Rogue traders bullying people into buying cold call blocking devices

Citizens Advice highlights "bullying" from rogue traders, selling devices which they claim will block future cold calls.

Citizens Advice has revealed it has seen a sharp jump in complaints about dodgy call blocking services over the past year.

It said that it had seen a 72% jump in complaints related to the "bogus selling" of cold call blocking devices by "bullying" rogue traders. Complaints centred on aggressive selling, faulty goods and being unable to cancel contracts.

Cold call blocking devices allow users to screen calls so that they can choose which ones to accept or reject.

Rogue traders

Citizens Advice reported that it had received complaints from people on the Telephone Preference Service (TPS), which should prevent them from receiving unsolicited marketing calls.

It suggested that the calls may be coming from abroad, or from UK companies who ignore the law which requires them to check the TPS list before phoning.

Some people have complained about cold call fraudsters tricking them into believing that their friends or family have already bought the blocking devices. Others said that they’re getting calls from people claiming to be from the TPS, or working with the Government or Trading Standards.

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Taking action

Citizens Advice said  that it dealt with around 2,500 call blocking service issues overall last year. The charity is calling on the Information Commission Office and Trading Standards to continue clamping down on companies that harass and mislead people by offering substandard cold call blockers.

It added that legitimate companies offering blockers don’t cold call.

Gillian Guy, Chief Executive of Citizens Advice, said: “Rogue traders are exploiting the problems they claim to solve. In some cases people have been bullied into buying blocking devices while others have been charged an upfront annual fee instead of the monthly installments they had been expecting to pay.”

She added that call blocking technology companies often offer a good service and that the problem is with rogue outfits exploiting the market.

Last month Stop the Calls, a company which offered a nuisance call blocking service, was fined £50,000 by the Information Commissioner’s Office. It called people registered with the TPS, made repeated calls (sometimes several on the same day) and ignored requests from people to stop calling.

What to do if you’ve been called

If you’ve been harassed by a dodgy cold calling company, you can register with the Telephone Preference Service online or by calling 0845 070 0707. It’s also worth considering buying a telephone with caller display if you don’t already have one, only answering calls from numbers that you recognise.

You can report unsolicited marketing calls to the Information Commissioner’s Office online or on 0303 123 1113.

For further support visit your local Citizens Advice branch or ring 03454 04 05 06.

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