Recently my house hold received a cold call from the bank asking me detail about what insurance we had. They got quite a surpise when my reply was" Can you prove who you are , otherwise send me a letter, confirming this phone call and i might just answer your questions ". I have just about enough of people we deal with ringing us up and asking questions. If you ring them even with all your personal numbers and passwords they still sometimes refuse to give the imformation we need.So call centres beware I do not recognise you any more and wish to be written too. We are all open to identity fraud these days and the government bodies seem hopeless at keeping our personal details safe , so I think it is about time we did it our selves.
Funny thing is that while i was reading through this opinion i got a cold call from a mobile phone service i have never even heard of. And my number is supposed to be registered so that we don't get cold sales calls. We don't appreciate getting calls from any business during the evening anyway, these are supposed to be our relaxation and family hours and we don't like them being interupted. I don't give out personal details over the phone. If a bank or whatever phones i always say i will phone back, then phone the number i have for them from my statements and ask them what it is about. I get alot for my husband during his work hours, which incedentally are normal office hours. They won't speak to me, despite all our accounts being joint ones, because of the privacy laws. So i generally remind them that the only way he could have the account was if he has a job, so what is the point of trying to call him when he will obviously be at work? I'm going to try the responses used on that Dom Joly show the Complainers now though. They look like they could be entertaining.
Cold calls are so blimmin annoying. I do the same as lisa and tell them I'm not interested and ask that my details be removed from their records, have to be so careful what information you give to anyone these days. Our bank says they never ask for account details over the phone so if anyone ever says they're from the bank and wants details I'll hang up on them straight away. My partner's in the habit of playing little tricks on cold callers if the fancy takes him. Someone once called three times in a row from Wanadoo and were quite rude when he declined their offers so he put on a daft voice and kept making them re-explain, saying 'Wanadoo? - wad ya wanna do? - you wanna do what?'
I never give out information. They are starting to get very sneaky though as they will ring and say they are ringing about power, when you say not interested they say but we currently supply power. Then when you start quizzing them on your account details they know nothing and it was just a ploy to get you to give out your information. Also watch when they say you have applied for something online - often it is that they have bought your information and not that you actually did apply for something but its another ploy to get you to buy into them. Just tell them now that I am not interested and tell I wish to be removed from their marketing register. If they keep trying to talk over me I just ask for their supervisor and they hang up on me.
My catalogue recently called me wanting my name, address, date of birth and telephone number in order for them to tell my about some exciting new offer. I told them I was not prepared to give my details over the phone to someone who had called me, so they said they weren't able to discuss the reason for the phone call (CREDIT). I told them if it was important to put it in writing. The commenced to call me 3 times in 4 days. I had to take the woman's name and threaten to report her before the phone calls stoppped. Don't give your details to anyone calling you - they may not be who they say they!
I get many cold callers too,I deal with them in many ways like pretending to have sex and put them on loud speaker to see how they react,Or I wait for there questions and ask them the same question back.A friend of mine used to work in a call centre,in the one they worked at they had to leave comments about the caller so you can imagine whats been written about me.
I find it icredible in this day and age that banks, building societies and credit card companies can phone people and then ask them to verify who theyare. If they phone you they should know. If they can not be sure then they shouldn't phone they should write. These same companies and many others are hot on Data Protection when you phone them. As a point of interest. I have checked with the DP people and have be told that if money is taken from a joint account then both parties are entitled to ask questions or cancel and agreements whether it is in their or their patners name. It is illegal for companies to withhold information if the person asking the question holds a signature on a bank or building society account that is paying for the goods or services in question.
do not give details over the phone, caller claims to be from bank, look up number in phone book and call them back to verify id, or ask the person to give you a phone number then check this out carefully before calling back, there are so many ways to get caught out though, at some point a risk has to be taken unless you insist on going to them for a face to face meeting
if someone persists in saying they are calling from my bank, I always ask for the supervisor and then put them through a grilling about how they got my number etc., Nine times out of ten, they get the details from, would you believe it, BT, who are the worst offenders at selling personal details. here's a good tip if you get one of those automated phone calls that are silent. before you hang up press the Star button 6/7 times very fast. This takes your number off their system so they cant try again.
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