HC 636-i

Written evidence submitted by Saffron Fisk [NTC 027]

I have lived at my current address since late 1990; until mid 2004, the phone was listed in the directory under the name of another person who also lived there (the relevance of this will become apparent). When I changed the listing to my name, I also requested that it become ex-directory. The number was already registered with the Telephone Preference Service, and had been for some time, although I don’t recall exactly when I registered it.

After I registered with TPS, there was a noticeable decline in the number of unsolicited marketing calls, though they did not cease entirely. Some of the calls which got through were recorded messages congratulating me for having won a holiday, or offering me advice for claiming compensation for injuries I had never had. It was of course not possible to interact with these callers. There have been almost none of this type of call in the last year or so.

In other cases, the caller either rang off as soon as I answered, or started to speak, then rang off after a word or two. I believe this is a result of their dialling several numbers at the same time; they break off contact with all but the one which answers first. This type of call does not bother me more than the others, but I can see that it could be very alarming for someone more vulnerable.

When I have been able to speak to the caller, I have always told them that the number is covered by the TPS. Usually, this elicits an apology plus a promise to remove me from their database. A few years ago, however, there were at least two occasions when a young-sounding male caller (not the same one each time) insisted that I could not possibly be registered, since his "system" would not allow him to call such a number; I was then asked how long I had been registered and my answer of "several years" was disputed. If they were trying to sell me something, such aggression and rudeness was not a good start! I always checked with the TPS afterwards; I always was still registered. I have not encountered that defence recently.

Within the last couple of years, there seems to have been a change in the type of calls that I have been receiving.

a) Callers with Indian accents asserting that I have a computer problem and that they are from Microsoft. They always hang up when I either accuse them of being a scam, or ask them to tell me what operating system I am using (they claim that they can see my computer). Dialling 1471 reveals that "we do not have the caller’s number to return the call", so I cannot report them.

b) Callers asking if I am Mrs X (the name in which the phone was previously registered). I tell them about the TPS; I also ask them to inform their supervisors that they are using a database which is at least 9 years old and thus possibly not that useful to them. The people I am speaking to are just front-line staff; they usually get rather flustered and promise to pass the message on. I feel sorry for them, but I am annoyed that some list containing my (non-)name, associated with my phone number, appears to have been sold to marketers who have then not checked the TPS lists.

c) Callers from energy efficiency outfits, including those trying to provide me with solar panels at no cost to me. Others have offered insulation, the green deal, etc. These people do not know my name; they ask if I am the householder. Some of the calls which have been terminated without anything being said are also from such companies; their numbers are accessible via 1471 and I have looked them up on-line, usually to find that they have a history of such behaviour. I have reported at least two of them to the TPS (I received an acknowledgment but no report of definitive action). Sometimes I tell them about the TPS straight away, sometimes I wait to find out what it is that they are touting.

I understand that the TPS, at least originally, only covered marketing, and that the rules could be circumvented by claiming that the call was a survey. This has always seemed to me to be a weakness; almost all the calls I have had were ultimately trying to sell me something, even if that was not immediately apparent. I have had perhaps two genuine opinion surveys (other than those where I have actively given my number to someone knowing that there could be a follow-up call) since I registered.

When I register to vote I am able to opt-out of appearing on the edited electoral roll (and I do so). When I choose to have my phone ex-directory and register it with the TPS, I really shouldn’t be getting any unsolicited calls at all. I would like to see an extension of the TPS’ powers to include other types of call, and an end to the sale of phone directories (in the broadest sense; I don’t know if my erroneous details were obtained from a BT directory or some other database, and the callers were unable to tell me any more than that they had been given a list of names and numbers to ring).

I gather that there are alternatives/adjuncts to the TPS which are more effective at screening (though some have to be carefully set up to avoid blocking genuine calls from unknown numbers), but these are not free. I would like to see a more thorough service available at no cost – why should a consumer who is being hassled have to pay to not be hassled? That seems to add injury to insult. I would also like to see evidence of those who break the rules being censured in an effective manner. This evidence may exist, but I have not seen it displayed.

I have not received any nuisance text messages.

July 2013