Cold Calling - Had to Share

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I rarely answer my phone to unknown numbers but if I do I'll try and remember to do something similar!

It must be pretty miserable being the people who do this.

I'm not talking about the ones who organize it all, but the ones who are trying to find a way to feed themselves and their families, and this is where they wind up.

**on reflection, deleted **

It must be pretty miserable being the people who do this.

In fairness, I'm usually nice to people who cold call, except for those trying to steal from me, but this was clearly an algorithm with a set of pre-recorded responses. Although the response which should have been "monotonous" didn't have quite the same meaning.

retrorick
Full Member
I rarely answer my phone to unknown numbers

FTFY.

Call me whatever you like but I have zero time for cold callers.  Depending on mood I either string them along to waste their time or just swear loudly at them to let them know what I think and put the phone down.  Almost all are acting illegally.

Ive kept one on the phone for 20+ mins before and also had them call me back thinking i was a lead but somehow we had lost connection.. My favourite ploy is to say " that sounds interesting, hold on a mo" and put the phone down but not hang up.

the more of their time you waste the less time they have to scam a vulnerable person

When I was WFH during/post covid we had daily cold-caller.  We were polite to him initially, but after the umpteenth time of him not removing us from his list we started getting snarky with him.  It went on for weeks.

Eventually I decided being snarky was only getting me riled up for no good reason, so I started being daft instead.

I pretended to be a scared child, I pretended to be a dog, and most relevant to the OP, I pretended to be a robot who wasn't authorised to speak to him.

This all seemed to entertain me more than him and after the 3rd day of it he stopped calling 🙂

Call me whatever you like

that would be a great thread. ☺️

I am polite but clear to them at the beginning of the call that they're wasting their time. This is for both of our's benefits, me so that I can put the phone down, and them so that they don't waste time with me and can move on to the next person on their list.

If they don't listen, then they've consented to whatever comes next and get what they deserve IMO.

the more of their time you waste the less time they have to scam a vulnerable person

I would have agreed, but seeing the other side of the fence my opinion isn't as harsh. My daughter's boyfriend is trying to supplement his grant through the summer and enable him to get through his University career without going absolutely broke. Not all Uni students are kids of rich parents, and I admire him because at present it's soul destroying but also vital.

Sure, he could go for bar work or fruit picking or whatever, but this also fits around being able to work odd shifts and also enable him to have a bit of a life too. He's working for an agency that pick up various jobs / surveys, all sorts, and a lot of what he does is not paid and all commission. So you wasting his time when he actually isn't doing anything illegal or scammy is TBH a bit shit, if that then is preventing him trying to earn a crust. A day full of folks doing that and he goes home depressed and out of pocket for the train fare to get there.

Fill your boots on the AI bot or the 'your computer has been taken over by a virus' scammers, but those trying to do a survey or create a lead for an insulation co or whatever - just be a bit polite, say no thanks and let them move on. And definitely no need to be abusive to them, it's an 18 year old kid.

This is actually a short cool story

I would have agreed, but seeing the other side of the fence my opinion isn’t as harsh.

To be fair, there's two camps here.

In the red corner, we have legitimate businesses employing teenagers to follow up on sales leads. (Though something something GDPR something.)

In the blue corner, we have highly organised criminal gangs.

So you wasting his time when he actually isn’t doing anything illegal or scammy is TBH a bit shit, if that then is preventing him trying to earn a crust. A day full of folks doing that and he goes home depressed and out of pocket for the train fare to get there.

He is doing so unfortunately if he phones me.  I am on TPS etc and have had all my details on the companies that organise cold calling lists ( experion and equifax) marked with not to be given out

So if he calls me he or someone up the chain has breached data protection, has breached TPS etc etc

sometimes I have even hunted down the company or organisation that has done the breach of date protection.  I even had the NMC - the professional body for nurses censured for giving out my details to cold callers

sorry - I understand his desperation but I still have precisely zero sympathy as what he is doing is almost certainly illegal at least some of the time.  Many of these so called "surveys" are actually to generate leads for cold calling sales.  I have been woken from sleep when on night shift by them- I have to keep my phone switched on because of frail elderly parents

cougar - there is no legitimate business doing this that would get thru to me.  anyone that phones cold calling me is breaking the law

He is doing so unfortunately if he phones me.  I am on TPS etc and have had all my details on the companies that organise cold calling lists ( experion and equifax) marked with not to be given out

So if he calls me he or someone up the chain has breached data protection, has breached TPS etc etc

Not saying I agree or disagree, as you say in principle TPS takes you off cold calling lists but do something online and accidentally forget to tick or untick a box or whatever and you can end up on mailing lists again. And in any case, it's not his list, it's the firms. I know what you're saying - he rep's the firm and so is fair game to some extent. But then you can politely and quickly say so and move on.

But you said....

Depending on mood I either string them along to waste their time or just swear loudly at them to let them know what I think and put the phone down.

Ive kept one on the phone for 20+ mins before and also had them call me back thinking i was a lead but somehow we had lost connection.. My favourite ploy is to say ” that sounds interesting, hold on a mo” and put the phone down but not hang up.

and that might have cost him opportunities with others that are interested, and also just made an 18 year old lad trying to work his way through Uni feel pretty shit.

There is another, human, side to this, it's not all scammers.

I have precisely zero sympathy (for a kid trying to earn his way through Uni)

Nice.

and that might have cost him opportunities with others that are interested, and also just made an 18 year old lad trying to work his way through Uni feel pretty shit.

cost him opportunities to waste other people time and / or put vulnerable people at risk from scammers.

Its not just in principle I am not on these lists. If I appear on one someone has broken the law.  My details are flagged on experian and equifax so that I cannot appear on lists legally. ( they produce most of the lists IIRC)  If you wrongly tick a box then that company might phone you.  You cannot be put on a general list from that legally

If I waste his time I am protecting others from his actions

If what he is doing is unethical at best and illegal at worst why should I have any sympathy?.  I have huge sympathy for the position he is in.  I have zero for his solution.

Bit like the Earlston Co-0p today, the staff are so scripted there today. I feel sorry for them, they must cringe inside today.

If I waste his time I am protecting others from his actions

No, you're preventing him from getting on with phoning someone who might be interested and potentially preventing him earning money that day.

Nah, I'm with TJ. These people must know what they're doing after the first handful of calls all tell them they've not had an accident/ppi/diesel and request they go procreate. That's also exploitation so there's that too.

In the red corner, we have legitimate businesses employing teenagers to follow up on sales leads. (Though something something GDPR something.)

In the blue corner, we have highly organised criminal gangs.

Wrong way round surely?

Cold calling relies on conning the vulnerable.

Yes I feel sorry for him but the answer is not to facilitatecompanies preying on the vulnerable, the answer is to earn money ethically and legally.

He is also being abused by his employers,  commission only?  He will  have been conned into doing the "job" I bet with promises of huge commission.

Local care homes will be desperate for staff.  Support staff as well as care staff and will often given zero hours contracts and fit in with uni time - and will give guaranteed earnings.  I have employed loads of students on this basis in the past. thats one possibility.

Serve cups of tea, wash up and push a hoover around for above minimum wage

Cold calling relies on conning the vulnerable.

I'd have tended to agree, I don't now.

In what way do you think they are not?

Because in your mass generalisation you are assuming every cold call is a scam of some form or another. Which simply isn't true.

Example. There are subsidies available for insulating houses. Not everyone is aware of this or that they may be eligible. If a firm does some research and selects say a road of houses, built in the 50's and unlikely to have adequate loft insulation, and then calls those homeowners to advise them and ask if they are interested in a survey and possibly a quote. Sure, it's touting for business, and there is still an undercurrent based on past, unethical experiences of 'the hard sell' to follow but how is the 'cold call'  conning the vulnerable?

Sure, it’s touting for business, and there is still an undercurrent based on past, unethical experiences of ‘the hard sell’ to follow but how is the ‘cold call’ conning the vulnerable?

The problem is that many people consider it a scam straight away so even if they are genuinely eligible for grants, most are simply going to hang up/abuse the salesperson.

Where I used to work had a schedule of calls for the Membership team to go through; phone recently lapsed members and give the whole "would you like to renew" spiel. The hit rate on renewals was under 1%. The hit rate in abuse was up in the mid teens. Eventually they stopped doing it, it was easier and cheaper to do mailshots by post and email.

Listening to them from across the office, it sounded utterly soul-destroying work, I felt quite sorry for them.

Numerous investigations have shown that companies cold calling selling insulation products are scammers.  Yes in  theory they do not have to be.  In practice they are selling unsuitable or inadequate insulation at inflated costs.  Poor example

I take your point in theory.  But in practice it is not so

If they are a reputable company doing good work at fair prices they do not have to cold call

I also note that you missed my point that was about me.  There is no legal way any cold caller can get my information to cold call me.  so anyone cold calling me has broken the law.  If you are on marketing list and the call is legal then you might have a point.  But any cold call to me is in breach of the law.

https://www.tsscot.co.uk/priority-areas/energy-marketing-scams/

The problem is that many people consider it a scam straight away so even if they are genuinely eligible for grants, most are simply going to hang up/abuse the salesperson.

Which is fine (the first bit at least). At best they really did avoid a scam, at worst they missed out on something that could have been of value to them. Their loss in that case, but can you lose something you didn't have?

The bit I took exception to, and still do, is the "depending on my mood I'll either string them along to waste their time or just swear loudly at them to let them know what I think and put the phone down"

There's a real human at the other end doing it to make ends meet, and probably dying a little bit inside every day while doing it. Just please think of that.

And the bit you missed is they have my number illegally.  Why should I show respect for people breaking the law?

Also the other aspect - wasting their time stops folk from being scammed

Yes I feel a bit sorry for the individual but perhaps it will give them a nudge to get a job that is not unethical / illegal?

Yes the person doing the calling is perhaps also a victim of being scammed as the laddie you mention is.  No reputable company is commission only for cold calling.

Numerous investigations have shown that companies cold calling selling insulation products are scammers.  Yes in  theory they do not have to be.  In practice they are selling unsuitable or inadequate insulation at inflated costs.  Poor example

All of them? I don't doubt there are some bad actors but claiming all cold callers are scammers preying on the vulnerable is clearly false.

There simply is no other reason to cold call. Legitimate companies do not do it.  Legitimate companies do not con young folk into doing this for commission only

And you still have not addressed my point that they have my number illegally.

OK - agree to disagree on this.  You feel sorry for a young lad who has rubbish circumstances and has been conned into working for a company that is at best unethical.  I am frustrated by people calling me with information illegally obtained and with cold callers who are scammers

Because in your mass generalisation you are assuming every cold call is a scam of some form or another. Which simply isn’t true.

Correct. But it doesn't have to be a scam. If you're cold-calling TJ (or for that matter, me) then somewhere along the lines you're not playing by the rules because we've ticked every 'do not call' box on the planet.

You cannot process people's data under GDPR/DPA without Legitimate Interest, and "I want to sell you shit" is on shaky ground at best here.

OK, agree to disagree.

But FTR - I don't deny there are some bad actors but disagree that all are. I can't condone people with your number when you are on TPC lists, etc. I disagree that all cold calling is un-necessary or a scam, some is genuinely of use when done properly. And yes, having lived that life vicariously I do feel sorry for folks that need to do this to earn a crust, but more than that I'm annoyed by folks that are abusive or obstructive as their default.

If you’re cold-calling TJ (or for that matter, me) then somewhere along the lines you’re not playing by the rules because we’ve ticked every ‘do not call’ box on the planet.

Is it then OK to abuse the kid that called who was just given the list and told to get on with it?

Whether their boss, company (even the agency providing the staff) are complicit, it costs you nothing to not be a **** about it to the poor sod on the other end.

Can I invoke godwin?

Just following orders is not an excuse 🙂

Whether their boss, company (even the agency providing the staff) are complicit, it costs you nothing to not be a **** about it to the poor sod on the other end.

There's no way that the people making the calls do no know what they are doing is at best rude and unwanted, and likely know it's dodgy or illegal.

I've asked a few if thier mum and dad are proud of them working a scam line...

Most I just hang up and immediately report and block the call (Android).

I'm always up for humour but frankly my patience is pretty low right now for folks that treat shop workers, telemarketers, whatever, like dirt on their shoe. Daughter is working at the supermarket again over the summer, and has been so stressed again this week because of the behaviour of representatives of middle Britain.

What is wrong with people - what does being nice cost? In fact scrap being nice, it's clearly too hard. Let's focus on not being a ****. A basic premise for life that too many seem to be failing abjectly at right now.

[ right, I'm out before I start getting abusive. I doubt whether anyone has this as a career choice; don't judge until you've walked a mile in their shoes]

With you on the general premise.  I am nice to folk in service industries.  Bought my local shop cakes in covid.  Always thank the bus driver, always praise good service.  etc etc

I’m always up for humour but frankly my patience is pretty low right now for folks that treat shop workers, telemarketers, whatever

And there's a big difference between a UK based cold caller and a foreign based scam factory calling me about my Microsoft Account or recent Car Accident...

I'm very pleasant to folk, even when making a complaint.

But I really, really don't have time for scams and fraud - and will happily and nicely tell them what they are doing is a scam. No insults or swearing involved.

He’s working for an agency that pick up various jobs / surveys, all sorts, and a lot of what he does is not paid and all commission.

I'd be interesting to know a bit more about what the agency has him doing - i.e. who he is doing the telemarketing/cold calling for - i.e. what kinds of companies and is it information gathering, lapsed memberships, or direct sales. TPS registration not withstanding I just struggle to think of a scenario where cold calling would have a positive impact on me. Which of course makes you think....well if it's not aimed at me, who is it aimed at? And that rarely makes you think of them in a positive light.

I've done some pretty iffy jobs over the years, especially in my yoof. But I've always been lucky enough to be in a position to have a morality threshold. Not 100% sure cold calling for people selling crap would cut it, especially if other work was available, even if not as convenient. I did sell clothes in C&A mind so my standards are pretty low.

Just thinking about it, I think as we enter an age where my phone rings very little and normally only for urgent things or very close friends and family, cold calls feel even more intrusive than they used to. Which is odd as you can't open social media without being bombarded. Something far more personal about someone ringing your specific number somehow.

Also - and I'm sure he knows this already, 100% commission based salaries are illegal unless the employer guarantees the commission will amount to at least minimum wage. So an hour listening to TJ waffle on should still get him minimum wage if they are legal with their wages - though thinking about it an hour on the phone with TJ should come with danger money!

I disagree that all cold calling is un-necessary or a scam,

If I've said "do not call me," and you call me, you're in the wrong. And likely breaking the law.

Is it then OK to abuse the kid that called who was just given the list and told to get on with it?

Here we agree. No, of course not. I've worked in support, it's not my fault your computer is broken.

But, it shouldn't be unreasonable to expect them to be able to tell you how they got your details, and have them removed. This is literally GDPR, "I do not want you to be processing my data."

Is it OK to give a probably not even minimum wage student both barrels, of course not. But they should be in a position where either they can amend your records to "do not call" or they can put you through to someone who can.

The company may well believe that they're operating morally. And I've had these conversations more than once. But they aren't, and it's on them to perform due diligence on whatever contact list they've bought.

They have been rude to me by cold calling me.  Why should I be polite in return?

Point the laddie in the direction of local care homes.  One of them will give him a legitimate job that will fit round his uni I will bet.

As convert says - if its commission only then the company is clearly not legit.

its a painful life lesson for him.  don't get involved with scammers

theotherjonv - I'm broadly on your side.
I think you've posted before about your daughter being insulted/abused by 'middle class' arsehole customers; they should be sprayed with shit and banned.
Your daughter's boyfriend is to be applauded for trying to make some money to support his studies but...commission only cold calling is unlikely to benefit him - either financially or emotionally and is, IMO, morally questionable.
Can he not find another vacation job which does not involve any 'moral compromises'?
Shelf stacking, bar work were always the defaults; factory labouring?

Jeez - why do people even answer calls from unknown numbers? Life's too short for all that shit. If the call is important, the caller will leave a message. If they don't, it's obviously not important or relevant...easy

I understand his desperation but I still have precisely zero sympathy

Pretty sure he doesn’t need your sympathy, what he needs is your empathy.

How about a little empathy or sympathy for folk in my position.  I was working 12 hr night shifts.  I have to keep my phone on because of elderly parents.  To get woken in the middle of the day when I am sleeping when the person phoning me has broken the law. Yet you want me to remain polite and /or not waste their time?

The caller has been rude, broken the law and wasted my time.  But I am not allowed by you to do the same?  No legitimate company would be doing this

So if he calls me he or someone up the chain has breached data protection, has breached TPS etc etc

The company has breached data protection. But there's no need to unload at the poor sod who wasn't part of the decision making process. In fact there's no need to do that anyway. Actual scammers aren't going to be affected by your outrage in the least. Just put the phone down and go back to bed. You'll feel better for it in the end.

Why should I be polite in return?

I dunno, maybe because it's the right thing to do? Maybe because you shouldn't judge people without knowing the whole story? You don't have to be nice, but equally you don't have to be an arse. Just hang up.

Well at least you tried to post something amusing OP.I found it funny if that helps at all? I’ve never been abusive to cold callers or people in Yodel/Evri chats when my order isn’t delivered and they make up contradictory reasons as to why. If I have time I absolutely will see how much I can derail them from their script or pretend I’ve been kidnapped, am a time traveller etc.

Anybody that abuses shop workers, service staff, carers, medical personnel etc are absolute arseholes. If I witness it I’ll join in on the side of the person just trying to do their job. I genuinely love picking on bullies.

My business used to have a cold caller company phone between one and fifteen times a day, Id hang up and they would phone back taking the piss. I've had all sorts of verbal abuse from them, one day the same guy phoned my shop constantly for about 20min to the point where I unplugged the phone. I think I even started a thread or two about it as it was affecting the business so badly.

We are logged with the business version of telephone preference, and I've a phone filled with  blocked numbers, but they would still phone. I found that the biggest difference i could make was removing my business details from Yell. Instantly cold calls dropped by about 90% over night. Because <span style="font-size: 0.8rem;">I was publicly providing my business number on the internet the business TPS was effectively null and voided. I did that about 3 or 4 years ago and while they still phone, its about once a week.</span>

I now do not answer the business phone unless it's a local number, mobile (quite often a cold caller), or number I recognise from a supplier on the phones white list.

If I'm not sure if the number is genuine, I Google it before answering or phoning them back and make some excuse about serving a customer.

Ive outlined my position on this just above, but point of order:

 But there’s no need to unload at the poor sod who wasn’t part of the decision making process.

Sorry, the "poor sod" is absolutely part of the decision making process. They choose to do this job (or remain in this job if they somehow got hood-winked into a cold-calling job without realizing it).

I'm definitely with TJ on this - I don't suffer fools like a lot of posters on this thread seem to do though, to be clear, I now NEVER answer a call from an unknown or blocked number so I've not had to deal with these idiots for many years.

In the past, whenever I got a cold-caller, I simply hung up without entering into ANY discussion - as I said, life's to short to get involved in any of that shit.

"I was only following orders" is never a sufficient excuse for doing something shit. They need to take some responsibility for their choices.

They need to take some responsibility for their choices.

They do, but it's still not your job to abuse them.

They do, but it’s still not your job to abuse them.

To be fair it all conflates together pretty neatly. After 20 mins or so in the job I think you'll have got a pretty clear message that the unrequested calls you are being paid to make are very much unappreciated. At that point if you decide to carry on you are a-making a choice that this job with dubious morals is still worth your while and b-have a thick enough skin (or care so little about the attitude of your 'customers') that the 'abusers' are wasting their time.

As John has stated above, the lad he knows who does this (and suffers the inevitable indignant abuse) has other choices; but chooses this as the less of various evils because it suits his lifestyle more. Granted, there may well be others with childcare issues or maybe mobility issues who don't have other options. But for me I would have to have run out of all other options before I considered it.

I've ticked every do not call box known to man. If a company decides to mass call a number range and gets through to me wasting my time then I'm going to waste theirs.

It's not personal to the caller, they just happen to be the company's representative that gets through to me.

Note I've been in the other end too. Customer services for a very large utility company is eye opening. I just took it on the chin when someone felt the need to get shouty.

They have been rude to me by cold calling me. Why should I be polite in return?

Well, ya know, two wrongs don't make a right and all that.

One of my colleagues gets a lot of these calls in the office and he regularly spends 20 minutes shouting at them so most of the office can hear. It's quite embarrassing and also causes disruption. I keep suggesting to him that he just says, "sorry, I'm not interested" and then hangs up. But he seems to enjoy going bright red.

Personally I just do what I suggested to him.

What do people do with email or postal marketing of services they don't want? Hit delete, throw in the bin? Or spend 20 mins of their time writing angry emails or letters back so that companies have to waste time opening, reading, etc?

I suspect rather than 'providing a service' by preventing them calling someone else, at least some of the abusive responders actually enjoy giving it out to the person on the other end. And then justify it because the telemarketers shouldn't make poor life choices, but really, what does that say about them as people?

The worst part is that most people who still have a landline are old and infirm like TJ 🤭 therefore more likely to fall for a scam or be less inclined to put the phone down. The companies that do this will know that and it makes them a set of utterly reprehensible bastards in my book. I do, however, have some empathy for those who work for them. You must be in a shit place in life or quite desperate. Failing that you’re criminal and in on it.

This thread reminded me of this absolute classic 

It's a new perspective thats for sure;

"Be kind to scammers and fraudsters as they're only trying to earn a crust!"

next up will we have

"Be kind to muggers, they're only trying to scrape together enough for their next fix"? or "the poor lad's only robbing your bikes 'cos he's poor, benefits are so stingy these days - do be kind"

No - sorry. If you willingly work in a dodgy / [borderline] illegal industry you ought to expect to be treated with social distain.

As others have said, there's a massive difference between a UK call centre, calling to generate leads for double glazing, insulation, gutter cleaning, solar panels etc, and the foreign scam calls that pretend to be fraud prevention for Microsoft etc.

Back in the day, I actually did almost a year of evening shifts cold calling for double glazing to supplement my day job as I'd just rented my first flat and needed the extra cash. It was bloody hard work, you had to hit various KPIs every shift (volume of calls, effective calls, appointments set), working from a provided list of numbers. If I remember correctly (20 years ago), you had to achieve 100 dials per shift - fail a KPI  sweep and you'd not be booked for your next shift. It was brutal, but the people there (a mix of young working class lads, and young mums, presumably all fitting it in around commitments whether eork or childcare related) were all decent people just trying to make ends meet, and knowing if they deviated off plan, there was no more work for them.

So yeah, maybe treat them with a bit of dignity & decency, they don't make the rules and you don't know the "why" they're there.

Theotherjohnv - one big thing I'll say is that the time I spent cold calling has stood me in bloody good stead ever since, certainly had to not be afraid of picking up the phone (a major hurdle employers are facing with young workers now) and strong work ethic, as well as understanding the whole fact success is a numbers game. Fair play to the lad - it's character building in every sense 👍👍

“Be kind to scammers and fraudsters as they’re only trying to earn a crust!”

...said no-one.

What do people do with email or postal marketing of services they don’t want? Hit delete, throw in the bin? Or spend 20 mins of their time writing angry emails or letters back so that companies have to waste time opening, reading, etc?

If its personally addressed ( a very rare thing - its been years) I sometimes will find out from them where they got my name and address from and have the company who provided my details censured under GDPR.  When a junk mailer finds they have your address illegally they are very keen to help by telling you who gave them your details to make sure they are not prosecuted by showing they acted in good faith

So for I have had the NMC - the nurse professional body censured for this, a mail order company and an estate agents .  However junk mailer are much more careful and as I am on the equifax and experion no mail lists its many years since I had one.

that most certainly is a service in the case of the NMC.  They sold my details illegally to an insurance company.  they had to stop doing so, act within GDPR and apologise to everyone whose details they sold.  I had no option but to give them my details to remain registeredas a nurse.  Selling my details to an insurance company was clearly illegal and they rightly got into trouble for it.

Email - not just delete but re[port as spam so the spam filters know not to let it thru.    Longtime since I had a junk email.

Tilting at windmills perhaps but in at least 3 cases I got the person who illegally used my snail mail address censured and their practices changed so they no longer did it

" all it takes for evil to flourish is for good men to do nothing"

But once again - as above its been many years since a personally addressed piece of junk mail and a good few since any UK based telephone calls

IHN - said quite a few folk on this thread. There is no legitimate reason for telephone cold calling

Funnily I have just answered an Edinburgh number - to find it is some 'sue your landlord for dodgy housing' scam...
And the difficult bit is we have just been signing up eldest_oab's new house rent for next year - with Edinburgh estate agent, and have had contact a couple of months ago with Edinburgh Council Landlord Registration folk to complain over the poor state of the rented house... So I a) answered and b) gave it 30 seconds of my time before realising it was a scam.

Talk about threading the needle with a scam call...

someone has sold your details illegally there then Matt.  Probably the estate agent IME

The TPS and as far as I know the equivelent mail service aren't ever 100% accurate, as numbers are re-used.

IHN – said quite a few folk on this thread.

No, no-one said it. What some have said is "not all cold calls are a scam" and/or "you don't need to be a dick, you can just hang up".

There is no legitimate reason for telephone cold calling

That is demonstrable nonsense (notwithstanding your valid points about TPS/GDPR etc)

Anyway, I sense this is one of those threads where you've chosen a hill to die on, so I'll hang up

If its demonstrable nonsense then demonstrate it 🙂

I'll stick my head above the parapet and say that I used to own a company that did B2B cold calling. This was back in the noughties and it was pretty successful. We sold everything from accountancy services to new cars to leasing companies to flower arrangements to software.

We subscribed to TPS and while we vetted every number on every list we used, we always founds errors and always reported them. We even helped folks who we called  in error sign up for TPS - we either gave them the number to call, or offered to do it for them, as TBH it was worth our time to do that - we didn't want to 1. break the law, or 2. end up talking with folks like TJ - as it takes up too much time.

Our callers were mums, university kids, we had a barmaid in between jobs and we employed (at it's maximum) 15 people and paid for things like local cleaners and so on.

I get what TJ is saying about scammers, but TBH loads of those folks (especially from the Indian sub continent) are ex-helpline staffers, but after folks decided that it was OK to be racist and say that they didn't want to talk to to Indian helpdesk staff, many of them lost their jobs, and scamming IT is probably 1. the only they're "qualified" to do, 2. the only job in town. 3 they probably have massive debt, or are being forced to do it. So yeah, just put the phone down or just say "no thanks" and put the phone down.

We even helped folks who we called in error sign up for TPS – we either gave them the number to call, or offered to do it for them, as TBH it was worth our time to do that – we didn’t want to 1. break the law, or 2. end up talking with folks like TJ – as it takes up too much time.

If I get one and they do that then its fine and all solved amicably in a few seconds.  If someone says " whoops we shouldn't have called you I'll take you off our list" it is fine

B2B is also very different to cold calling residential numbers

TJ I know you've got a hard line on this and probably won't want to listen to or consider an alternative viewpoint, but I can say there definitely IS a legitimate reason and value for cold calling - from both a consumer and business perspective.

Where we live now, the houses were built in the 50s. There's actually 2 different energy efficiency/insulation schemes (and apparently soon solar again too) that properties in the area are eligible for. If people didn't know there was such a scheme in existence to even know to look for it, especially if not Internet savvy, how might they find out about said schemes? Ah yes, someone from a call centre representing a business operating under said scheme. Customers insulate their houses at reduced/subsidised cost, businesses make money, everyone wins.

I had a call from one provider not long after having completed the works with another under the same scheme. Politely told them this, no harm done.

Look into those companies that do the cold calling on insulation .  Totally riddled with scammers to the point both Scot gov and Trading standards advise against going down that route

those schemes were widely advertised by the government

say “no thanks” and put the phone down

+1 simple and courteous without being a dick about it.

I enjoy the "have you been in an accident" or "We are calling about the accident you had" ones, I like to start off simple in my explanation of the accident and slow get more outlandish. My favourite is 20 mins explaining a simple fender bender that injured my back, the vehicle that crashed into my car was a cessna. Took them a good 20 mins before question what kind of car a cessna was.

Or referring to the other vehicle as "the basket" throughout a long drawn out explanation of a slow speed crash which left my car very damaged and me with lacerations to my face due to the sharp wicker. The big reveal is finally stating the other vehicle is a hot air balloon.

OR explaining how you lost your leg in a bicycle accident but the twist is that it was a prosthetic leg and you found it moments later in a bush and re-attached it.

B2B is also very different to cold calling residential numbers

Yep, I agree with you that many many of the firms that CC residential numbers are often not legitimate, we wouldn't touch it ever; just not interested. I understand why folks are contemptuous and angry if they're called, I try not to be ,but it's personal decision I guess.

Look into those companies that do the cold calling on insulation .  Totally riddled with scammers to the point both Scot gov and Trading standards advise against going down that route

those schemes were widely advertised by the government

TJ is right, they do. Unfortunately because some companies are unscrupulous all are tarred with the same brush. Although i note that in the link he put previously, they say that "In the last year, consumers across Scotland have lost well over £80,000 through misleading green energy sales"

At a cost of maybe £500-1000 per install, that's what - 100-150 installs? Before damning them all how many 'cold calls' actually led to consumers getting a good value install and a subsidy that they didn't know about?

Of course the TSS people focus on the negatives, it's their job to protect.

As a counterpoint from MSE

What can you get?
Since 2013, 2.5 million homes have benefitted from free or subsidised energy efficiency home improvements under the Government's Energy Company Obligation (ECO) scheme – which requires most energy suppliers to offer measures that help low income, fuel-poor and vulnerable households to heat their homes.

The bastards.

https://www.moneysavingexpert.com/utilities/free-cavity-loft-insulation/