I'm receiving bad phone calls

[robots]

I have been getting more and more bad phone calls recently, and it worries me a bit. I am on telephone preference service, but that doesn't seem to include things like marketing/research. I have been getting about 3 bad calls a day.

I manage to ignore some of them but sometimes I have to answer. There is one that I know the number of so I ignore that one now. One was asking me to answer some questions for a survey. I asked what it was about and he didn't tell me and then he wanted to know my name so I told him to go away and not call again. Then just now I got a call that really really annoyed me. I picked up the phone and said hello, and I heard in an American accent, "That was not a valid response, please press 1 to speak to either Debbie or Brian". I may have got the Debbie and Brian part wrong, but the rest was pretty accurate. I didn't press anything, and I listened for another moment, and then the message started talking about how I had won something. I just hung up. But this really upsets me because I have heard about stuff like this, where when you press 1, it connects your call to them, and you start paying for the call - at an international rate, and you don't know. And they start asking you all kinds of questions and wasting your time, and in the meantime it's costing you a fortune.

Is there anything I can do to stop this? I have caller ID, but I have family and friends who sometimes call me from their work etc, and it doesn't show me the number, so basically I would like to be able to answer my own phone without worrying about who is on the other end. It's an inconvenience sometimes when a friend or family member calls me, but that's life. But when I have to stop what I'm doing, pause my TV, turn my pan off, whatever... and run to the phone, all for some fool who is trying to ruin my day, it's really not good.

I would really appreciate any tips. Thanks.

[GoNz0]

time for a new number if the TPS has failed

[M0nkeyb0Y]

Just tell each one you're on the TPS and get them to ammend their details - worked for me when TPS appeared to have failed (I'm also ex-directory)

[digit]

I think changing your number and having a fresh start is the way forward. I live with my parents and we are ex directory and on the TPS and haven't had any problems at all with annoying waste of time phone calls.

[robots]

Thanks I don't think I tried telling them about TPS yet, I assumed they would already know or not care anyway. The problem with the likes of the American one, is that I can't speak to anyone unless I pressed a button, and that could cost me a fortune. I'm also not sure if TPS would cover American 'companies'?

I did consider changing my number but I have lived here for 30 years and I have countless friends and old relatives, some who I haven't spoken to for a long time, so it would be more than a nuisance to have to contact everyone and tell them I have a new number. Some of them are old and ill/senile/etc, and some are abroad, so it would be an uncomfortable feeling to think they can't reach me on the trusty number I've been on for 30 years.

I have some experience as a sound/music engineer, so I think before I let these people affect my life like that, I would rather make a dangerously loud screaching noise in some software I have, using the absolute maximum volumes, and then turning my amplifier and speaker system onto absolute maximum volume, and then I could talk to the person very quietly so they are listening really close and maybe they will turn the volume up on their phone, and then I BLAST my sound effect down the phone line, hopefully killing them instantly and liquidising their brain. But I haven't got to that point just yet.

[HSK]

I usually say I've died (when they ask for me by my name). In some freak accident.

[mediaboy]

HSK: Siggied

As for the phone calls: My number can't be ex-directory (due to the nature of the work I do) so we get lots of people ringing up. I recently got some bangladeshian mobile company person asking for my dad (by name....

I got him talking then left the phone on the side, with him still connected and talking, whilst I got a drink and had a sandwich.

Then, after maybe 10 minutes I went over, and he's asking, "Are you there? Hello? Hello?" So I reply, "Yes, I'm sure that's very interesting. Now then... tell me about this offer again." (He had mentioned an offer in the first 10 seconds of conversation.)

Then I put the phone down as he began his reel.

It be fun winding them up, but I can understand why the situation would make you irritated.

[Lee H]

Nah...

do what I did to a telemarketer once and turn the tables on them.

I answered the phone as normal and as soon as I heard it was a telemarketing/sales call I instantly started to talk like Serge from Beverley Hills Cop.

I think this plus the fact I was asking him what he was wearing and saying that I looove suits and shoes scared him as he hung up and I've not had any since

[mediaboy]

OKay that might work I suppose..

The funniest calls I've had are the ones for the taxi service... which is one number different from ours (ours is xx3xxx and their's is xx6xxx) so w get these drunken people at midnight saying "Can we 'ave a taxi mate!"

I leave it to your imagination what responses you can do.

[manwithnoname]

When I signed up for TPS it took a couple of months then the cold call dried up. So if you've signed up recently it might be worth see what happened.

Looks like you can complain online, I've not don't this myself so I'm not sure how it works:

http://complaints.tpsonline.org.uk/Consumer/

If you are getting recorded messages see:
http://www.tpsonline.org.uk/tps/news3.html

And with reference to the url above, the Information Commissioner's Office (ICO) contact details are here:
http://www.tpsonline.org.uk/tps/links/

Good look,

I appreciate people can entertain themselves by stringing the caller along, I've done it myself but if you start to get a increase in the volume of calls it become very annoying, very quickly

[GoNz0]

the trouble is as soon as you ask who they are they hang up

[Agent]

the trouble is as soon as you ask who they are they hang up

Yep, we had this yesterday, annoying

We even have anonymous call blocking, so pressing 1471 should say the numbers. Problem is it doesn't work for all, despite what BT told us. VOIP and International calls still go through fine....grhhh

[TAKTAK]

took me a while to find this but here we go, this is the one that i have always wanted to use...

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!" *hang up*

and a few others that were on the same page as that one...

Ways to Terrorize a Telemarketer

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

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 hell she could know you from.

and a few off another site

Say, "This phone line is for emergency use only. Do you have an emergency?"

If they say "Yes" to emergency line say, "Please state the nature of the emergency." Then insist that their emergency isn't an emergency. Hang up.

If they say "No" to emergency line say, "I'm sorry but this line is for emergencies only." Hang up.

Pretend that you are a hostage negotiator, and try to get the telemarketer to release the hostages.

Order a large pepperoni pizza, some garlic bread, and a meatball sub.

Pretend that your phone line is an automatic phone sex line.

Repeatedly dial the phone. Mutter that it isn't ringing.

Say, "Oh no! It's the Feds! They're on to us!"

Speak a foreign language.

If you do speak a foreign language and the telemarketer gets a person who speaks the language you used, speak another language, use a made up language, or say that you were speaking English the whole time.

Pretend that the telemarketer is your husband/wife or boyfriend/girlfriend. Talk sexually, making references to what you are going to do to him/her later tonight. When you "realize" that you are not speaking to your husband/wife/boyfriend/girlfriend yell, "Pervert!" Slam the phone down to hang up.

Say, "Help! I'm being robbed! He's got a gun!"

Try to sell the telemarketer something.

Ask him/her if he/she can smell bacon. Insist that there is a strong scent of bacon over the phone.

Pretend to be an escaped mental patient. Mutter things like, "They'll never catch me again," "No! Not the jacket! No, no, no!" After saying one of these mutter incoherently.

Make him/her dance for a sale. Claim that you won't buy because you couldn't see him/her dance.

Make him/her sing to get a sale.

Engage him/her in an "intellectual" conversation on an extremely boring subject.

Say, "I told you. I don't know where your dog is!" Then hang up.

Pretend you are a telemarketer from a rival company. Get him/her to buy your product.

buit if you do get any hassle from them just state that you are on the telephone preference service... they usually hang up pretty sharpish

[robots]

lol these are great. I might try entertaining myself with this some time. I'd rather they just stop though. I'll try a few different things and see what works. manwithnoname: Thanks for those links you gave me! It's much appreciated. I will read them now.

Thanks everyone.

[dave87]

OKay that might work I suppose..

The funniest calls I've had are the ones for the taxi service... which is one number different from ours (ours is xx3xxx and their's is xx6xxx) so w get these drunken people at midnight saying "Can we 'ave a taxi mate!"

I leave it to your imagination what responses you can do.

Yea it'll be there in 5 minutes...

[cptwhite_uk]

I picked up the phone and said hello, and I heard in an American accent, "That was not a valid response, please press 1 to speak to either Debbie or Brian".

hello is definitely not a valid responce to picking up the phone. The person who did that automated message was having a laugh, surely.