Getting Rid Of Unwanted Sales Telephone Calls

by Thamisgith

Telemarketing can be intrusive, irritating and inconvenient. Find out how to easily stop unsolicited telephone calls from salespersons.

If you find telephone sales calls annoying, you'll be happy to learn that it's easier to stop these than you might think.

Telephone Sales Calls

telephone preference serviceUnwanted telephone calls can be a real nuisance. The telephone always seems to ring when you're just getting ready to do something interesting and enjoyable - sit down for a meal with your family, hop into a nice hot bath or just settle down in front of your favorite TV program.

It's slightly irksome to be interrupted when you're in the middle of something anyway - but when you answer the phone only to find that it's not one of your friends but someone trying to sell you double glazing, life insurance or cheaper utilities, it's even worse. To be honest, even if I had spent several days looking for insurance, I would not, on a point of principle, buy it from anyone who phoned me up uninvited.

For most people, these calls are annoying. However, for some, they can be downright worrying. People who live alone, the elderly and those who are getting out of unhappy relationships can find such calls concerning. That's something that is made a lot worse if, as often happens, when you pick up the phone, there's no one at the other end.

That is a tactic which is very widely used by many telemarketing firms. they have to make so many calls a day on behalf of their clients - so if the phone isn't answered quickly enough, the call is terminated automatically. It's supposed to make their system more efficient. Whether it does this or not is debatable - but it certainly demonstrates just how highly these companies actually value their prospective customers.

Different people handle these calls in different ways. Some feel compelled to be "polite" and tend to let the salesperson have their say (before politely refusing the pitch more often than not). some just hang up without replying. Others make up interesting stories as to why they need to hang up - there's somebody at the front door, my cat is having kittens, the house is on fire, etc.

Whatever your preferred option for dealing with these calls, you should be aware that it's easy to avoid them altogether if you wish. Not only that, but it's free.

The Telephone Preference Service

UK Residents

UK residents can sign up to the Telephone Preference Society (TPS). You may register a landline, a mobile phone or both.

There is a 28 day transition period, after which unsolicited calls should be a thing of the past.

Only unsolicited calls will be stopped. If you have previously given permission for a company or organization to contact you by phone, they will be entitled to do this until you specifically cancel this.

If you register a mobile number, then any voice calls will be halted by TPS membership. However, text adverts, for reasons which escape me, are not included and companies may still send these to you.

Even so, your unwanted calls should decrease dramatically in number.

National Do-Not-Call Registry

US Residents

US residents can sign up for the National Do-Not-Call Registry. This is operated by the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) and you can register up to three phones at a time. These may include both normal landlines and mobiles.

The US service has a 31 day period of grace. Upon completion of this, you should not receive any further telemarketing calls to your registered numbers.

In the event that any unwelcome calls do slip through, you can file a complaint right on the Do-Not-Call Registry website. Even allowing for the odd call slipping through the net, you should see a marked drop in the number of telemarketing calls that you receive.

As with the UK equivalent, you can register online free of charge. The site has both English and Spanish language options.

Updated: 05/03/2012, Thamisgith
 
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katiem2 on 06/04/2012

I certainly need this helpful advice as to how to get rid of unwanted sales calls, it seems that's all I get on my home phone, managed to keep my cell number free from them as I'm very careful using it only for private matters. I will now work on cleaning up my home phone ridding it of all those unwanted calls. thanks :) K

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