How to stop automated sales messages on home phone?

[Happyfeet24]

Hi,

 

We get Churchwood finance calling twice a day every day with an automated message about debt consolidation.

 

We've only had our phone line 4 weeks, provided by Sky, and apart from family, Sky are the only people who have our number, so I guess they very kindly sold it to this odd Churchwood company.

 

Anyway, that's neither here nor there, what I would like to know is how can I get them to stop calling? we are ex directory for all the good it seems to have done. The automated message says to press 5 to speak to an adviser, but after speaking to a friend they told me to be careful doing that as it will verify my number as ok to call? doesn't make much sense to me as if I need to verify it to be ok, then why are they ringing before I have done so?

 

So, should I press 5 and ask the advisor to remove my number from their system (honestly hold little faith in that working) or should I contact Sky to ask for that number to be blocked from getting through to me? (not sure if that service exists?) or is there some other way to get them to stop calling?

[sillygirl1]

Churchwood will have had the number passed to them from an online application, rather than from Sky. What you need to do is contact Sky and ask them for another new number, they are obliged to give you one as you are getting these calls regularly.

[Happyfeet24]

Churchwood will have had the number passed to them from an online application, rather than from Sky. What you need to do is contact Sky and ask them for another new number, they are obliged to give you one as you are getting these calls regularly.

 

We've always been so careful with this number since getting it, the only online application we've done was for sky itself but the number didn't exist at that point. Frustrating, thankfully as it's only family with the number then changing it wont cause many problems. Should I tell Sky the reason why I want to change it and give them Churchwoods' name and number?

[BankFodder]

Truecall will do everything. Record, screen, manage, - everything.

 

Get it cheap through us. We make nothing on the deal. We only want to encourage people to record their calls and to take back ownership of their telephones

[sillygirl1]

I would tell Sky, they might be able to do something their end, of course if you had a technical phone you could always reroute the number to another annoying call centre....

[Conniff]

We had one of those expensive bed companies silently ring us the other day. As it was an 0800 number, I rang them back and a gents voice said xx beds, can I help you to which I replied, 'I am just returning your annoying silent call, now f off', and put the phone down on him.

 

I may be abrasive, but I am getting fed up with them and have taken to using foul and abusive words to all of them. It does seem to work though.

[Annoying Twit]

Surely joining the mail preference service will, after a while, stop the problem. Probably.

 

But I thought in any case you can contact a company, and ask them to stop contacting you. And they had to do or risk various types of sanctions. Is this not the case?

[Conniff]

ask them to stop contacting you

 

I did that, just didn't use those words.

[dx100uk]

join TPS

takes a few weeks but they all stop eventually

if they dont.

you send them the time & number and they do something about it.

 

dx

[hightail]

TPS only stops calls which originate in the UK. The first people to take advantage of this when I joined were BT.

[dx100uk]

yep i know

i got my first bt line last oct [was and still am cable but this is business line]

within 3 days all my 5 numbers were being bombarded by these calls...thanks bt!

 

tps worked though.

by xmas they went.

 

dx

[buzby]

Surely joining the mail preference service will, after a while, stop the problem. Probably.

 

Unlikely. However the Telephone Preference Service might have more going for it.

 

I dislike Truecall as it forces the caller into having their call 'answered' by the machine, whether it is dealt with or not. Speaking with the firm directly is always the most direct solution.

[P.Pilcher]

Well, I've been registered with the TPS for years. It probably stops some of the firms who are prepared to respect the privacy of telephone customers, but the less scrupulous operators don't seem to be bothered. This is because, as far as I am aware, the TPS takes little or no action with respect to complaints referred to it.

In latter years these "clever" operators have started to claim that it is NOT illegal to make calls to TPS protected numbers with regards to SURVEYS. Thus they call my number asking if I will take part in a "short" survey and if I bother to take part in it they will soon be asking me why I am not using their bl**dy product or service. Like everyone else, my only defence is to give such callers short shrift, but occasioanlly I can have fun by giving them ridiculous answers to their stupid surveys and when they come around to the punch line of asking me why I am not using so-and-so they belatedly realise that my answers to their questions make it obvious that their product is totally unsuitable for my use, based on the supplied answers. Occasionally their "squirming" on the telephone can provide amusement - but only occasionally.

 

P.P.

[borisbeaver]

One thing to mention is that phone numbers are re-used. It could be that your new number was used before and that was when the company got the number.

[Yorky2008]

Somewhere on the internet there is a recording of a phonecall where a guy pretends he is a cop at a murder crime scene. The poor cold caller sh1ts himself the guy wants to know what business dealing he has with the 'deceased'

 

Will see if can find it and post up the link.

[Annoying Twit]

Telemarketer Crime Scene - Prank Calls, Funny Audio Clips, Celebrity Prank Calls, Crank Calls

[Yorky2008]

thats the one!

 

Absolutely brilliant!

[RichardM]

I've had Truecall for a couple of months, and have seen even attempts at getting through fall to almost zero. In fact, I'm wondering whether there is an industry list being circulated of telephone numbers which have the unit attached, because whereas I was getting one or two survey calls a day, my telephone records are now showing one a fourtnight if that

[MsWeatherwax]

One thing to mention is that phone numbers are re-used. It could be that your new number was used before and that was when the company got the number.

 

Seconded. Ever since we got our new phone number, we get more phone calls for a woman called Tracey than we do for ourselves - business and personal!

[pfaas]

An epetition has been raised to make these illegal . See the E petition section of this site and the thread..

Make automated phone calls to private numbers illegal

[Conniff]

Good luck - if they agree, none of us will be around to benefit.

[pfaas]

Thanks, can I ask for your support to go to the Epetition site and sign up. I know in theory you have to get to 100,000 signatures for it to be discussed in parliament, but the reality is if you get enough interest some government adviser tasked with finding popular initiatives may decide to propose it. There are so many people who moan about things but will not move a muscle to do anything about it, you just being on a forum like this show your interest in fighting for consumer justice. Find the epetition page and email it to like minded friends. Thanks:-D

[Conniff]

Do you have a link to the epetition ??

[pfaas]

Unluckily being a newby to these forums the system prevents me putting a link here. But I just got to the epetition section of this forum, and my post that does have a link, by using the search box at the top right of the page (not the search the web one) and puting in "epetition phone calls" and it brought up 2 items the second being my post with the link. Alternatively I went to Google and entered "Make automated phone calls to private numbers illegal" and the epetition came up second on the list (end of the epetition address has 33439 as the number). Thanks for your support.

[Conniff]

Link to epetition

 

epetition to stop automated sales calls