The calls that you hate to receive

To be honest my phone line is used mainly for making calls. Either to access the internet or to call a few relatives(and it is few)that are still living. So the likelihood of anyone phoning here is rare.

Occasionally, as many people do, we have a series of signals so we can tell if it is someone phoning that we would wish to speak to.

We went through a period like many have and continue to of having calls from companies selling double glazing, home improvements, kitchens etc...even the silent calls. Many dialed out by computer and its luck whether you are the unfortunate s** to pick up the phone.

Well, in the last two or three days(I lose track)we have been phoned a minimum of 10 times each day by a company. We did not know it was at the time. But unlike those that say "You were called today we do not have the callers name!" or "The caller with held their number!" when you check. This actually gave a number to call back on.

Sometimes, we could not get any response if we redialed the number. One time, the phone was picked up and heard a grunt and the receiver was put back down. The actual calls to my home have ranged from ringing tone lasting minutes to as little as two rings.

So today we went through the procedure of contacting British Telecom who after checking the number suggested it was a business number and that we may like to sign up to the Telephone Preference Register that cuts out as many of these calls as possible.

We have but that does not come into force for perhaps a month.

Anyhow, I got through to someone from the company and was promised that they would not contact us again and an apology was given.

That has now happened four times today and twice in the last ten minutes!
And these are only the times that I know of(naturally as each call comes in the previous details are cancelled)

Having thought about it I realise that on three of these occasions where we have been apologised to and promised to have our number removed and I was talking to the same woman.

The last but one call, I was told by the saleswoman that she could not remove our number from her list. So I asked to speak to someone higher up the chain of command and found myself talking to the same lady who had promised to deal with this all day.

And now finally(I suspect)because I threatened to name them on here and possibly get the newspapers involved regarding their company's poor customer relations I have received an apology from someone(don't you wish that you would take more notice of who phones)who says that the number has been removed from their computer and if it happens again they will get a severe reprimand and yes, we have been phoned more often than they would think is reasonable. This person also said anyone calling would receive a severe reprimand. Yeah...right!

If that is the end of it, I can accept matters but one more call and I planned to definitely name and shame...

I have worked in retail and know how funny the public can be so I appreciate that businesses have to look for new contacts but this is just crazy.

I did say but what if you decide to use a different number or one that withholds a number that we can phone back on? How would we ever know that its you phoning and the reply was that we will not hide behind a number that cannot be contacted.

Oh no...surprise, surprise...another call and its them again and some salesman trying to interest us in their products and when I started to tell him, he is tried to make excuses, and that he could remove us from their lists but they've been saying this all day. He would not listen and tried to get out of having me talking to the person in charge again. He also tried to talk over me.

But I demanded to talk to the person in charge...again.

Which I have now done and this time they are telling me that the number will not come off the computer(remember minutes ago I was told that it had been removed by this person)and now they have their "IT" team looking into it.

Tosh...its damage limitation time.

I really think though that at last we may actually be left alone.

That telephone preference service thing will kick in soon anyhow. And as forceful as I made my point, I have a feeling that if they treat customers or prospective clients like this they will get a bollicking much worse than they received from me. And if I might've considered buying from them I certainly would not consider doing so now and if word of mouth business is important they will not be getting any promotion on that score.

Their products may be good but their sale technique stinks...there may be some firms with similar names so I have to be careful to be sure that I say the correct name but it does sell conservatories and windows and I'm not sure where the company is based but it takes its name from the Anglian region though they were using a national code prefix number based in the North East of England.

So its been a day of hassle which has stopped me getting on with e-mails and other matters, which I could quite happily have done without.

I said that I think we deserve a written apology but we'll see if one is forthcoming, I suspect that they will not like to have it down in writing as then you have some proof. And as I close so much for the staff being told not to phone and the threat of a reprimand. Its all spin...