Books For Schools

[otronics 0]

Just got a call from someone saying that I had agreed to pay £199 for books to be donated to a school back in April.

 

First I had heard of this and had a proper argument on the 'phone with her after trying to sort things out in a calm manner.

 

She knocked the price down to £99 as soon as I said I could not afford it/not interested.

 

Apparently the books are all printed (which I doubt) with my name and address on (and company name), although they got my address wrong..

 

I said I have no signed contract to confirm this so there is no proof and her argument was

 

She ended the conversation with the 'argument' "would you turn up to do a disco for someone who hasn't asked for one?" and said "thanks very much Mr Head for wasting our time".

 

I hung up.

 

Anyone else have the same?

 

 

[YourBigEvent 0]

Yes, but not lately

[DJ JENX 0]

Just got a call from someone saying that I had agreed to pay £199 for books to be donated to a school back in April.

 

First I had heard of this and had a proper argument on the 'phone with her after trying to sort things out in a calm manner.

 

She knocked the price down to £99 as soon as I said I could not afford it/not interested.

 

Apparently the books are all printed (which I doubt) with my name and address on (and company name), although they got my address wrong..

 

I said I have no signed contract to confirm this so there is no proof and her argument was

 

She ended the conversation with the 'argument' "would you turn up to do a disco for someone who hasn't asked for one?" and said "thanks very much Mr Head for wasting our time".

 

I hung up.

 

Anyone else have the same?

 

 

Not had one myself, but would love to !! I love these phonecalls, you can make them feel so stupid.

 

I dont quite know how these scammers get away with things, but pretend to be interested and try to get their name and number, then say you feel that there is something dodgy about this and you are reporting it to your local police station for investigation, I have to admit its the quickest way to end the call and receive no further

[disco4hire 1]

Yes I've had loads of them over the years, it's usually for non existant entries in 'trade directories' and they normally send you an invoice in the hope your accounts office is not doing their job properly and pay them!! I used to tell them to go away and copulate, if you have their details pass it on to the trading standards people in the area they operate from, if they get enough reports they 'may' act on it, but don't hold your breath. From personal experience reporting them to the Police is a total waste of time, they really aren't interested.

Edited October 9, 2008 by disco4hire

[NRG Roadshow 0]

Yes, but not lately

 

Me too......but like Andy not for a while.

 

I cant remember the exact details of the call, but I think it was somthing along similar lines where I get a phonecall saying I have agreed to somthing which I havn't.

 

I think mine was somthing to do with an Ambulance Service publication and they said I had agreed to advertise and were calling to take a debit/credit card number for the payment of the invoice!

 

Well I know the emergency services scams have been well publicised, so I gave her a torrent of very colourfull language and put the phone down!

 

I seem to be getting a lot of calls about my car insurance too at the moment as they now know its due for renewall in November, I believe this is because last year I put my details into a couple of those "get the best price" websites, and now they think they have the right to use my phonenumber to bug me whenever they choose!.......these poeple get a torrent of colourfull launguage too!!!!

[Dukesy 0]

I did have an advert in a magazine some years ago (Police Motorcycle or something) - and the following month, I recived a letter saying that I had to pay in advance for the next eleven months. I declined and said I'd not had one enquiry, and do not wish to advertise again, thank you.

Talk about stroppy!

The verbal I received was a bit of a shock at the time and it caught me off guard.

 

Best advice is when in doubt, do not give out any personal information over the phone - and if you are unsure of who they are when they ring, that they require security details before they continue the conversation such as your full name, first line of your address and D.O.B. etc - just hang up.

 

Hope this helps:

The Direct Marketing Association (DMA) represents the 900 or so companies dominating the direct marketing industry in the UK. These include major blue chip companies and organisations, as well as companies who supply direct marketing services to the industry (such as agencies, mailing houses, data services, email marketing, telemarketing bureaux, etc)

 

If you encounter a problem with a DMA member company and wish to make a complaint to the DM Commission, you must provide details of your complaint in writing or by email. You may telephone us directly to discuss your situation.

 

There are no time limits within which you may take action, and there is no cost to you when you make a complaint to the DM Commission.

 

What happens next?

Upon receipt of your complaint, the DMA member company will be informed and given the opportunity to resolve the matter within ten working days. If they fail to resolve the complaint, or you are not satisfied with the response, the matter is referred to the DM Commission for adjudication.

 

The Secretary to the DM Commission will then prepare a report on each complaint or dispute and circulate it to the DM Commission panel members at least one week prior to the scheduled hearing or meeting. If the DM Commission finds that the DMA member is in breach of the DMA’s Code of Practice, they may take one or more of the following actions:

Establish whether the appropriate remedial action has been taken in the case in question.

Seek an undertaking from the member that the breach will not be repeated and, if appropriate, agree alternative procedures with the member.

Issue a formal written warning to the member, which may be made public.

Suspend, or if the circumstances warrant, terminate their membership of the DMA. The member would be notified within 28 days of the decision and informed clearly that they have a right to appeal the decision to the Independent Appeals Commissioner within 14 days.

Whether or not the DM Commission concludes that there has been an infringement of the Code, it may decide to advise the member on possible changes to their procedures and/or agree to conciliate on behalf of the two parties.

 

What if the company is not an DMA member?

If the company you are having problems with is not a DMA member, you can telephone the DM Commission to seek their advice on the other options available to you. For example, if the DM Commission finds that your complaint relates to a misleading or inaccurate advertisement, they may pass your complaint on to the the Advertising Standards Authority (the ASA) administer the British Code of Advertising, Sales Promotion and Direct Marketing. The ASA can order an advertiser to cease their campaign immediately.

 

If your complaint relates to a mailing or advertisement from a company based outside the UK, the DM Commission can check to see if any UK supplier working on their behalf is a DMA member (ie: a mailing house or data supplier) and if so, can take action against this UK supplier.

 

If the complaint relates to the possibility of fraudulent or criminal activity, then the case will be forwarded to a local Trading Standards Office, the police, or other appropriate authority, for further investigation.

 

The Direct Marketing Association

DMA House

70 Margaret Street

London

W1W 8SS

t:020 7291 3300

f:020 7323 4426

info@dma.org.uk

 

 

NRG - if you are looking for vehicle insurance (business) - would be happy to put you in touch with the DJ@s preferred supplier of Insurance and Financial Services for a quotation. smile icon

[Kingy 0]

I think the trick here is to keep them talking as long as possible, going off at tangents, changing subjects, asking them to repeat themselves, asking obvious questions. This annoys the hell out of them. Then pretend to answer the door or fetch your wallet. Then, in true phone jacker stylee, just hang up on them.

 

Do this enough and they will soon get fed up with you.

 

ON NO ACCOUNT GIVE THEM ANY PERSONAL INFORMATION!!

 

We should start a log and see who keeps these idiots on the phone the longest...........

[djshyboy 0]

Hi all

just read the post on phonscam. Unlike you i have never had one of these phone calls as for the last 10 years. I have used a free personal number at 50p a min to the caller you only tend to get genuine calls and if thay book you take off the cost of the call. As a work in telecoms. If any one wants a number just pm me i have never lost a client and never had a scam call. As we can check all calls and ban the number. Allso we can pass it to the relevent people. As no number can be with held on the system not even with 141 .But your moby/landline is hidden .

 

 

andy t

(djshyboy)

[spinner 0]

This is very much a numbers game.

 

Phone enough people and some are bound to fall for it.

 

I've not had one of these for a while but when I did I asked for an order number and said that I never do anything like this without issuing a signed order and when they find it can they call back.

 

They never do of course.

 

[YourBigEvent 0]

I do what Kingy does, ask 1001 question about 101 different things, ask where they are, what the whether is like, etc etc etc, then put them on hold

 

 

 

16 minutes before they hung up is my record, only for them to call straight back and repeat the whole process.

[sandysounds 0]

I had a similar one once. I laughed at them and said I never pay for advertising so i certainly hadn't agreed to this. She replied....oh yes you do, you've paid for a listing in the yellow pages....errrrr, no i haven't, its a free listing....then she put the phone down!!! tongue out icon

[mikeee 0]

And don't forget to ask them for your Purchase Order Number, so that you can check back to the original order.

Or, Ask them where the samples are for approval!!

Or, sideways without vasoline