Information Commissioner's Office on junk calls.

[Eric The Viking]

I've just reported a junk call via the ICO's web site. Normally I wouldn't bother, but this one, selling large-button 'phones to the elderly, was potentially intimidating and even a bit menacing.

After filling-in the form, I found a page of stats on what the ICO is doing about nuisance calls. Initially, I thought, "that looks like they're busy." but on reflection I think it's a lot more puffed-up than them actually getting to grips with the problem.

I was wondering how many search and seizure operations they've undertaken, and how seriously some of the persistent offenders are punished (if at all). There are 'green flags' against some of the big fish, which the ICO would have you believe means they've mended their ways and thus that legal sanctions are unnecessary. There are some surprising names on there, too.

They've fined one company 80,000 quid recently. They don't say if the fine was paid. They also list Ladbrokes as a company that has "improved" its behaviour. 80,000 looked like a big fine, until I realised what Ladbrokes gambling turnover must be -- huge.

So I wonder if any of these crooks are taking the ICO seriously.

E. (who can't be the only one interrupted when in the middle of glueing things, sharpening stuff, etc.)

 

[RogerS]

.....
E. (who can't be the only one interrupted when in the middle of glueing things, sharpening stuff, etc.)

Only if you let it interrupt you.

 

[artie]

E. (who can't be the only one interrupted when in the middle of glueing things, sharpening stuff, etc.)

It makes me mad, the phone rings, off comes cap, safety glasses, ear protection, dust mask, back on goes cap, pick up phone, say Hello, hear in broken English " May I speak with the business owner.?" or some other thing I have heard many times.

The most hateful thing is that some days these crap calls outnumber the genuine ones by 3 to 1

 

[Phil Pascoe]

Telephone Preference Service gets rid of a lot - not all, but a lot.

 

[RogerS]

E. (who can't be the only one interrupted when in the middle of glueing things, sharpening stuff, etc.)

It makes me mad, the phone rings, off comes cap, safety glasses, ear protection, dust mask, back on goes cap, pick up phone, say Hello, hear in broken English " May I speak with the business owner.?" or some other thing I have heard many times.

The most hateful thing is that some days these rubbish calls outnumber the genuine ones by 3 to 1

But why go through all that rigmarole? Surely you have an answering machine on your mobile? Let it ring. If it's important they will leave a message.

 

[Mike.S]

I got fed up with nuisance calls and realised that as all family members had mobiles we rarely used the landline (at £17pm) so got rid of it - relying instead on our individual mobiles. No regrets, other than the occassional spam email from BT trying to entice us back!

 

[RogerS]

I got fed up with nuisance calls and realised that as all family members had mobiles we rarely used the landline (at £17pm) so got rid of it - relying instead on our individual mobiles. No regrets, other than the occassional spam email from BT trying to entice us back!

What do you do for broadband?

 

[Mike.S]

What do you do for broadband?

Virgin (TV plus broadband)

 

[RogerS]

What do you do for broadband?

Virgin (TV plus broadband)

LOL...out in the sticks one forgets about cable.

 

[Phil Pascoe]

What's cable?

 

[JakeS]

But why go through all that rigmarole? Surely you have an answering machine on your mobile? Let it ring. If it's important they will leave a message.

Unfortunately, a lot of potential customers calling up a business will just give up and go to one of your competitors if you don't actually answer the phone. It's impossible for the customer to tell whether they're ever going to get called back!


(Having tried for a couple of weeks to get hold of electricians locally without going to the big group in town a couple of years ago, I can completely understand why, as well.)

 

[RogerS]

But why go through all that rigmarole? Surely you have an answering machine on your mobile? Let it ring. If it's important they will leave a message.

Unfortunately, a lot of potential customers calling up a business will just give up and go to one of your competitors if you don't actually answer the phone. It's impossible for the customer to tell whether they're ever going to get called back!


(Having tried for a couple of weeks to get hold of electricians locally without going to the big group in town a couple of years ago, I can completely understand why, as well.)

I don't agree with you especially as far as sole traders, such as electricians, are concerned. If they have enough work then why interrupt what they are doing? If they get a missed call then they have the opportunity to call back if they want to. If they are overloaded with work then they don't even need to bother to call back as you have found.

 

[Penny]

Telephone Preference Service gets rid of a lot - not all, but a lot.

I still seem to get loads even with TPS. Mostly 'international' or 'number withheld'. Makes me sick.

 

[MMUK]

Telephone Preference Service gets rid of a lot - not all, but a lot.

I still seem to get loads even with TPS. Mostly 'international' or 'number withheld'. Makes me sick.

TPS doesn't apply with international numbers. They don't have to abide by our rules :evil:

 

[Woodmonkey]

If it comes up as a local call then I'll answer it as it could be work, if its withheld, unknown, or an area code on the other side of the country then I don't bother as it will almost certainly be a sales call.

 

[mind_the_goat]

Telephone Preference Service gets rid of a lot - not all, but a lot.

I still seem to get loads even with TPS. Mostly 'international' or 'number withheld'. Makes me sick.

TPS doesn't apply with international numbers. They don't have to abide by our rules :evil:

It should apply if it's an international caller calling on behalf of a UK company, as most are.
I don't do too badly on junk calls and sometimes when I've mentioned TPS the caller ends the call quickly, no help when you've stopped doing something to answer it of course.

 

[JakeS]

I don't agree with you especially as far as sole traders, such as electricians, are concerned. If they have enough work then why interrupt what they are doing? If they get a missed call then they have the opportunity to call back if they want to. If they are overloaded with work then they don't even need to bother to call back as you have found.

It's up to the sole trader in question to make that judgement call, of course. But being overloaded with work right now is not the same as having enough work to see them through to retirement, and losing potential customers is a cost that they have to weigh up against the cost of answering the phone. I don't even bother to call any of those sole-trader electricians when I need electrical work done, now - I just go straight to the group in town because they have an office that actually answers the damn phone.

I don't mind waiting a couple of weeks to have the work done, but I don't want to wait a couple of weeks to even find out whether the guy's going to call me back. Conversely, I still use the same independent gas engineer who fitted our replacement boiler - and recommend them to everyone I know in the area - even though we had to wait a couple of months before they could start the work the first time around. There's a lot of talk on these forums about how a customer's good experience can lead to a lot more work in the future - all I was saying was that the opposite is also true, and the customer's experience starts when they try and get hold of you on the telephone.

If it comes up as a local call then I'll answer it as it could be work, if its withheld, unknown, or an area code on the other side of the country then I don't bother as it will almost certainly be a sales call.

At home, we've started getting an alarming number of advertising calls originating from local numbers. I called one back (after they hung up without telling me their company name so I couldn't make a proper TPS complaint) and got put through to an automated "don't call us back" message citing a company based about a hundred miles (and more than a few area codes!) away.

 

[MMUK]

If it's an obvious sales call, like these automated ones I just rest the phone down and carry on. They try to waste my time so I waste their money :twisted:

 

[mind_the_goat]

As far as using an answering service, I understand a sole trader is likely to working to be working when I call during the day so am happy to leave a message. I am however constantly frustrated by calls not returned, sometimes even when a call is answered and a return call promised. This seems to be a far more common issue since we moved to Dorset so either there is so much work here that many traders do not care about new customers or people here have just got used to having to keep calling. We've used several trades people from outside the area because too many local ones don't seem bothered.

 

[Mike.S]

Which? has recently launched a campaign against nuisance calls and texts. More details at:

CAG

Which