how do you handle dodgy phonecalls

had the phonecall today regarding the problem with the computer........and that they can fix the error etc with our help............

I just let him ramble on and on and then told him I had no computer........he was a bit disbelievuing and told me i should have said earlier.....

I said he didn't ask and that he had told me that I had a problem with it not me....he then hung upimage

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  • also just had one from a research company asking for one of my sons...............I told him that he was a minor and what kind of man phones underage boys they have never met.....

    How do you get rid of the idiots.......

    my number is on the lists for not recieving calls but they seem to be able to get around that nowadays

  • Back in the day when salesmen were constantly harrassing me I would tell them I was busy and I would ring them back later. They gave me the office number to ring but I asked them for their home number only to be told "you cant have my home number, I dont want people ringing me at home all the time". "Exactly, now you know how I feel" I said "now feck off". It seemed to work quite nicely that one.

  • Seren - this is the website that you should use to report


    http://www.actionfraud.police.uk/report_fraud

  • We get them at work...I just hang up.*

    We don't get them at home cos we unplugged the phone!  If anyone important wants us they can phone one of our mobiles.

    *once someone phoned back to say that it was rude..I told them they were rude for making unsolicited phone calls...and put the phone down on them.

  • I used to get the occasional unwanted call, best thing is to wait for them to finish their initial spiel and then hang up without saying anything.

    Other options are get caller ID (you have to pay a monthly charge, but it's fairly cheap) or get an answering machine and screen your calls.

  • We have caller ID on our phone. If we don't recognise the number we just let it ring.

    If it really is someone who needs to talk to you they'll leave a message.

    Had to laugh last weekend though, got home to find a message from my MIL saying "pick up one of you!" It was Saturday lunchtime and it hadn't occurred to her that we might actually be out.  

  • we get the same PPi company phoning us several times at the same time of day for about a week, then they have a break. I never swear at them and try to remain polite but firm in saying no, but some days, if its been a bad day at work they act as a form of therapy releasing the frustration of the day. That normally stops the calls.

  • skottyskotty ✭✭✭

    someone with quite a strong Indian accent phoned me up. I was struggling to understand him yet he asked me if I speak English. Cheeky barsteward.

     

     

  • RicFRicF ✭✭✭

    My elderly mother was getting bothered by calls and asked me if I had any ideas.

    Simple. Say nothing at all. Just give them a blast of total silence.

    I watched her in action one day. Took the call and was amused to see her pulling faces and nodding, all silent.

    She then looked across and declared that, 'they've hung up'.

    🙂

  • it annoys me that the phone calls wake me up somedays during my nap........

    the PPI annoys me..do they really think i'm the type of idiot that bought the insurance...i read the things first.

  • skottyskotty ✭✭✭

    i have tried the "hang on a second while i fetch a pen.." approach many times and just left left the phone till they hang up.

  • seren nos wrote (see)

    do they really think i'm the type of idiot that bought the insurance

    How do they know what type of idiot you are before they speak to you?

  • so why assume that a total stranger is an idiot......

  • If there was an actual person on the other end I could have lots of fun with them but most of the time it's just an automated message which I have no idea how to get rid off. I have caller Id and write down the numbers who call me and research them on the net. All are about PPI and they really annoy me as I don't have any PPI and if I did, I would be more than able to claim it back myself.
  • Oh - so that call I got from that nice young man with a strong Indian accent saying he was from the Government  and that as a pensioner I was entitled to a complementary payment on provision of my bank details might have been a hoax image?  Never mind I've had an e mail telling me I've won £9 million on the lottery if I send my bank details and pay a small administrative feeimage.-

  • i don't mind the emails.it the phone calls waiting my dreams up..............their records show..ok.of course they do.if the first senrtence is alie why on earth would they be truthful on the rest....they are miselling more than the original banks etc..............]

     

    and why do their records show that i haven't taken part in the governments insulations scheme as i haven't had my cavity walls filled....................i live in a stone house..what kind of cavities do they think they can findimage

  • I wish I was as creative as this guy, when it comes to telesales image

  • Damn, you got there before me. I was going to mention the murder scenario. You could try answering the last but one question they ask, a la The Two Ronnies Mastermind sketch.

  • E mmyE mmy ✭✭✭
    I love that guy eyegor!



    IT depends on if I'm busy or not. My dad argues with them but my mum holds a long conversation with them until they get bored. Her record is 20 minutes so far. They hung up after she told them about her shopping list...
  • Emmy that made me laugh.

    Good for Mum! image

  • Emmy_H wrote (see)
    I love that guy eyegor!

    IT depends on if I'm busy or not. My dad argues with them but my mum holds a long conversation with them until they get bored. Her record is 20 minutes so far. They hung up after she told them about her shopping list...

    image

  • WilkieWilkie ✭✭✭
    seren nos wrote (see)

    so why assume that a total stranger is an idiot......

    Because an awful lot of people were idiots, and took out completely unnecessary and/or useless insurance policies, I guess!

    We get a few of those calls.  They ask for "Mr so-and-so" then when I say there's no-one of that name here, they go on to try and sell it to me.  I suppose they think is sounds less like a cold call?

  • If it's a recording I hang up - if it's a real person I just lay the receiver down on the desk and go about my business. After all they are paying for the call - serves them right.

    What I don't get is how come these calls always seem to be made about 10 minutes after I get home from work.  Or are they re-trying every hour until someone answers?

    What's worse is I do actually know someone who could talk the hind leg off a donkey - if she calls me I lay the phone down again and go back to it every now and then to see if she's still there. Usually she has no idea I've not been listening to her, she doesn't listen to any answers anyway. All our friends report the same thing. This person must be really desperate for attention, she also posts dozens of things one after the other on FB. I don't read them either.

  • Sometimes I pretend to be deaf.

    My favourite is to say, 'One moment please' and then wander off for a few minutes til I hear the phone making a weeooweeoo noise as they've hung up. Wastes their time, not mine.

  • Yes I've done the putting the receiver down thing too. Quite satisfying.

    Totally get what Seren is saying though - whether you answer or not the ring disturbs you and very annoying when it wakes you up. 

  • I hate these calls and as my number is registered with the telephone preference service I generally just ask them how they got my number and tell them that they shouldn't be calling me and I'll report them to the TPS - seems to get rid of them fairly quickly.  Either that, or when they ask if I'm the home owner, I say no, I'm the burglar...!

  • I love the ones where they say they are calling from Microsoft or another large company as I say (lie) that "oh yea I work for them also - who's your Manager - I may know them...."  they hang up for some reason!

  • I go with Feral's technique of "the long pause"

  • E mmyE mmy ✭✭✭

    I think they hold on a while but once they realise that she's just taking the mickey - they hang up. I've been there where she's started to go on at them like old friends:

    - How are your family? Have you been ill lately? awful weather season at the moment christmas/time of the year festival are they getting anything nice etc etc.

    She tends to slow down her words so a conversation which would take me 2 minutes takes her a bit longer as she umms.. and ahh's a lot.

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