Thursday 12 September 2013

Nuisance calls.

During the time it has taken me to switch my computer on, read my e mails and come to my blog site, I have had two nuisance calls.   One a recorded message saying 'This is an important announcement' - it never gets any further than that because I put the phone down; the other a foreign voice asking me how I am today - that is as far as he/she gets before I put the phone down.
 
I don't like to be rude and I know that people have to earn a living and that working in a call centre is one way of doing that, but here are a few reasons why I would rather they didn't call me:-

1.   I am deaf and have to remove my hearing aid in order to answer the phone.
2.   Quite often I am upstairs when the phone rings and we haven't' a phone upstairs, so I have to struggle downstairs (I have an arthritic knee and a bad ankle) to answer it.

3.   Worst of all - they always call at meal times.   We get most of our cold calls between 8.30 and 9 in the morning, 12 noon to 1pm at lunch time and 4pm to 5pm in the evening.  In fact, we have taken to not answering the phone at these times but waiting until it stops ringing and then listening to the answer phone.

We subscribe to the Telephone Preference Service but that doesn't seem to make any difference.   Is everybody troubled like we are and if so, what do we do about it?

15 comments:

dixie heath said...

We get those also here in the US. We are on a no call list but still get those annoying calls. I just tell them I am not interested and please don't call again. I know they are only doing a job but it is out of hand. I try to be pleasant about it but I have gotten frustrated and hung up on them from time to time. sometimes if it comes up on my caller ID and I see it is a annoying call I do not answer.

jill said...

Pat we must get nuisance calls 2or 3 times a day. I am sick to death of them, I have decided to say to them this, " I was brought up not to talk to strangers and as I do not know you I'm not going to talk to you, good bye." Iv not had one since I decided to say that ha ha . Love Jill xx

Willow said...

That is the reason I let most of my calls go to voicemail then screen and call back ...does get tiring though doesn't it.

Crafty Green Poet said...

We get loads of nuisance calls. Hate them.

John Going Gently said...

I no longer get exasperated with these calls
I just gently put down the receiver without saying a word

Heather said...

We also have the Telephone Preference Service but are plagued by these calls. Like you I don't like to be rude but most of the time I can't understand what the callers are saying as they have such strong foreign accents. I don't know how to stop them other than to keep putting the phone down. It is very frustrating.

JoAnn ( Scene Through My Eyes) said...

We got them on our house phone - now that we've switched to cell phones only it has all stopped. I hope it doesn't start again.

The call centers concentrate on those times when people will be home (meal times), when people are most content (after eating) - so that is why so many at meal times.

If I am in a good mood I just hang up - if I'm cranky (had to clamber about to get to the phone,or was interrupted) I will sometimes push one button on the phone and hold it down - that makes a squeally noise on their end and you'd be surprised how fast that info passes around the call center and your name gets removed - no one wants a squeally noise in their ear.

Terry and Linda said...

Goes here also...we are in our 'golden age' so we get lots of calls. I have call block on the phone and I USE it.

Linda
http://coloradofarmlife.wordpress.com
http://deltacountyhistoricalsociety.wordpress.com

Anonymous said...

In the past I tried to go with the theory that these people were just trying to earn a living and would reply with a polite "no, not interested thank-you" and just hang up. After reading what you have to go through Pat just to answer the call, I can see that the intrusion is a big hurdle for many and can understand completely your annoyance.

Em Parkinson said...

Infuriating Pat. I hate being rude too but these have turned me into a different person, who growls and disconnects without apologising. Awful.

A Heron's View said...

We receive only a very few nuisance calls per year, it might be because I am very un-polite to them and word gets around.....

thelma said...

They are a nuisance, especially the meal time calls and the telephone preference service. My partner has just wandered in, another scam to watch out for is someone rings you saying there is a problem with your bank; so you phone up bank; the scam person has not put his phone down (he has 2 mins before the call clicks out) so you arrive at his phone number and someone else fraudulently takes your details!!

Irene said...

I get a call every once in a while, although I am on the 'no call' list. I don't mind them too much and manage to stay polite. It is usually a well known charity or an environmental group that wants a donation. Since I am not in the position to give them one, I very politely decline and we hang up on good terms.

The Weaver of Grass said...

Well, as we all seem to be bothered in the same way I suppose it does make it a little easier to bear.

Stuart said...

As I am in the Golden Pages, I often get people trying to sell me all sorts of things. One eastern company called me endlessly. Each time I told them to take me off their list, but each time they insisted they had never called me before. One time he called, and I recognised his call from the preamble, so I said "Stop. You are from XXX company, yes?" He said "Yes I am". I replied "Ok. Now do you agree that you've called me before, since I named your company before you did?" He said "Yes". I put the phone down. Never heard from them again. On the rare occasions that I get a domestic-type cold call nowadays, I tell them to get a less annoying job, and put the phone down. What tipped me over the edge was a series of calls that 'wanted to do a survey', when all they were doing was qualifying my suitability for their product.