AWD

There's always some B@st@rd exploiting anything and everything to make a quick buck.

To55ers.

ChrisB

Paul,

Are they sending them to you personally or as a small business?

<BLOCKQUOTE><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial">quote:<HR>Under Government legislation introduced on 1 May 1999 it is unlawful to send an unsolicited sales and marketing fax to an individual (which includes consumers, sole traders and except in Scotland partnerships) without their prior consent

Under the same legislation businesses now have the opportunity to register fax numbers on which they do not wish to receive direct marketing messages.

Individuals may also register their fax numbers on the FPS should they wish.<HR></BLOCKQUOTE>

We have registered all 110 of our business voice numbers with the FPS as the tossers would keep sending faxes to our voice numbers. There would always be five copies of the same fax in a 10 minute period. We have threatened some of the buggers who send this junk out with legal action for harrassment.

The Zohan

Chris
Sent to my company - small business.

Thanks for the info, much appreciated.

Paul

Stuart H

Does it actually work though?

Since I've been registered (5 months) I have sent off 7 complaint forms about the same company who keep calling me trying to sell me ******* mobile phones. I get a letter back from the TPS saying that they're investigating the complaint etc. but low and behold the next month I get another call.

You can't even get to speak to a human if you ring the TPS switchboard, all you get is one of these systems that tells you to press 1 for this, 2 for that etc. All that awaits you is another recorded message then it hangs up on you.

Seems to me like its another piece of legislation which has been introduced without any thought of how it should/could be enforced. Lets face it, there is no onus on the phone companies under this legislation (Telecommunication Data, Protection & Privacy Regulations 1999) to do anything. They're not going to remove a companies telephone service from whom they're making money. There is not even a requirement for any telemarketing companies to join the scheme, and anyway, the TPS charge them quite a bit for copies of the register.

Apologies for the rant, starting to get slightly fed up when I'm sleeping after nights of the phone ringing with "I'm calling from a company called Free Mobiles......"

[This message has been edited by Stuart H (edited 20 November 2000).]

The Zohan

I am sick of receiving (IMHO) misleading and deceitful faxes.

This morning

Fax arrives - Heading "Petrol Protest"
A4 page well laid out with all the Right words and two tick boxes - Yes/No

The idea is that you vote - all looks proper.

Read the small print @ the bottom

Poll commissioned by *** Faxes - Calls charged at £ 1.50 per minute - fax takes 2-3 mins. Poll my A**E the person/company who commissions a poll pays the associated costs, it is cashing in on the situation and that sucks!

IMHO - it is a con - we get lots of these - 2-3 a week offering all sorts of things - you always need to fax back and the calls cost a fortune.

This is wrong and should be made illegal.


Rant over

AWD

Ever since we moved house (August last year) we keep getting fax calls from some company. We have complained to BT and regulators about 50 times (I kid you not) but the best they can offer is to give us free call-barring. Since over 70% of the calls from this company come from an exchange hence hiding the number from us, thi is pretty useless.

BT claim that they keep telling the company not to ring us, but it hasn't made a jot of difference.

Oh yes - BT suggested we change numbers. Great solution.

ChrisB

In that case, play dirty.....

10 Ways to Terrorize a Telemarketer:

10. When they ask "How are you today?" Tell them! "I'm so glad you asked because no one these days seems to care, and I have all these problems; my arthritis is acting up, my eyelashes are sore, my dog just died..."

9. If they say they're John Doe from XYZ Company, ask them to spell their name. Then ask them to spell the company name. Then ask them where it is located. Continue asking them personal questions or questions about
their company for as long as necessary.

8. Cry out in surprise, "Judy! Is that you? Oh my God! Judy, how have you been?" Hopefully, this will give Judy a few brief moments of pause as she tries to figure out where the heck she could know you from.

7. If MCI calls trying to get you to sign up for the Family and Friends Plan, reply, in as SINISTER a voice as you can, "I don't have any friends ... would you be my friend?"

6. If they want to loan you money, tell them you just filed for bankruptcy and you could sure use some money.

5. Tell the telemarketer you are on "home incarceration" and ask if they could bring you a case of beer and some chips.

4. After the telemarketer gives their spiel, ask him/her to marry you. When they get all flustered, tell them that you could not just give your credit card number to a complete stranger.

3. Tell the telemarketer you are busy at the moment and ask them if they will give you their HOME phone number so you can call
them back. When the telemarketer explains that they cannot give out their HOME
number, you say "I guess you don't want anyone bothering you at home, right?" The telemarketer will agree and you say, "Now you know how I feel!" Say goodbye and Hang up.

2. Insist that the caller is really your buddy Leon, playing a joke. "Come on Leon, cut it out! Seriously, Leon, how's your momma?

And first and foremost:

1. Tell them to talk VERY SLOWLY, because you want to write EVERY WORD down.

They'll soon give up once they have you down as a nutter.

Chris.

Stuart H

Deleted due to double posting & my powers aren't great enought to get rid of it!

[This message has been edited by Stuart H (edited 20 November 2000).]

Stuart H

The next time one of them call.......

WALKER

ChrisB

Excellent mate! i`ll remember some of those for the next time they ring, infact i wish they`d ring now


Paul

Andy H

No. 3 works great, been using it for about four months since i fist saw the list on email.

Really confuses them and they usually get quite flustered and i have noticed that i seem to be getting less sales calls recently.

Andy H

boomer

Can anyone talk native "fax speak"?

Could you sent the equivalent of FIVE HUNDRED form-feeds to the offending company, thus emptying their paper tray for only a few seconds on call?

Then again, maybe not - they might do the same back to you!

mb

ChrisB

If you really want to wind them up, and don't mind spending a few quid on phone calls...

Print a page of A4 solid with black toner (ink would make it a bit soggy). Feed into your fax machine, loop round and selotape into a continous page. Then fax it to your intended victim for 10 or 15 minutes.

Chris.
Feeling evil today!

Mr.Cookie

LOL Chris i like that kind of thinking

AWD

Chris

You sound as if you are speaking from experience...