The Accidental Smallholder Forum
Community => Coffee Lounge => Topic started by: happygolucky on October 23, 2013, 10:20:05 am
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I have noticed that cold calling etc has become much more aggressive lately, and the amount of scam E Mails is increasing, some are almost believable, loads from Pay Pal, just glad we have not used it for a while.
I had a phone call from our telephone provider, I changed my service some time ago, and live to regret it as I believe to have been mis sold it, but, after phoning them in the cooling off period around 14 days after taking up the service I was told I needed to pay a huge cancellation figure, I could not afford to pay the huge sum they wanted for the rest of their 18mth contract, so I thought I would cancel at the end of that, and when I phoned they told me I needed to have cancelled 3 mths before the end of that contract as now it had rolled into another 12 mth contract, a rolling one that's now illegal...this contract ends in December and we move out very soon, so when the some one from the company phoned yet again to offer me something!! I said we were going to finish with the service as from the date given, he demanded the name of the people that are moving in, I said he did not need to know that, he kept on that he did and became very aggressive, I was able to tell him when we were leaving but refused to give him any names as I could not see why I needed too, he said, in his hard sell way, well I will phone next week when you know their names as otherwise they will have to set up a connection at a great cost to the new owners, I said I would check that out as never heard of it.
I did phone BT and he was way out of order.....my husband had similar hard sell stuff at work, they are certainly upping their ways of getting more customers....
The horrid part about all this, we are open to sales people in our homes all the time, I have a few on line bills come in so have to look carefully at my E Mails, otherwise most are just rubbish, just like the stuff that used to be posted out.......well I am ready for the sales man today, he is no way getting any names off me! :rant:
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We have signed up to telephone preference service, it's cut it down, but one got through the other day, and she was so aggressive it was funny so I let it carry on, basically wanted to speak to my wife, who wasn't in, so after telling her she wouldn't be in till 8, she asked if she could ring at 6 to speak to her, (this went on for a bit, she couldn't seem to grasp the concept that people arn't in at 6), anyway she rang back at 6 and asked to speak to her, so I said she wasn't there, she asked when she'd be back, I said she wouldn't be back, she asked for a mobile number, I didn't give it, I told her she was dead, she put the phone down then pretty quickly, anyway their number wasn't blocked so I've reported it to the tps.
Wife's not dead though. Checked that, she came home last night and everything
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I like the ones from the power people, let them ramble on for ages trying to sell me a dual fuel policy and if i have time ask loads of questions and then at the end i say " hey that really sounds great, i'd love to save money on a dual fuel supply, problem is theres no Gas within 20 miles of here so tough poo sherlock do your home work first" and then put the phone down and have another glass of wine!! ;D :roflanim: :roflanim:
Mandy :pig:
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I always talk to them about cricket, especially when they are Indian guys who tell me that their name is Robert Jones. :roflanim:
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Apparently I've had a car accident within the last 3 years ..... and have been told so 4 times now despite telling the first , second and third ones to take me off list. ..... with 4th one I reminded him the call was recorded and that I had already asked to be removed 3 times ....... so far not had a accident since!!
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I keep getting told the bank owes me money on the PPI claim thing, well I did get my small amount of money back and have not had any loans etc since, then I get loads for the people who lived here over 6 years ago, one chap said " Good morning Mr Christopher, my name is James, how are you? " I feel horrid but I now put the phone down, I know its there job and they probably get commission.......trouble is, I have been waiting for phone calls from 2 lots of solicitors and if I miss them and phone back, its hard to catch them in, so I run to the phone. One day I may try some of the funny ways of dealing with them, like pretend its a crime scene or ask them questions......its getting harder to sort them out lately.......I hate being rude but sometimes you just have too!
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I'm on ex-Directory and TPS listing and still get a few every week - if they come up international or unknown that's easy to ignore, and I've got an answerphone that puts off a few more but between the government funding of some power scheme which the government apparently haven't funded strangely, and the number of PPI claims I might be due if I'd ever accepted the PPI cover in the last 20 years.. it is still annoying.
The most recent one came up as coming from a local number and I picked up on that basis so was raging when I later realised it was supposedly coming from my own landline number!! That is outright fraud but I have no number to report and the Chinese accented gentleman was completely incomprehensible so I didn't even dare ask who he represented..
Frankly I want to terminate my landline and save the hassle but Sky provide it as a way in for my broadband so I imagine I'm stuck with it and the associated monthly fees ??? I had for some reason unplugged the phone from the socket at some point to test the broadband connection and it was off a week before I realised but anyone that knows me has my mobile number and knows I prefer it due to being outdoors a lot, so I'm wondering if the easiest thing would be simply to unplug it whenever I'm home and plug it in to run to answerphone only when I'm outside, just in case..
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Its pestering after all, if these were people at our doors we would be calling the police......I was a bit short with a man who turned out to be a guest......he sounded like a sales man and I was in the middle of my great bake off cake cooking...ha hah......I often put slightly different ways of spelling my name or use other names on stuff that requires signing up to on the internet, that way, you can see who has passed your details on, I registered as Mary on one site and get a few things for her........mobiles phones that you only give the number to friends and family are better, although I never have mine with me inside the home but do on walks, then I end up with job offers coming in from agencies!
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I don't answer out of area or international calls, but if I answer when it is seems to be a proper number, and it appears to be a sales call my reply is 'I know you are doing your job, but i don't want whatever you are selling' and immediately put the phone down.
However, I had a call the other day from an 0800 number, the girl asked if i was Mrs Maisie, so I immediately thought it was a sales call since she couldn't pronounce my name correctly. Turned out it was the hospital to book me in for a test. How stupid did I feel - I apologized all the way through to the end of the call, but she just laughed it off - lovely girl.
Remember never give anyone the name and contact details of another person as that would probably break the data protection act.
I get loads of junk email and it has definitely increased in the last few weeks from about 3 or 4 previously to 20 this morning - I have my settings such that i just delete the lot automatically. If there are any correct ones they'll try again anyway.
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I sometimes say "if you don't know who I am I am not interested" ha aha, never would I give out some ones name, no need too but I did think about calling Ofsted about the man who was getting angry that I would not give him the names of the new people moving in...cheek, I am actually waiting them to call me back so I can find out how much I need to pay for the cancellation...that's a concern as they are probably practising what they are going to say........well, I am ready and have my I pad to record the telephone conversation and I will inform them of that at the start of the call, as I also know that's data protection too!! :innocent:
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Surely if they rolled the contract forward without your permission and without you being told there will be no cancellation fee? I wouldn't pay them anything.
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I have found that if you find the phone is playing up, lots of sorry say that again and no didn't get that they get really irritated and one has even slammed the phone down :roflanim:
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Ihave found that if you find the phone is playing up, lots of sorry say that again and no didn't get that they get really irritated and one has even slammed the phone down
:roflanim: :roflanim: I will try that and I just rushed to the phone for yet another call :rant:
The rolling contract is illegal now, but it only came into force as mine was put onto another roll of 12 mths, they now have to give you written notice that your contract is due to be renewed...that's much better as well all forget I am sure!! I was not a happy bunny when they did it to me and should have pursuded it with OFSTED, anyway it now only has one month to go so not that expensive, they make up all sorts of additional fees...its very very maddening......back to good old bad old BT :innocent:
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:rant: I have just noted what time I started this post as that's a while after I phoned to cancel the phone provider, they said they would ring back, so, I just rang and they said they are still busy, really? :rant:
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we registered with tps a few years ago and cold calls stopped instantly. my parents were also being driven mad by endless calls so asked me to register them and their calls stopped instantly. the ones I can't do anything about are companies I already deal with ( e.g my bank, BT, heating oil supplier) ringing trying to flog me something else. I hate this constant "up-selling" I rarely fill up with petrol without a "can I interest you in some chocolate, or biscuits or something on special offer etc. etc".
A friend of mine recently started work in a tea room where all staff are encouraged to Up-sell- a tea room for goodness sake. a few months ago we saw some really attractive looking baths in a lifestyle magazine. I rang for a brochure. beautiful alright, but pricey- there was a bath in there for £14,000 !! since then we get rung most weeks by Albion Bath company. It does seem that showing an interest in anything is fatal these days. is it the "recession" or is everybody just hungrier ??
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just ran in to 2 more calls, this time I said the owner had died, it was the man who lived her before we moved in, he has loads of different business and we kept the phone number...I have still not heard from the phone company....I bet if I rang to tell them I wanted to go with them they would be straight back...I am livid :rant: first time they said they would call me back was just after 9am and they tell me they are still busy at gone half past 2...a phone company too busy to deal with me leaving them ???
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Sandy, write to them, make sure in the letter you say you've had no response and make it clear the date you are leaving from, say you want a response in writing, makes more work for them at the very least, and they can't ignore you
Wasn't there a bloke who set up his own premium rate number, and used it as his contact no, so it cost them every time they rang, I think he made a couple of grand out of it, he listened to everything they had to say, and he asked questions...
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quickest way i get ride of them is tell them they are braking the law as my number has been taken off any teli marking list and they hang up pretty quickly either that take the utter mickey and waste there time
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just phoned again, told them I would not be giving any names due to data protection, this time a non aggressive women who said OK, but still no one to speak to re termination of contract, I persuaded the women to give me an idea and the cost I would incurre as I find it no use looking on line as they always come up with something else, its 1 third of my bill for each month I have left, so then its only a month before the end of my contract any way, then an admin fee of around £30-£50 whats that for? I detest admin fees, maybe I should add an admin fee onto all the bills I get that I print out to take to pay at the PO or Bank..Maybe we all should add ADMIN onto our bills......then of course the actual phone bill....I am so not a happy bunny but its not as bad and the women I just spoke to was lovely.......now I can
r e l a x ! :relief:
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The system is corrupt .
People are threatened with loss of posessions , fines , court and even prison .
I have a situation atm , orange cold called me to say that they had a sim only contract that would be cheaper than the paygo i have now . As it would have meant i would have to pay by direct debit i said no , but would be interested in reading the details of the deal .
I received 2 sim cards by post , no details . Then a month later i had 2 lots of £11 taken out of my bank , then another 2 lots. I called orange and got the contract stopped , a contract i didn't agree to enter .
I then had more money taken out of my bank . All monies have been returned by the bank and a stop on any direct debits without my express activation .
I now get letters from a debt collection agency demanding payment of all the payments that were taken and the rest of the contract , that i didn't agree too .
I call orange and tell them to stop sending letters and now i swear profusely at them .
Let the twats take me to court and watch the shtf !
But they won't , it is just coersion . And they they have the wrong one here .
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I had a conversation last night about how we are all constantly bombarded with people trying to con us.....Its horrid as there must be tons of vulnerable people that fall for the cons, and clever people who fall for their cons..there are loads of cheap deals for things until you add on the extras, like that song about cheap flights, yes but everything is extra.
Think we all agree with your way of life Rustyme but not many of us are brave or fit enough and do have other responsibilities.
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In this instance Sandy, my way of life has nothing tn do it . This was a case of theft from my bank and then coersion afterwards .
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We are registered with TPS but so many of the calls are from unknown numbers and automated calls so we can't find out who they are to report them. I also get loads of calls on my mobile. I just put the phone down and let them finish the recording. It's their phone bill.
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:rant: :rant: :rant: Just had a phone call as I am sat next to the phone waiting for an important call, it was quiet for a moment then clicked in, a man with a foreign accent said he was calling about problems with my internet....I know that is not the case but I asked him to explain, he started to read some crap off a sheet, I said " I am going to stop you there, I am not currently using the internet and my brother in law's job is IT so If I find a problem I will ask him, I have no time to waste, buy buy" I am fuming :rant: as its all con con con.....I had to phone some one else straight back so they did not get any info from me!!
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Just had another letter from orange today , telling me to pay or else !
2 hours on the phone and explaining to 4 different people , all very calmly , until the last one .
The snot got arsey with me , i lost the plot !
Anyway , in the end the penny dropped and he accepted that i didn't open the contract , and that i wouldn't have to pay the £48 now owing , and the rest of the contract term . I told him in no uncertain terms that i wouldn't be paying it anyway !
So shall just wait and see what happens next .
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So shall just wait and see what happens next .
:fc: , you have to stand your ground, I wish I had asked the chap this morning my details...he would have stumbled at that one......If they take you to court to pay instalments you may have to sell your scrap armour :innocent: I v very much doubt it will come to that though.
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Lol . I won't have to pay anything mate , i never had the contract !
Even if they did take me to court , there is nothing they can do to get 'any' money from me .
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Sandy, I had one of those calls a few weeks back, claiming to be from Microsoft. He asked who was my service provider. I told him that if he could really tell that I had problems with my computer he would know who my service provider was, so he tried guessing. I hung up.
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I was in such a rush that I said I was with BT and then he said that's who he was phoning for, I knew it was a scam and so wish I had not said BT, remembering all the other scams, I did have to phone some one just after I put the phone down, today I am ready for them, I did have a block on but its stuff coming in from all the adverts and different businesses the previous owner had on the internet, as I said previously, I would leave the answer phone on but when you are dealing with solicitors and surveyors etc, if you phone them back they are never there!! I am tempted to have a script next to the phone!! :innocent:
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It's the short pause before someone speaks that generally gives the game away, that and the fact that the calls usually start at around midday BST, when India starts work. I generally just say, "We don't accept sales calls on this number," and put the 'phone down. My husband occasionally answers the 'phone with "Mumbai Call Centre - how can I help you?" To which the reply is generally "But this is the Mumbai Call Centre!"
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But this is the Mumbai Call Centre!"
:roflanim: , yesterday we had 4 calls and some strange messages.......I told them the man they asked for had died........I will be glad when we change the phone number........although part of me wants that chap re the internet not working, to phone again as I am ready to wind him up!!! :innocent:
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My strategy is that whatever they are selling - I tell them that I have done it/bought it already: double glazing, PPI claim, accident claim, telephone/media bundle contracts etc etc.
I think all these telesales lists are connected because I have noticed that once I tell one salesperson that I am out of the running then other salespeople stop calling about that particular issue.
It goes without saying that we never even pick up the "International" calls but if we do get somebody from Mumbai or wherever I always ask them about their lives and what the weather's like. They do seem willing to have a bit of a chat but I bet they get paid peanuts.
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TPs made no difference here whatsoever. The best excuse was "we are not with BT, TPS does not concern us" :rant: .
I answer as we don't have a screening device but if it's obvious I let them talk and just not reply until they hang up. Or say "hang on a minute " and then put the phone on the table...I must admit that sometimes I snap if they really catch me at a bad time. "My name is Andy and I'm calling form Microsoft" - "and I am the Queen of England" ooops :roflanim: :&>
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What's even more annoying is I have had sales alls from my telephone provider but when I want to speak about cancelling my contract they say they will phone back as they are busy but never do, it appears when you wnt a hone call they do not phone back but when you don't want to be disturbed you get lads of calls :rant:
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Today I answered the phone to a woman with an Indian accent who asked for me by name. I very nearly hung up on her but it was actually the practice manager from our doctors' surgery. ;D