Stopping parents changing phone/broadband?
Discussion
For about the fourth time I can remember my dad has been cold called by a telecom provider and they've moved them to a worst deal..
The latest one - onecom have locked them in apparently to a 5 year contract, which is averaging 60 pounds a month, for phone and 1Mbps adsl...
Apparently the company only needs a verbal yes to change providers, as they never signed anything.
So any ideas on how I can stop people moving the phone provider? I signed them up to the non cold calling but clearly it's not working...
Thanks in advance
The latest one - onecom have locked them in apparently to a 5 year contract, which is averaging 60 pounds a month, for phone and 1Mbps adsl...
Apparently the company only needs a verbal yes to change providers, as they never signed anything.
So any ideas on how I can stop people moving the phone provider? I signed them up to the non cold calling but clearly it's not working...
Thanks in advance
Actually, that still doesnt stop it... I took weeks getting a transfer reversed as they called my place and my dad answered and the person on the phone asked for "mr brother d". Obviously we share the same surname, and my dad agrees to move my service to a new provider... Eventually they relented once the audio recording was produced.
Brother D said:
Actually, that still doesnt stop it... I took weeks getting a transfer reversed as they called my place and my dad answered and the person on the phone asked for "mr brother d". Obviously we share the same surname, and my dad agrees to move my service to a new provider... Eventually they relented once the audio recording was produced.
Sorry to say so but your farther doesn't sound at all Compos Mentis.After all the times that he has done this, what is his reason for continuing to do so?
The number of pushy, unsolicited sales calls deliberately targeting elderly/vulnerable people, not to mention straightforward scams that I received at my late father's house when I temporarily moved back was shocking.
Until you have experienced first hand the multiple daily calls from Microsoft, people pretending to be the TPS wanting a subscription fee, BT, his bank etc you perhaps wouldn't believe it.
Not offering any solutions that haven't already been suggested, but you have my sympathy.
Until you have experienced first hand the multiple daily calls from Microsoft, people pretending to be the TPS wanting a subscription fee, BT, his bank etc you perhaps wouldn't believe it.
Not offering any solutions that haven't already been suggested, but you have my sympathy.
Have you tried a handset with Nuisance Call blocking? Basically you set up all the "normal" numbers your parents are likely to be phoned from (friends/relatives/known callers (e,g, doctors etc)) in the address book, then any number not on that list will be auto-answered and challenged. The other end has to press a button to confirm that they want to speak to you, and they have to announce their name. If they do this, the phone then rings, and when you answer, it tells you who's calling and whether or not you wish to speak with them - if not, they go to voicemail.
We used to get 4 or 5 junk calls per day, but since I bought a couple of phones with this capability, I've not had any - I guess the cold callers clock that it's not worth their time to speak to anyone with such a setup as they're looking for low-hanging fruit.
We've got the 4600 model from BT which is handy for those who need reading glasses as the font's large.
E.g. BT 4600
We used to get 4 or 5 junk calls per day, but since I bought a couple of phones with this capability, I've not had any - I guess the cold callers clock that it's not worth their time to speak to anyone with such a setup as they're looking for low-hanging fruit.
We've got the 4600 model from BT which is handy for those who need reading glasses as the font's large.
E.g. BT 4600
It may be worth reading this page to see if any of it is useful (either for now or in the future):
https://www.citizensadvice.org.uk/consumer/get-mor...
https://www.citizensadvice.org.uk/consumer/get-mor...
alock said:
Can't you sign them up to a cheap provider with a long contract? This way you have that company refusing to allow their service to be moved.
I wondered this but don’t know if it’ll work the same as energy suppliers that the move still happens but it’ll generate a final bill that includes ETF penalties as well?!?b
hstewie said:
hstewie said: I don't know the name off-hand but have you looked at those products that screen calls?
Not entirely sure how they work but maybe worth a look?
Or mobile broadband perhaps?
We have that from Sky, it works very well but you do have to have your line rental with Sky.Not entirely sure how they work but maybe worth a look?
Or mobile broadband perhaps?
Re the OP's problem, isn't there a mandatory cooling off period with distance selling?
You get a 14 day cooling off period.
Easiest way to stop this is a nusience call blocker, you can buy phones with them built in.
Then in future lock them into a contract with BT or equiv & remember to call up & renew on their behalf every 12 months.
Ask for a recording of the phone call, confirming the contract acceptance etc. Ensure no coercion etc.
Contacted Ofcom yet?
If all else fails, open the telephone socket and fiddle a few times a day for a few days and get them to send out a BT Openreach engineer that and then do the same with where the phone cable meets the join that enters the house. Mimics a dodgy line.
Call isp, they will send out bt Openreach engineer. Fault found & fixed, do it with seperate part of the line a few more times
Each call out will cost ISP £hundreds. Do that a few TIMES and they will let you leave.....
Easiest way to stop this is a nusience call blocker, you can buy phones with them built in.
Then in future lock them into a contract with BT or equiv & remember to call up & renew on their behalf every 12 months.
Ask for a recording of the phone call, confirming the contract acceptance etc. Ensure no coercion etc.
Contacted Ofcom yet?
If all else fails, open the telephone socket and fiddle a few times a day for a few days and get them to send out a BT Openreach engineer that and then do the same with where the phone cable meets the join that enters the house. Mimics a dodgy line.
Call isp, they will send out bt Openreach engineer. Fault found & fixed, do it with seperate part of the line a few more times
Each call out will cost ISP £hundreds. Do that a few TIMES and they will let you leave.....
Edited by Andeh1 on Sunday 30th December 19:59
My Mum had similar problems with her Mum before she died. Pushy sales people trying it on. Not broadband, one lot turned up by chance when my mum was there to talk about a new kitchen!
In the end, my Mum took all her cards, chequebooks and cash away. Not to starve her or anything, all her bills were paid etc. And got power of attorney (iirc) of her mothers money. This was resisted at first by my Nan, but her telling the pushy types that "my awful daughter controls my money nowadays" had the same result. So it wasn't the worst thing in the world.
I'm lucky that my Dad's quite cynical about cold callers. So probably not going to get too bad problems in due course. But I also fear that if he did get ripped off, his pride wouldn't allow him to tell me so I could sort it out.
In the end, my Mum took all her cards, chequebooks and cash away. Not to starve her or anything, all her bills were paid etc. And got power of attorney (iirc) of her mothers money. This was resisted at first by my Nan, but her telling the pushy types that "my awful daughter controls my money nowadays" had the same result. So it wasn't the worst thing in the world.
I'm lucky that my Dad's quite cynical about cold callers. So probably not going to get too bad problems in due course. But I also fear that if he did get ripped off, his pride wouldn't allow him to tell me so I could sort it out.
_Marvin said:
Have you tried a handset with Nuisance Call blocking? Basically you set up all the "normal" numbers your parents are likely to be phoned from (friends/relatives/known callers (e,g, doctors etc)) in the address book, then any number not on that list will be auto-answered and challenged. The other end has to press a button to confirm that they want to speak to you, and they have to announce their name. If they do this, the phone then rings, and when you answer, it tells you who's calling and whether or not you wish to speak with them - if not, they go to voicemail.
This ^^
We used to get 4 or 5 junk calls per day, but since I bought a couple of phones with this capability, I've not had any - I guess the cold callers clock that it's not worth their time to speak to anyone with such a setup as they're looking for low-hanging fruit.
We've got the 4600 model from BT which is handy for those who need reading glasses as the font's large.
E.g. BT 4600
This ^^
We used to get 4 or 5 junk calls per day, but since I bought a couple of phones with this capability, I've not had any - I guess the cold callers clock that it's not worth their time to speak to anyone with such a setup as they're looking for low-hanging fruit.
We've got the 4600 model from BT which is handy for those who need reading glasses as the font's large.
E.g. BT 4600
Another vote for a nuisance call blocking phone. We've got a bt one, can't remember which and not once had it rang with a nuisance call. In fact because people usually call out mobiles if they want us, if someone does ring the land-line we wonder what the noise is for a few seconds.
It tells you if you've had missed calls and from who so you can if you want ring them back.
It tells you if you've had missed calls and from who so you can if you want ring them back.
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