Telephone Preference Service

[DaveinGermany]

Originally Posted by Acrylic-bob

You baff in the Kitchen??????

Isn't this him ?

[garinda]

Originally Posted by Acrylic-bob

You baff in the Kitchen??????

Only on Saturday nights.

It's warmer than in the back yard.

That's why the Chinese pimp, I have working as a houseboy, answers the phone.

He's not allowed in.

While I'm lathering up.

[carpon]

I just thought I'd share this with you all....long winded maybe...but hopefully it's of some use to you all !!!!

I came across this on the Money saving expert website ( Martin Lewis....you may have seen him on telly or advertised....Money Saving Expert: Credit Cards, Shopping, Bank Charges, Cheap Flights and more )when I received the regular weekly e-mail (incidentally it's a very good website with a wealth of very useful information on all sorts of matters)

Quote: ( from one of their regular posters to the forum there)

"I finally found out where these callers from overseas are getting phone numbers and your name from. It's from Search for People, Businesses and Places - 192.com.

If you go to that site and search for yourself, you will be surprised just how much info comes up on you such as all your details, how much and when you bought your house, who lives in the house everything."

I've just been on the website and was horrified with the details stored on there....not just mine, but a hell of a lot of family members, some of whom are elderly and vulnerable !!! They even had my ex-partner as registered to my address (and there was me wondering how the hell the callers had got my number when they were calling asking for her, as she'd moved out before I got my landline put in !!!)

As far as I can see, there's even details of some dead relatives of mine (immediate family & dead some six years), at their old address. Not a problem to any occupants of the address now...but imagine the distress this causes any surviving relative / spouse still living at an address that these clowns still hold from outdated info they hold!!!

They (192.com) seem to get details from the electoral register. If you've ever examined the voter registration forms you get every year, there's an "edited register" section as in " if you do not want to appear on the edited register, please tick"

Fortunately, If you visit 192.com there is a form you can download (without registering) & print that will get your details removed from their listings !!!

The one thing I'd love to know ( & I will be investigating ) is, I have always ensured that the "edited register" was ticked since I moved into my address (13 years ago). I also made a point of making sure that the ex's name was removed from my address when she made her exit!! ( as it potentially affects credit ratings)

In the last few ( 5 years ) I've always used the internet option when completing the Council's " voter registration form " yet I've still had council rep's knocking on the door asking me to sign the same said form.

When I've (quite angrily) pointed out that I've already completed (quite carefully) the form online, the council rep has shrugged their shoulders, quite apologetically and simply stated they still need my signature!!!

Somebody.... somewhere is either not doing their job,or is deliberately flouting the rules.....or is totally incompetent !!! Given that I have to work with data protection daily and knowing what the constraints and implications of said act, I'm a bit miffed to say the least (without swearing!!), that all these details have found their way onto a website where allsorts have access to them !!!

T.P.S. is all well and good....but if this is an example of how these annoying callers can get around it.....

If I find evidence of negligence or somebody flouting the rules....heads will roll!!!

[jaysay]

Thanks for that carpon very interesting post and will be checking the site out, as I'm getting tired of Indians called Geoffrey Dave and Gemma ringing me most days

[jaysay]

Just had a look at the website and was quite annoyed that my Fathers name was still their, he died in 2003

[susie123]

I'm surprised that the existence of 192.com is news to many people. It's been around for about fifteen years and if you Google a person's name it's usually one of the first sites that comes up in the search results.

The edited register and the facility to opt out has only been around since 2002. Before that the full register could be bought for commercial purposes. Therefore 192.com could have had access to all data before that date and may be showing data that are now out of date.

This is one of the consequences of the information age we now live in, which like anything else has its upside and its downside.

[Margaret Pilkington]

Thanks for that info....it has enabled me to register for the Mail Preference Service too.
I hate junk mail with a passion........I put it back in the post box with my address scribbled out.

[maxthecollie]

I keep getting phone calls and on the phone display is "international call" if we answer the phone goes dead.

[mobertol]

Originally Posted by maxthecollie

I keep getting phone calls and on the phone display is "international call" if we answer the phone goes dead.

That's me -i've been trying to get in touch for ages

[maxthecollie]

Originally Posted by mobertol

That's me -i've been trying to get in touch for ages

You'll have to speak up then.

[mobertol]

I just had a wonderful and unexpected call to tell me I'd won a weeks holiday for four completely free - I can take it any time in the next year and at the hotel of my choice!

All I have to do is go along on Saturday morning to a hotel in Cremona and buy a set of very expensive cast iron pans and sign up for a time share...

I've also been offered a free trial of a water purifier, a range of organic pet food for my cats and some olive oil from Liguria. It's so nice of them to call - no-one ever rings me up and I do like a chat....

[Margaret Pilkington]

I sometimes do have a chat with these international callers - it must really disrupt their call times and the script that they are supposed to stick to

[maxthecollie]

Originally Posted by Margaret Pilkington

I sometimes do have a chat with these international callers - it must really disrupt their call times and the script that they are supposed to stick to

If you knock them off their script they soon hang up.They are taught to keep to the script like trained monkeys.

[Margaret Pilkington]

Oh, I have had some fun with some of them.

[maxthecollie]

Originally Posted by maxthecollie

If you knock them off their script they soon hang up.They are taught to keep to the script like trained monkeys.

Mind you you can get a better conversation with a monkey