My gast is really flabbered!

Silverfish, what annoys a lot of us, I think, is being phoned when we have registered with the TPS specifically so that we can avoid having sales calls which we don't want. I often ask if the caller has a copy of the TPS list, and sometimes they do, sometimes they don't. In your experience, is it generally available, and why do so may firms seem to ignore it?

The TPS doesn't apply to foreign-based call centres, *Wheniwasyourage'.

I may be being judgemental but I still feel the same about what I said on my last post. It is rude and ignorant to be horrible to these callers. I was brought up to be polite to all.

If someone feels so strongly why answer a withheld number, if it is a friend or relative they will leave a message, I have a free answer service which I understand that most of the bigger phone providers offer.

There was something on TV a few weeks ago and it said that the public would like to ban calls from abroad but they said it could not be done as it was a multimillion industry and to put all these people out of work would be impossible. Even people who live abroad have families to support.
I worked in one call centre for a big bank and I was doing a satisfaction survey-getting the public to have their say as to how they were treated as a customer, I thought this would be harmless but was amazed how rude people were, some never even gave me the courtesy of listening to what I was asking.
Holly, they have to check that someone is in the correct group to have a new boiler, they cant just dump them willy nilly, that would cause mayhem. By the way I cant wait till Im 60 to get my free boiler.

By the way I never ever get sales or any other unsolicited calls. I would be happy to do market research and would listen to any callers but never get the chance. I rarely get unsolicited e mails

But Silverfish, don't you understand how intrusive a lot of people feel this type of phone call is? (and it's the same with cold-callers at the door).

Sometimes the calls are at an inconvenient time, you might be waiting for an urgent call from a relative, or have rushed in from the garden...

I had one today from someone asking for Mr A, the woman said she was 'aiming to raise public awareness about industrial injury claims'.

The thing is Silverfish some people get lots of these calls, and elderly people, like my mum, are confused and alarmed by them.

As I've said before, I do feel sorry for people doing this job and I don't believe in being rude to them or, for that matter, anybody else, but those that won't take a polite no for an answer are very irritating.

I don't find them intrusive as I just don't answer them, I would not rush in from the garden and my elderly mother gets them too sometimes at 2am.
If some wont take no for an answer its because they are under such pressure to get a sale or survey etc. They are desperate and if they fail and get sacked the dwp will not pay them and they could get blacklisted by the company.

It cant be so hard to say 'thanks for ringing but I'm not interested' and put the phone down. I have cried writing this as it has brought back memories of the jobs I hated. Please just think of these people as human and under pressure.

To anyone into Shakespere think of Shylocks speech, 'if you prick us do we not bleed'.
Correct me anyone if I have quoted this incorrectly.

Silverfish
How very heartening to read your messages - a voice of cool and gentle consideration for the plight of others forced into jobs that they probably hate as much as we dislike the products of their forced labour.
What a contrast with the schadenfreude of those venting their spleen on these unseen unfortunates, and bragging about it here, rather than creeping into a corner in shame.
It reminds me of that (in)famous remark of Sir George Young, a high ranking MP. ''The poor? Oh yes, the people we have to step over when we come out of the Opera.''
Not content with frog marching people into such ''jobs'', as from the end of this April, certain people have been pressganged into Volunteering to be Volunteers [Un-paid] - at the risk of loosing all the ''Scroungers Largess'' on which they're living a life of luxury. [Ironic emoticon here, please.].
And of course, if they don't pull their weight, then out they go, and their bountiful benefits will STOP for months.
So next time you go into a 'Charity' shop, and are pressurized to buy some item that you have no use or desire for - don't harass the messenger, just stop and think where we're going as a society - that's if you think that there is such a thing such as 'society'.

I've never been pressurised to buy anything in any of the charity shops I frequent. They just don't do that - where on earth do you live, Happy Man?

Spot on - Silverfish.

If you prick us, do we not bleed?
If you tickle us, do we not laugh?
If you poison us, do we not die?

AND

No One is an island,
Entire of ourselves,

Ana Thu 12-Jun-14 23:17:58
I've never been pressurised ...
YET !
The scheme only started at the very end of April, and the Government is only slowly forcing the Voluntary and Charitable sector to accept this pressed labour.
So far around 400 small and large V & C organizations have refused to co-operate.
Next time you're in one of the shops :
Please ask the Manager if they will or won't be taking on Conscripts.
Please ask the Voluntary Volunteers what they think about working with Conscripts.

AAA

I don't advocate being rude or cruel to anyone, but I reckon that there is far too much use made of the telephone to do business these days.

When OH was terminally ill, we would often receive calls from medical people who were using their personal phone with "number withheld" or "private caller" so we could not ignore those. At one time we had four parents and inlaws whose health was dodgy, too, so every phone call could have been news of them. Overseas calls from foreign nationals whose grasp of English is imperfect, to say the least, are not blocked by TPS.

And even of you ignore the bloody ringing of the phone, it still interrupts your train of though while you check whether it is showing a number that you want to speak to. These people would not march into my house uninvited to speak to me personally, so why are they ringing my phone?

Siverfish "By the way I never ever get sales or any other unsolicited calls. I would be happy to do market research and would listen to any callers but never get the chance. I rarely get unsolicited e mails" so you have not suffered from the same phone call several time a day from a disembodied voice (not from the government, but from a boiler seller) telling you that the Government have initiated a boiler replacement scheme - bur not telling you that they want to you to buy it from them and that your chances of being eligible are pretty slim? To find out more you woiuld have to call them back (at premium rates)

And that is just one of a dozen subjects that you could be inundated with on any particular day. If chalenged, they claim that they are not cold calling, they are giving you information or getting market research information. TPS is fine, but it is only effective against sales calls, and many organisations are ignorant of, or ignore, the TPS rules.

I've been reading this thread with interest. I used to be quite naughty with cold callers - I told one person selling replacement windows that we didn't have any windows in our house, much to teenaged daughter amusement. She eventually went on to temp in a call centre in her gap year, so I had a bit more insight into how horrible the job can be.

However, I DO find cold calls intrusive and annoying, and now aim to be polite but firm. If they ask "Is that Mrs **?" I say either no, or ask "Do I know you? Did I ask you to call?" followed by "No thanks" and the phone goes down. Life's too short to be messing about with unwanted, unsolicted callers.

I confess in the past though to responding to "Is that Mrs. *?" by saying no and saying I'll go and get her, then coming back and saying she doesn't want to speak to you. Silverfish won't like that, but breathe easy because I don't do it now. However some of us do like a bit of creative sport from time to time to brighten the day in the face of the annoyance that these unsolicited calls can cause - it brings our the inner actress in us

Silverfish, the calls we get are not from people like you. My DH was caught by boiler room scams and lost a lot of money, so we are on the. 'Suckers list.' We have the TPS but it makes no difference, we are phoned regularly by scammers wanting us to invest in gold, land, forests, etc. when I answer I am usually told to fetch my husband!! I have been called an f ** b* , left shaking, had abusive and persistent callers , and they now call my DH's mobile. He needs both phones for he is a car hirer.
Usually the calls are at five past twelve, five past one, and three pm. Now I always try to answer as DH actually talks to them, I put the phone down at once. But two of our sons have to use the number witheld because of their kobs, so I always answer.
But you have no idea how much I want to give them some truly shocking language!!

Jobs I meant.

I use to reoly to the boiler houses ers. " Sorry my husband died yesterday..
Can I put you in touch with the solicitors? " Phone went dead. ho some did send comiserations......... Once you fall for such calls , you are DOOMED

The reason calls from abroad cannot be stopped is because our government has no control over what happens in India, Spain or The Netherlands. It would have to persuade these governments to stop the calls and these governments all have more important things to think of and electors to serve to worry about people in the UK receiving these calls.

DH has been at the receiving end of boiler room calls for some 15 years and had the official letter warning him that his name and address is on these lists. Why I do not know, he has never been tempted to consider investing in these schemes and when the phone rings and they ask for him, the first thing he asks is: 'Who are you? and as soon as they say they are 'Smith Jones investments', or whatever their name is, he just says politely 'I am not interested in doing business with you and rings off.

I agree with Silverfish, that one should always end the call courteously - and quickly - I feel, perhaps unkindly, that anyone who knowing what these calls are about, still lets themselves be drawn into conversation, is knowingly putting themselves at risk and deserves little sympathy.

Years ago we kept getting calls from a kitchen fitting company (in the UK) - up to three times a day, for weeks on end. The reason one of us answered the phone is because it was pre-TPS etc and the callers' numbers were not shown on phones.

Finally, I told them that if I received any more calls from them, I would take them to court for harrassment. Oddly enough, the calls ceased after that! Admittedly, this probably wouldn't work with today's overseas callers.

jollyg Fri 13-Jun-14 11:57:58
I use to reoly to the boiler houses ers. " Sorry my husband died yesterday... (sic)
Gosh, jollyg, what a jolly jape, jollyg - did you feel REALLY proud of yourself, jollyg, pulling that jolly jape on some happy chappy determined to make your life un-jolly, jollyg ?

When people ring up asking to speak to my husband, HappyMan, I say, "I wish you could, he died in 2012."
It's true, so I am not telling fibs. They usually put the phone down quickly.

I reply like Durhamjen AAA. I have informed everyone that my late husband had dealings with of his death and cancelled all accounts and subscriptions, and had sympathetic replies from most of them. No-one who knew him would phone to ask to speak to him. It does absolutely nothing for my jolly life to be reminded again that after 52 years I am alone.

So those who do are calling from an out-of-date list of names who might, just might, be interested in their product/service. HE most definitely will not be. To tell the truth, he would not have been interested in cold callers in his lifetime either, so in a way I am answering for him.

I imagine it is a response they hear quite a lot, either ltrue or false. My other reply is "No, I am sorry you can't speak to him" - polite, true and short.

I could do with a new boiler in the next few months, what do I say to a boiler person if Im lucky enough to get a call. any advice. By the way Im assuming these boilers are free or very cheap.

You won't get a chance to say much, as it is a recorded call and they don't wait for you to answer. I have never listened right to the end, but I assume that they say "To contact us press 1" or something similar. You could also try contacting any boiler seller at all and asking about it - if it is really a Government scheme then they must be available everywhere.

I got the impression that they are for people whose boilers are totally out-of date and useless, (like their owners) so play up age, infirmity and lack of energy. And that is just the boiler.

Hello, durhamjen [Sat 14-Jun-14 00:09:49] and Elegran [Sat 14-Jun-14 10:18:50]
Thank you for your support against people who tell such lies, and for such trivial reasons. I agree with you that people whose life partner has died can end up not being believed, if others are using this reason under false pretences.

Elegran Sat 14-Jun-14 17:26:20..... I got the impression that they are for people whose boilers are totally out-of date and useless, (like their owners) so play up age, infirmity and lack of energy. And that is just the boiler.
'struth !