Cold calling and TPS

I've only experienced TPS from the 'other' side. I worked for Pitney Bowes ( The franking machine people ) some years ago and we called or emailed previous customers to sell them more ink for their machines.

This was all done from a database of information that we retained. Customers could opt out at the time of sale or at any time thereafter.

If someone who opted out was contacted in error and complained to TPS we needed their full details to then make sure they had a do not contact on their record so that's why they ask for your information.

If it was agreed the first time was an error and we showed we had put in place checks to prevent it happening again we just got a warning. But if it happened again not only was the company's head on a plate but mine also !!

The trouble with a lot of these calls that look like they come from somewhere in the UK is that actually they don't. For instance you can buy a skype number with any prefix for any country. And calls that originate outside of the UK are unregulated by the TPS I think....could be wrong as it's been a few years since I read the regulations.

Thanks for that explanation N&G - I wonder how many bona fide companies these days persist in calling people who’ve said they don’t want to be. If the TPS can’t deal with cold calling from “UK” numbers (the accent was English) perhaps it’s time to wrap it up.

I agree toomuchcouchgrass the TPS doesn't have enough 'teeth' !!

I have the New fangled BT called guardian thing. Nothing gets through that even calls from the family There seems to be something wrong with the set up. Still its nice and quiet now.

We are with TPS and in the main it has been very helpful. The only unwanted calls we get now are occasional and flash up on the phone as "International" - I just ignore them and don't pick up. I have found the caller identification service really useful. Very occasionally I do not answer when I see who it is, as I may not have an hour to spare!