Nuisance "accident" phone calls.

[Mike]

Is anyone else being pestered by various companies (that they've never heard of before) who want to discuss road accidents that they've never had?

I've had four in the last three days, one was from an Indian call centre but the others were from the UK. They seem to have got bored with PPI and have moved onto to road accident claims.

I ran rings around the Indian one, I said that the double-decker hit me at about 90 mph - he said "what is double-decker, I no understand" and hung-up on me.

[andygolfer]

but I bet you weren't running rings round the double decker bus at the time

Just tell him you were hit by a sacred cow and wish to sue the owner

[Mike]

but I bet you weren't running rings round the double decker bus at the time

Just tell him you were hit by a sacred cow and wish to sue the owner

Silly Billy, just wait until they phone you - hopefully you'll get Mr. Chapati Bhindi-Bhaji Poppadom on the old dog and bone.

The one I got this afternoon was a bit worrying, he told me that I had badly injured a woman on her bicycle three years ago (he was an Irish chap and he insisted on calling me "Michael" after every three words - I utterly detest being called that, you can call me anything you like - but not that !).

He asked me if I was an inexperienced driver at the time.........................well..........................my mouth went into over-drive.........................

I said "so when did you pass your driving test"

He said "I hope to be getting driving lessons next year if my mother lets me"

I said "I passed my test on the 15th of January 1975, first time, and have been a professional driver for about 30 years of those 40, and have probably driven about 4 million miles without a single accident of any kind"

He said "You're some man, Michael"

That's the last I heard of Seamus, one of us hung up and it wasn't him.

[Rugbyref]

My son plays games with them too. He just says random words - 'elephant' tumble dryer' 'seventeen' etc. They soon foxtrot Oscar.
As my handle suggests, I am a referee, and thus have a supply of very loud whistles handy. If they get too annoying as loud blast is my revenge.

[Nighthawke]

We don't get many at all these days. I never seem to think of a "clever" answer until afterwards though.

I did get one the other day from a person with heavy Asian accent trying to tell me that they wanted to talk about the problem that we had previously discussed concerning my computer. "What call" says I? Call about laptop virus. What laptop? You have laptop with virus. No I don't have a laptop - who told you I did? You are a scammer...hangs up on me!

Usually if I see a number I don't recognise I don't pick up. Then Google the number and guess what - a nuisance caller.

[Fullenglish]

Just a general comment. I've had lots of unwanted calls lately. Nothing to do with accidents but they ring up and my phone often says AL International or International. When I answered there is a short delay then someone says "hello, Is that Mr Philip English", and then they proceed to try and ask me "lifestyle" questions. It got so bad that I was getting about 12 calls a day!

I've found the best way to deal with this annoying problem is to get a phone that has a caller display so that you can monitor the calls. That said, they are crafty and sometimes will come up with a telephone number and they have different numbers. I got to know some of the numbers and ignored them. If you really want to find out whether the number is bogus or not just google it and you will find out.

Eventually they stopped ringing me but it took six weeks before they gave up. The problem is, everytime you answer a call whether you speak to them or not counts as a person to call-back on their hit list and they don't want to give up. I even told one chap to go away and even used the f word a few times and he shouted back "No". Being polite or impolite doesn't have any effect.

So What to do:
1) Get a phone that will show the number.
2) Never answer the phone if it says "number withheld" Unless you know a caller you want to speak to will ring at a designated time.
3) You can try ringing the Telephone Preference Service to get numbers banned but I found this doesnt work.
4) Tell people that matter, to ring you on your mobile rather than the landline. Be honest, tell the why.
5) It will take a while before they give up. But they will! So be patient.
6) Always ring 1471 after you receive a call that you were suspicious of. Sometimes it will even say that you haven't received a call even when you know you have.

How these idiots get hold of you is somewhat an anomoly but I suspect sometimes the internet sites we use sometimes feed out information to them.

I hope this helps.

Phil

[andygolfer]

a lot now seem to be routing by UK numbers to avoid showing as international calls now Phil. Like you if it's international I don't answer and same for 'number withheld'. I have had an easy day today, just 3 so far but I'm on the verge of leaving a voicemail message on my landline along the lines of

'Hello, I’m afraid we are either out at present or have not answered your call as we do not recognise your number and are fed up with being bombarded with unsolicited and scamming calls. If you are a genuine caller please leave your name and number and we will call back'

means we have to be careful to check for missed calls if we are out and it might inconvenience our friends a bit but can't see another way round it.
The TPS are a complete waste of time and their complaint form is a complete joke
andy

[beefsteak]

I've been having 4 or 5 a day just lately, always called "Steven from BT" (He's actually Gunga Din in bonga bonga land ) telling me that there is a problem with my broadband and that if he's not allowed to fix it I will lose it 'tomorrow'
Sometimes I'll play the game of seeing just how long I can keep them occupied by transferring them from department to department within either Cheshire County Council, Cheshire Police Headquarters etc , (25 minutes is my best so far)
It doesn't deter them I know, but it perks up my otherwise boring life knowing I've peed some tw*t off at the end of the day! (and you can think that says twit if you like!)

[andygolfer]

I've been having 4 or 5 a day just lately, always called "Steven from BT" (He's actually Gunga Din in bonga bonga land ) telling me that there is a problem with my broadband and that if he's not allowed to fix it I will lose it 'tomorrow'
Sometimes I'll play the game of seeing just how long I can keep them occupied by transferring them from department to department within either Cheshire County Council, Cheshire Police Headquarters etc , (25 minutes is my best so far)
It doesn't deter them I know, but it perks up my otherwise boring life knowing I've peed some tw*t off at the end of the day! (and you can think that says twit if you like!)

and ...... while he's speaking to you you've potentially helped some poor old person who isn't alert enough not to be caught as he hasn't gone on to the next potential victim on his list.

[Mike]

I've been having 4 or 5 a day just lately, always called "Steven from BT" (He's actually Gunga Din in bonga bonga land ) telling me that there is a problem with my broadband and that if he's not allowed to fix it I will lose it 'tomorrow'
Sometimes I'll play the game of seeing just how long I can keep them occupied by transferring them from department to department within either Cheshire County Council, Cheshire Police Headquarters etc , (25 minutes is my best so far)
It doesn't deter them I know, but it perks up my otherwise boring life knowing I've peed some tw*t off at the end of the day! (and you can think that says twit if you like!)

and ...... while he's speaking to you you've potentially helped some poor old person who isn't alert enough not to be caught as he hasn't gone on to the next potential victim on his list.

Like Andy.

[Fullenglish]

I love your remarks beefsteak. Very funny. I have a friend who said to the caller when asked,"could I speak to ---", she replied, "Well you could try ringing the local craetorium. So they asked why is that? So she replied, "because she's dead"!

Phil

[beefsteak]

Not had a call from Gunga din since that last post, I think they may have got the message (For a week or so!) I now get a long silence followed by a recorded "Goodbye", usually in the mid afternoon. These will be from the same sort of person, just that some other person has answered before you!

This the answer to the "How do they get your number, even when you're ex directory" question, the answer is simple....... They don't, they have an automatic number generator, ie first it'll dial 5000001 then 5000002 and so on until a call is answered, that's when they pounce!

[beefsteak]

I'm getting one of these tomorrow in the sale, it looks like it'll do the job !

http://www.currys.co.uk/gbuk/phones-bro ... 1-pdt.html