Hated cold calls

Taylortwocities · 14 Feb 2009

Usually I'm up a ladder and the phone rings (its usually at 4:45pm on a Friday).
I get to terra firma and take the call

It is never a customer, its some wozzack tring to sell me something.

Thought it would be good to get a league table of hated calls.
Is there a vote feature on here?

Anyway, here's my top 4 - especially as I unpolitely tell them to go forth and multiply
and they keep coming back for more!!

BT Mainstreet
The Electrician's Register
Yellow Pages
Someone wanting to know if I want to sell the business (I'm a sole trader - where's the value?)

Anyone else got some add others?

sparkyspike · 14 Feb 2009

Website designers.

They get my number from Yell.com. And they are a pain in the neck.
Otherwise I agree - BT and Yellow Pages are the worst.

flameport · 14 Feb 2009

People calling with blatant lies, usually along the lines of '3 months ago you agreed to advertise in our magazine/appointment card/revolving noticeboard'.

Utter rubbish, and very likely that most/all of these supposed publications never actually get printed.

Paul Barker · 14 Feb 2009

Yes I used to hate those ones.

I have a solution don't advertise anywhere don't go in any phone books. 90% of the calls from your flag waving are these leaches. Meanwhile because you are talking to them a genuin customer can't phone you worse still a customer who is paying your labour charge is getting cross thinking he's paying you to be on the phone all day.

Do a good job get more jobs from it and it snowballs.

Advertising is a toatal dead weight.

Cremeegg · 14 Feb 2009

Add in Touchlocal - total liars and wont take no for an answer

breezer · 14 Feb 2009

Paul Barker said:
Advertising is a toatal dead weight.

i don't know though. clicky

but fun aside, i know some one who will not stop advertising on a site for fear of NOT getting any more jobs / work. As said referals do do a lot, but you can only rewire a house once in 20+ years

WoodYouLike · 15 Feb 2009

I just love talking to companies who tell me they can't find our website on google and would we want them to get us higher in the rankings?
My standard reply: higher than we are now would bring us to page 0 - what's the use in that?

hairyben · 15 Feb 2009

Taylortwocities said:
BT Mainstreet
The Electrician's Register

Same people. Assume you mean BT customer street. Also trades 4 you. I've tried everything from polite requests, pointing out they're breaking the telephone preference service rules, to unpleasantness, nothing makes them stop. I'm about to send a complaint to the BT complaints escalation team directly, then it'll be ofcom.

I think, if we got enough tradesmen to chip in, we could hire an indian call center for a week and see how they like their phone lines being bombarded.

Click-Sure · 15 Feb 2009

Oh yes, BT CustomerStreet are right blighters.

They got my details off competantperson.co.uk and try to sell me google advertising, pushy about it too.

About once a month they have me, still, a witheld number could be work, I deal with doctors a lot and they tend to have their homephone's number witheld.

MarkBarl · 16 Feb 2009

Here's one way of dealing with BT [removed]

dave1953 · 17 Feb 2009

Cold calls from so called charity calender businesses. Most of them are bogus and it makes me sick to think as you are listening to the the patter most if not all the monies paid are lining their pockets. B----ds I really hope they incur some horrific infliction, as I was always told " what goes round, comes round "

DESL · 18 Feb 2009

The

"How would you like to do rewire every week. We have customers queueing up for rewires in your area"

"Would you like an advert in our latest ... pamphlet, magazine etc etc."

I had some company offering me contract work in schools as the have contacts - I told I can mail shot them for a fraction of their costs!!

libby lou lou · 18 Feb 2009

Colncldence, today, "hl, my name ls marla, as a thank you for flLLlng our questlonalre ln, were sendlng you £160 worth of hoLlday vouchers wlth Thompson as a thank you and.....

ME; When was thls love? l don't do questlonalres?

her; 3 months ago, remember, over the phone? about the envolroment?(not true) (wanted to say, don't glve a shet about the governments new tax.)

ME; "get on wlth lt,"

after that, l had to see what lt was all about....

her; yes, besldes these free hoLlday vouchers, l'm golng to send you 5 Lltres of thls n that at only £6.75 a Lltre, as l beLleve your company(dralnage), pays , blah blah..

ME, ls thls a free sample,

her; oh no, we sell that much, we don't have enough to glve free samples out.

lv'e mlssed loads out... read between the Llnes

Hated cold calls

sparkyspike

breezer

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