Received a phone call today asking for me by name (wife answered It) from some outfit called BDI.

I asked where they had got my number from (I don't give It to anyone) I was told from one of his colleagues file.

I asked who they were and the fella (with an Irish accent) said they are an Investment Company.

Suspicions prompted my next question which was where are you phoning from?

Catalonia Spain came the reply.

I then said I was not Interested.

I think there was a TV programme sometime ago about such outfits cold calling from abroad.

Needless to say the programme was not very flattering!

sandrew64,

what a great idea!!!!

The thing that concerns me are the elderly, they are so gullible, my father who is 87 was phoned up about selling half of his property, and as one of the people in that area who had been chosen, they could give him up to 50% of the house price back to him to use as he wanted, and extention or a new conservtory or even to change his car, He lives in an elerly peoples estate that is run by the council,(but his head is as sharp as a pin) and is in a wheel chair. Dad doesnt get a lot of phone calls so he quite enjoyed the half hour conservation, and will keep them talking for ages blinds, window, fuel, anyone who wants to ring he will talk to, and the amount of junk mail he gets from them is not real no wonder their is no forests left, but he loves it apart from me and the family who ring him up every day they are the only people he gets to talk to So i said sell the place dad the police will never lock you up your to old and we can all go on a holiday someplace warm

Register your number with the Telephone Preference Service. There are pages for Fax numbers and postal addresses too. Very effective. Only the foreign firms who ignore the system still ring me. Have done it for my elderly mother-in-law too of course.

Telephone Preference Service

Kayak - I have been registered with the Telephone Preference Service (and the Mail Preference Service for that matter) for years now. It doesn't always work. The problem is that this service is operated on a voluntary basis. Mailing companies actually have to buy the list of phone numbers from the service (or home addresses) of people who have asked not to be bothered in this way. Of course most companies don't bother to buy this list. And it is only the companies that subscribe to this voluntary service that you can complain about.

They also have a clever get out clause. If a company has you on their mailing list prior to you joining the preference service, then that company is still allowed to bother you since you count as an existing customer.

starfrog...my brother-in-law suggested the same and he puts them on loadspeaker and intermitantly says, won't be a second etc....what a laugh!
loving the premium call idea.

Starfrog, it is illegal for companies to contact you if your number is on the exclusion list. In my experience the only people who ignore the rule are foreign companies. The registration only lasts a number of years though so it might be that yours has lapsed. You are right about companies who view you as a customer though.

You can check whether your telephone number is on the exclusion list:

http://www.numbercheck.co.uk/

(you need to register but it's free)