HC 636-i

Written evidence submitted by David White [NTC 016]

Despite being registered with the Telephone Preference Service (TPS) I found it necessary to spend £100 in March 2012 to purchase a "Truecall" phone screening device (and pay the necessary yearly subscription charge to track my calls). I also have to pay my telephone provider (Virgin) for Caller Display.

Since that time (about 15 months), according to my call log, we have received 190 unwanted calls on the above number, most of which were successfully intercepted by the "Truecall" device.

This corresponds to about 3 calls a week, from as early as 7am to as late at 11pm. In reality the calls tended to come in bunches - one or two a day over a few days, and then a few days break.

Many of the calls had withheld numbers or were obviously from overseas. Those that I initially listened to often referred to PPI mis-selling or were, in some cases, an obvious attempt at fraud ("I'm calling on behalf of Microsoft about a problem with your computer").

In view of the fact that each of these calls would have interrupted me for no useful purpose, and probably elevated my blood pressure due to their (often) aggressive sales pitches, would the committee please consider including some of the technology provided by "Truecall" in the standard phone systems or, at least, provide a very simple reporting system with fast-response and forceful policing so that the perpetrators of these annoying calls can be at least curtailed or, preferably, stopped altogether. Surely this was the whole point of the TPS.

Before retiring in 2007 I worked from home and, even then, such calls must have cost me a considerable amount of wasted time (and money).

August 2013