Ringing in the Changes on Nuisance Calls

For many of us nuisance calls are nothing more than that – a nuisance. They may cause some colourful language and frustrating interruptions of our evenings but little more. For others they can be more serious; around 85 per cent of people receive at least one nuisance call every month with an average of seven calls being received by many individuals. While for most of us they are annoying for more vulnerable individuals they can be worrying and can even cause some serious problems. A number of cases have been reported where older consumers have been scammed and conned by these calls and resolving the problems caused can take far longer than it can to sign up to whatever service of product has been inadvertently acquired. Today, the majority of nuisance calls are sales calls offering everything from free loft insulation to claims for PPI (whether you’ve had it or not) and accidents that weren’t your fault (whether you’ve had them or not). There are still, in some cases, also problems with traditional nuisance callers, those who have little else to do in life but harass distress and otherwise cause a nuisance. Both types of call can be deeply upsetting and both types can, thankfully, be stopped once and for all.

Cocoa and Impotent Anger

Ultimately, whatever type of nuisance call you receive they’re annoying. However the reasons and the remedies to the calls are subtly different. Sales calls often come to us when we least want them – but we’re not entirely faultless in receiving them. Basically, unsolicited calls are illegal, unless we’ve opted in to receiving marketing calls. Opting in is surprisingly easy and without due care and attention it can be possible to opt in to a surprising number of sales lists. The problem has, if anything, become worse in the internet age. Not many of us read the small print (even in the pre-internet world) and these days there’s just so much of it that life is too short to read the online small print. Opting in is usually a case of forgetting to check or un-check the relevant box; to get round our increasingly savvy attitudes (realising we had to tick to “opt in”) many sites now helpfully pre-fill the tick for us, presumably on the assumption that we’d love nothing more than to receive a stream of calls and emails on a seemingly hourly basis. The basic rule is to be very careful whenever you submit an online form, or an offline one, and ensure that you are not opting in to a late night offer of free loft insulation (PPI/accident claim/etc.) which only serves to send your cocoa flying across the room in impotent anger.

Taking Control Without Losing Your Head

As long as you opt out on every form you ever fill in then you shouldn’t receive unsolicited calls; however, some less reputable firms try their best to get round this, simply by ignoring the regulations. Your next line of defence in this case is the (free) Telephone Preference Service (TPS). You can sign up by visiting the TPS website and it normally takes about twenty eight days for the service to come into effect. Any calls that do come through after this are very definitely illegal and simply advise the caller you’re registered and you don’t want to receive more calls from them. Take a note of their firm (if they haven’t already hung up in panic). If repeated calls continue simply report them to the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO). Individual reports are not followed up but data is collected on serious offenders and action is taken to enforce the regulations. The downside to the TPS service is that it can’t block calls from overseas call centres – of which there are many. Alternative solutions to this include international call blocking from your telephone provider, although this may be a chargeable service and may not be suitable for those with friends and family scattered across the globe.

Creative Technology

Call blocker devices can be useful for many of those who are victim of numerous unwanted calls. A range of devices are available on the market, including the Pro Call Blocker. These devices allow you to block specific numbers and types of number (international for example) which makes them suitable for blocking nearly all the sources of unwanted (including traditional, nuisance callers) types of unsolicited call. For those with vulnerable relatives, including elderly relatives, a call blocker can offer a great deal of peace of mind. Leaving you and your family undisturbed and ensuring that any particularly vulnerable relatives are not left living in fear of the ringing of the phone.

Calvin Ford is a freelance writer and former telecoms worker. In this post he looks at the problems behind nuisance sales calls and how simple steps and a call blocker can help to resolve the problem once and for all.