British Telecom take no notice of the Telephone Preference Service
In the UK we have a national database called the “Telephone Preference Service” – if you are on the list it is illegal for anybody to try and cold-call you and sell you anything. We are on the list.
I just had the following conversation on the phone…
Ring ring, ring ring… I pick up
me – Hello?
him – Hello – is this Mr Beckett?
me – Yes.
him – My name is Abran, I am calling from BT.
me – What are you going to try and sell me?
him – I am not trying to sell you anything.
him – My name is Abran, I am calling from BT
him – Can you confirm you are Mr Beckett
me – I am.
him – Do you have a computer Mr Beckett?
me – Yes.
him – Do you have a dial-up or broadband internet connection?
me – You’re going to try and sell me BT broadband, aren’t you – so you ARE trying to sell me something
him – No, I wanted to tell you about the best deals we have on Broadband at the moment
me – I am signed up with the telephone preference service, and don’t take cold calls. Are you aware you are breaking the law?
him – Sorry to have troubled you Mr… (I hung up)
Cold calling is the one time I will be intentionally rude to people.
Wheres a spam blocker for phones? :D
Shall we make one?
It can check incomming calls against an online spam database before ringing your dog and bone.
Cold calling is illegal there? Sounds like our “Do Not Call” list (though it’s not a law, telemarketers can get into all kinds of trouble for calling people on the list… sometimes, it doesn’t work)
I see you have another choice – give Abran to one of the kids and let them deal with him.
I might occasionally be disturbed or annoyed by a cold call telemarketer or sales representative, however I find it at least genuine and honest. They are talking to you, communicating, offering you the possibility to respond. They are not hiding behind tricks, computer pop ups or automated machines. It is your choice to listen or not, to buy or not.
Let them do their job and what a hard job that is. I find them very courageous to handle that much rejection. The least we can do do is be polite and let them know our opinion on the matter.
Who knows, one day, they might actually have something that interest you that you did not thought of.
Because I have a London phone number I am plagued by unwanted cold callers. Before I registered with the Telephone Preference Service I would get about 10 a day. Now I’m down to around 2 or 3.
As a result I invariably let my answering machine answer the call, that way auto-diallers give up and anyone serious would attempt to leave a message. The only exceptions are people like my Doctor who is not allowed to leave a message due to NHS guidelines!