cold calling prevention
 

Does anyone know how you can stop getting "cold calls" from companies etc.
I don't know where my number has become availiable from but recently i seem to be getting loads of unsolicited calls from various companies and market research agents. Its getting really annoying.
So does anyone know how to stop this. Its my mobile thats getting the majority of them.
I googled this and found the following site:
Stop unwanted call and nuisance sales calls now

I don't know whether to register my details with them as it seems a legitimate site but im a bit sceptical about giving my details to a website as it may just end up getting me more calls.

Any help appreciated

Don't use that site it's a scam basically. They don't have a legal mandate to stop companies calling you, and they charge for their "service". Which at best will involve them signing you up with the Telephone Preference Service (TPS).

You can sign up to the TPS for free, and you can do it yourself. The TPS does have a legal mandate. However make sure that you read the details before you do sign up as it can prevent genuine companies (such as your bank etc) from calling you, until you give them permission again.

Anyway, go here: TPS Registration

Thanks for that mate. Ive registered on there now

No worries mate, but don't expect overnight miracles..

Just remember it can take upto 2 months for it to become effective, basically a month to get your number onto the subscriber disks and out to subscribers, then however long it takes for these companies to upload that data into their dialler equipment.

Then if you get any cold calls after 2 months, just make sure you get as many details as you can about the caller and report them.

Unfortunately there isnt anyway as yet to enforce compliance on overseas companies... unless they are acting on behalf of a UK firm.

Tps seems to work a treat, been registered with them for over 6 months now and only had about two cold calls since :notworthy I also have the witheld number rejection, so no one can call me without me knowing the number which is dialing me, the way I see it is, if they don't want me to know who is calling then sod 'em :D

Go ex directory

I'm assuming you dont have caller display on your home phone?

If you have that, it comes up with "international" or "witheld" usually when its those type of call. We just ignore them now and if its an important call we have missed, they will leave a message.

Another good idea as an extra to TPS, as a requirement by the Direct Marketing Association (that manages the TPS) all UK companies must now leave a message giving contact details (for answerphones) and present a dialable CLI for unanswered calls. So any reputable companies will do this, while the dodgy ones won't and hence won't be able to get through.

It also provides a tracable route when making complaints about any cold callers that do get through.

How do I set this up?

Been with the TPS and FPS service at least a few years, been great, very little comes through but still get the odd one or two..
This sounds like it would plug the final spam hole..


Andy

You need to contact your service provider, BT or whoever, it only costs a few pound a month but worth it's weight in gold :thumb:

Just phone them and ask about private number rejection, I know for fact BT and NTL are able to provide the service

Cool, with BT so should be good

Cheers for that

Andy

Doesn't work mate, i registered with these ages ago and still the calls kept coming, so in the end i changed my number, again to ex directory and also was given a 4 digit code to give out to friends and family. So if you withhold your number from me a friendly lady tells you to fook off and stop bothering me :D:D well she actually says this person does not except calls from withheld numbers and then hangs up :D:D:D same with friends and family who forget to add it which is sometims a bitch cos there will always be 1 or 2 you forget to tell :D

but it far better than that registration site IMHO

I'm also XD & on the rare occasions that I get a cold call I just say "where did you get this nr as I'm ex directory" ... click & they're gone!

TX.

I've never had a cold call since my number has been on the TPS. It should work as it has a legally enforceable mandate backing it up (the only one of it's kind in the UK), it is managed under the auspices of the Privacy and Electronic (EC Directive) Regulations 2003. Companies can be fined huge sums for each individual transgression of the TPS, and IIRC its somewhere in the region of £30K for each transgression.

All companies within the UK (or overseas on behalf of a UK company) operating direct telephone sales are obliged by law to screen against the TPS database. My company for example operates a call centre that uses a power dialler system. We have to pay about £7K a year for the privilege of receiving a master do not call database (which is updated each month) and currently has about 14.5 million uncallable telephone numbers in it, so yes that's £7K for a list of numbers we can't call and make a pitch to. All our systems cross reference any sales database (except our current customer database) with the TPS list, if there is a match (ie the number is on the TPS list and in the database, it will not be called).

We wouldn't pay £7K each year if the fines were negligible, some companies obviously won't subscribe to the list, and on their head be it.. because subscribe or not all telephone cold calling companies have the same obligations. However no systems are infallible, there are always going to be rogues (which you should report) and also if you make contact with any company after joining the TPS, then blithely agree to a quickly read DPA statement without really listening to it (as most people do) companies can legally start calling you again.

Re: ntl it all depends on your area, every time MrsD phones them for both this facility and Caller ID they tll her it's not going to be available in our area for another 6 months:(

We've been getting the same response since mid 2002:rolleyes: so we ain't holding our breaths:mad:

TPS is fantastic, you can also apply it to any mobile phone registered at your home address too:thumb:

baring witheld numbers seems a bit extreem - my home phone and my home office phone both withold the number, just use TPS as suggested - we are TPS and Xdir and NEVER get called.

I am ex directory and on TPS. I have not had a cold call for anything for over 4 years... Bliss :D

And on my personal mobile I never answer witheld numbers...:thumb:

Another vote for TPS :D