him “ooh, I forgot, I live in a 2nd floor flat (was at the time anyhow so this wasn't a lie.. LOL), is that a problem?” and then laughed, guess you can put the conservatory on stilts or something.. He hung up. I laughed all night after that.

It amuses me to poke fun at them when I’m in the mood, other times I just tell them straight – bugger off.

And I’m now on the TPS anyhow, so get hardly any calls at all. The worse is when they call, and there is no one at the end of the phone due to having a lack of operators.
 
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