middle aged moment and Microsoft

I answer "Number Withheld" because that's what my GP and the hospital use. My opinion on TPS is that the main value is that anyone who does try to sell me something must be a crook. One problem I've found is the callers who say they are "Just doing a survey". I'm working up a completely fictitious personality for them as I assume it's part of an identity theft procedure.

The first time I got the "Windows support" I let him talk me very slowly through his procedure, while I was actually reading emails. When he wanted me to enter something that would take me to a website in Russia I told him it was time to part company. I thought it was worth wasting his time to keep him away from someone who might be taken in.

Another time I had "Windows support" he got part way through and gave up when I told him he had missed out part of the script!

If I'm not in a mood to talk to them I sometimes terminate the conversation very quickly by going into a very un PC rant about Pakki sex perverts phoning women.

One of my friends says "Oh, I'm SO glad you called. I REALLY wanted to tell you about Jesus"! the phone goes down immediately.

I usually say I don't have windows/kitchen/patio or whatever.

But since we moved and my number is ex-ish directory, i have very few unsolicited calls. Ex-ish? Well, if anyone goes to telephone directories, they can get the number, but it isn't listed in the telephone book.

Very interesting and I must confess to turning the air blue with similar cold calls. However I am plagued with calls from individuals looking for a Mrs Anderson or one of her family. Obviously she must have had my number at some time. I get really angry especially with having to repeat that I am not Mrs Anderson and that no-one of that name lives with me. Any suggestions how to deal with this?

I'm thinking of having my landline removed (telephone) and just having an Internet connection. All I use the phone for is telling people to go forth and multiply!

I'm surprised that no-one has mentioned the "call guardian" that screens all calls. You can buy a phone with this fitted (I got mine from BT).
The system is
when someone is calling you the screening is triggered and the caller is asked to announce themselves. If they don't want to (usually nuisance calls) then they don't get through. This system has caller display so if you recognise the number you can pick up the phone and you hear a message saying if you want to accept this call press 1 if you want to always accept calls from this number press 2 and so on........
I haven't had an unwanted caller since I bought this phone.
It is a very efficient method.

We too were part of the thousands of people who had our details hacked at TalkTalk. We haven't had any bogus callers though. We were offered one of four "upgrades" by TalkTalk in compensation for staying with them. None of them were of any use to us, we don't have TV with them or mobile 'phones, the only possible one that could have been useful was free calls to landlines and mobiles for 12 months but we already have this, we pay £7.50 per month for the privilege. I rang TalkTalk and told them that their upgrades were of no use to us, I didn't get very far with the operative so asked to speak to a manager, I went through the story again (good job it is a Freephone number) and he eventually offered me £10 credit, I told him I wasn't satisfied and that I was considering leaving( even though I am technically tied in with them for another 8 months). He then put me through to the "retention" office where, after telling the story yet again, was offered free calls to land lines and mobile phones for 12 months with no £7.50 monthly fee. This is worth £90 (if my maths is correct), I accepted and asked for the offer in writing which they did, they e-mailed it to me straight away. The moral of the story is unless you are very happy with the upgrade offered stick to your guns, threaten to leave and see what more you can get. This is a multi million pound organisation, they can afford it, they should have used some of their profits to ensure proper security.

I have been on TPS for years and very rarely get unsolicited calls, but I did have one last week. I said I was on TPS but he still carried on. I asked if he knew what TPS was and after he replied 'I certainly do madam' I said 'good, so you'll understand why I'm putting the phone down on you'. Haven't heard from him since!

I get so many of these calls, registering with the TPS reduced the number of calls from UK companies, but I still get so many from foreign call centres.

I used to try and reason with them and be polite but some have been so rude and pushy I now just say "I'm not interested, thank you" and put the phone down. I hate getting the calls, and for some reason (probably previous rude callers!) I get a bit shaky.

I had 'Hello, I'm Philip from microsoft', and I did say to him "but you're not though, are you?!". I might start getting festive and bellowing "oh no you're not!" in a pantomine stylee down the phone

The post from hedy reminds me of a call I received many years ago now when the caller said "is Mr Wall there please" me" I'm sorry there is no Mr Wall here" him " Well how about Mrs Wall" me slightly exasperated " I'm sorry there are no Walls here". Him, "in that case how does your roof stay up" I suspected my C's young friends but never found out.

Despite Telephone Preference Service, I'm still getting unsolicited calls. My personal best is keeping " Kevin" from Microsoft technical support on the line for 25 minutes, before telling him I didn't have a computer! He was most irate, and demanded to know why I had been lying to him.

Sad, I know, but if I have a wee while to spare, a bit of sport helps pass the time.

I like the idea of answering the call and saying you are from the homicide department, and asking how they know the " deceased".

If you are still getting a lot of calls, make sure you are keeping a close eye on the small print of anything you're singing for the opt out tick box about data collection. If you miss this then your details maybe passed/sold on. When this has happened, all you can do is keep telling callers about the TPS and get your details removed from their database. It's a never ending battle.

I occasionally get similar nuisance calls, though not many as we are ex-directory. As Wilma says, be careful about signing up for things where they ask for a phone number. A useful ruse I advise is to give an old mobile number that I know longer use. Luckily it's still imprinted in my memory.
I recently received an unwanted caller on my mobile (the ones where they use your first name although you've never met them- grrr!). I politely said I wasn't interested in what he was offering and would he mind taking my number off their database. Normally they reply 'of course' but this chap said ' no need to be rude' when I hadn't been rude in the slightest!

Love all these comments ! I was at my mother's the other day when the phone rang .As she was having a nap I picked it up and was informed that they had found a fault with the computer in the house . I led them on a bit and listened to the blurb , eventually told them that it was a bit of a surprise as my mother doesn't have a computer. The phone was slammed down !

Aitch. My daughter moved house very recently and bought one of the BT "call guardian" phones and she says it is Brill. It's a bit strange when I phone as I have to announce myself - will mention to her about pressing button 2 - but she loves not having all those scam calls.
BTW, the "Windows" woman called me last week and I told her my phone is being monitored by the Metropolitan Fraud Squad and she didn't call back! I reported the same scam to the Met about a year ago when a super persistent woman wouldn't take no for an answer and phoned from lots of different PC generated numbers every few minutes. That was REALLY annoying, but as soon as I mentioned the Fraud Squad she stopped. The. MFS were very helpful and keen to take all the times of calls and numbers used.

I have tried a few games with whoever rings me and my latest is "Good afternoon Mrs. Charleygirl, how are you?" My reply- I am so pleased that you have called, have you got a cup of coffee in front of you and a comfy chair and I will tell you exactly how I am. That usually gets rid of them.

I had 6 double glazed windows replaced about 6 weeks ago. The fellows did an excellent job on the Monday- fine.

Tuesday evening- a call- how are your windows? They have not fallen out just yet- did you expect them to? He soon left.

Wednesday evening, the manager rang, am I happy with my windows etc etc. I was polite to her, no idea why.

Thursday evening yet another rang and I lost it, telling him to find caller a) and caller b) and get my replies from them.

A week later another called and again I lost it but managed to calm down long enough to get my name taken off the database forever. I also said to him instead of calling me he could sort out the paperwork such as the FENSA certificate.

It puts me off having any work done by a large company.

I read your comment with interest. I am a cold caller and have been for almost 20 years.
First: It is not because it was the only job I could get.
Secondly I happen to like it
Thirdly: the ignorant pigs who make fun, act stupid, pretend they are deaf etc etc are not clever although they think they are.

Can I now explain a bit about my work which I love, I work for a huge multinational company which dates back about 60 years. We seek information for our clients who may be sales companies, medical research, the nhs, or universities. We do not pass on anyones details full stop. We pass on statistics only. Any companies who pretend they are doing market research and are selling are breaking the law. Our company is regulated by the Market Research Society, who have extreme laws regarding protection of the publics privacy. We also work under the data protection act. A lot of my work is social research where we are finding out how people live in order to improve their lives. I have done medical research such as finding out how certain medicines affect some patients. I do shopping surveys to find out what people like to buy etc.
In my work as a professional interviewer I have interviewed several professional footballers, actors, a famous tv presenter and so on. I find it varied and no day is like the last. No one could say that about a boring office job. I left a few years ago and got an office job, I hated being inside and returned to the streets.
so please when anyone knocks at your door don't make fun/be rude/pretend to be senile or deaf or something. Just act like a normal polite person and listen to what the person is saying, then simply say 'no thank you' if you do not want to take part. We are not trained to be pushy or rude and we will just say 'thank you goodnight'.
Good manners cost nothing. Before someone says they get sick of people at their door please remember that we do not know how many people have knocked before us. We are just trying to do an honest job unlike many who sit on the social and say they would not do our jobs. We pay the tax for the scroungers.

ethelbags - I suspect this is the thread that made you cross today? Please don't be cross - you sound like a very nice lady and I doubt your polite interviews about important issues such as the ones you mention are the slightest bit annoying. It is more the nuisance telephone calls that are being discussed here.

We have been registered with the TPS for years. We still receive cold calls. Some are from abroad (over which we accept that the TPS has no control) but many are made from within the UK.

We can't see that the TPS does a good job in this regard as we sometimes contact them to report a gleaned telephone number. They thank us politely and say they can't do anything about the calls but will pass the number on......

Wonder if anything changes.....

I love some of your responses to spammers etc. I've been in the 'no thank you' camp but may change tack (but only to the genuinely 'orrible ones!).

ethelbags I can understand why you would be angry at the tone of this thread.

However, it's not callers like you who work for a company that follows the MRA Code of Market Research Standards who are being discussed. It's the unethical scammers and the companies who do not follow any code of practice. It's the companies that have bought data that should not have been sold and are using it to try to make money from vulnerable people.

It's unfortunate that improvements in technology create so many opportunities for the unethical and criminals to take advantage of people, not least because it reflects badly on bona fide organisations and companies.

I don't get many cold calls now but when I did I used to pretend I was French and kept saying "pardon," and "je ne comprend pas," luckily none of the cold callers spoke French and they soon gave up.

I say to any cold callers that I don't give information out on the phone. If they continue even innocuous questions like,'Are you the homeowner?' are answered by a repetition of my refusal to answer queries on any subject. They soon give up. If a heavily accented person announces they are 'David' or 'Janet' I point out that, in fact, they are not. I am perfectly polite since I realise that some poor souls are only trying to do their job. This way it gives them the choice as to whether they wish to continue to waste their phone bill and most hang up abruptly.

I am registered with TPS but still get them. I usually say very politely "I am sorry but I don't accept unsolicited calls," and hang up.
My son, who was visiting when someone from one of the "You have a problem with your computer" lot called, put on a strong foreign accent, pretended to be shouting at a wife he called Irina and blaming her for shopping on-line. He carried on screaming, informing the caller that "he knew how to deal with her" banged a few things about and then hung up. Goodness knows what the caller imagined was happening!

We are signed up with the Telephone Preference Service 0845 07 007 07, which helps stop cold callers. We also have a phone that shows the number of the caller. The only nuisance calls I get are occasionally on my mobile, saying they have learned I was involved in an accident and was I interested in claiming .......etc. I simply say "No I haven't been, don't intend to be, don't bother me again!" These calls have tailed off.

I always say 'I am au pair - no spikka Inglese!' They usually hang up, but if not, I do!

We're ex-directory, registered with TPS, with caller ID, but still get international silent calls. My husband immediately places the phone on the table and leaves it there for about 10 minutes, in the hope that it will cost them a small fortune. I am somewhat hard of hearing, so never answer the phone anyway, but have done cold-calling, so sympathise with the poor salesman at the other end. However, my most irritating experience is debt collection agencies for a long-out-of-statute debt. The woman phoned me on my new mobile number one morning when I was on my way out and said I owed her company money. The debt was a) 13 years old and b) paid off and I just said "I owe you nothing. How did you get this number?" She replied that I must have given them the number, which, of course, I denied. "This debt won't go away, you know". By then I'd lost my temper with her. "Dear,
just run away and check on "Statute of Limitations" It means precisely that it has gone away!". As I put the phone down, I overheard her saying "How rude!" Maybe, but haven't heard from them since! I do like the idea of mishearing the caller on the other end - will try it sometime! Wish they would make cold calling illegal, none-the-less!