Hounded by nuisance callers?

Yep, the landline is about 90% nuisance calls. All of the ones mentioned happen very frequently, almost every day! Solar panels, LED lights, charities for all sort of social and medical issues, software scams, etc. Even though I am on the Do Not Call register!
Either I get rid of the landline or have my number unlisted!

Like most other people I am on the Do Not Call register but still get calls regularly about solar panels, scams etc as well as charities. I ask them to take me off the list but it doesn’t seem to work. One overseas caller even wanted to argue with me about what the Do Not Call register meant!

I have an unlisted number and they still call. So that won’t help you

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Yes I get these calls all the time. I agree we need to be able to filter them out. Also charity calls. Most of us have our favorites charities and could opt for these to be let through. This would save time and money for the charities as well as removing the embarrassment of saying no, or for other people over committing their limited budgets by being too kind to say no.

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I have been hounded by Aussie Farmers Direct, over the last few months. Apparently I keep ‘accidentally’ being put back on their dialler system.

Every damn time I explained that I (at the time) was a current customer, and have never authorised these calls. If I leave it as a phone call, it happens again less than 24 hours later. So eventually I followed up these calls with an email to their Customer Service team. Most times I get nothing more than a pseudo-apologetic email saying it wont happen again and it ‘has been fixed’. Then fast forward a few weeks, it happens again. On one occasion, I was told that I would get a $10 credit towards my next order, which never happened.

I am on the Do Not Call Register, and have repeatedly asked to not be called by Aussie Farmers. I have no idea what my next move will be, but I have now stopped ordering through them, as I would hate to think I was funding this poor excuse for a service (even though my actual delivery person is wonderful, and I love the idea of supporting Australian produce).

I would love for Choice to find a way to stop nuisance calls like this!

I agree Gordon same happens to me. The worst is that even with call blocking, it goes to my message bank, indicating that I have a message to collect, which I then ring into, only to find no message left.

I have recently been inundated with calls from an 02 number. When picking up the phone there is no one there and the caller hangs up.However, if you call back there is a recorded message purporting to be a charity and to wait if you wish to make a donation.But no one is answering and no information regarding the charity. I did hit the “Jackpot” the other say and actually spoke to a person who spoke and asked how much donation!!! I asked what the charity was but she hung up. I recalled the number and listened to the recorded message which was recorded by a young female.It stated.
"Call to donate to 1300 780. To delete your name form the list send an email to

1a.donotcall@sha.net.au

WEB: http://www.sha.net.au/

This email belongs to a Call Centre called Smart Health Austria whose Landing Page reads:

For more than 16 years, Smart Health Australia has been making a difference to Australian organisations and the lives of people through professional telephone fundraising services. In partnership with some of Australia’s most high profile and respected charities and not-for-profit organizations, Smart Health Australia boasts one of the finest assembled teams of senior fundraising professionals.

We’ve earned a reputation for integrity, creativity, transparency, superior strategy, insightful analysis service and unparalleled results.

We’re a team of award winning, ethical fundraisers with the talent, expertise, passion, innovation and integrity to help our client partners achieve and exceed their annual revenue and donor file growth objectives through best practice business processes.

I always REFUSE to Donate to a charity via a call centre - because in effect you are just paying the salaries and wages of these Nuisance Callers! Very little ends up at the charity and then by the time they take out their running costs
JUST how much (or little) or your $100 donation actually ends up benefiting the recipients of the charity???

No, IF you really want to donate- Either Volunteer or donate Directly to the charity.

Since then I have received calls from this number ( which is very hard to remove from the phone call log) at all hours between 9am and 9:30 pm, even on weekend days!

Smart Health have a business name incongruous to their actual business.

I no longer offer any money now.Apart from not having much to donate anyway, instead I make things that directly go to recipients of these items.( e.g. scarves and hats to chemo therapy patients).

Time Laws were changed. IF a charity wants money they need to learn how to acquire Volunteers to call like they used to. Charities -all of them- are treating themselves as commercial businesses but with heaps of perks including TAX.

I have worked for as number of charieties and even re structured a couple of them to run more efficiently.Without all this aggravating nuisance calling.

Mealtimes drive me nuts! I don’t know which are worse, charities who refuse to take me off their list or those wretched “Windows” service centres, even airconditioning salesmen who are definitely Australian and not overseas! I am on the “Do Not Call” list but it needs to be extended to cover charities, they are the pits and I will not support any charity who calls me, and I tell them so. I am also vision impaired so getting to the phone can be a problem too, and with an elderly mother I need to have my phone on. I should not have to have an answering machine to get rid of begging calls.

My interest in these nuisance calls was always in regards to an "alpha " and “omega” process . To phone you the marketers or whatever must have obtained your phone number and name from a source . What I will call the alpha . Recently I started receiving calls on my mobile phone from a company called EMS Marketing . I was advised by them that they were not going to sell me anything but that a "supervisor " from a an insurance company would ring me back to discuss my Life Assurance . I’m well covered so I said no . I was then bombarded with calls at all hours on these numbers 0285204015 and 0285204016 . from EMS . Always about life Assurance .

Two weeks prior to these calls starting I had phoned Comminsure , a broker for Colonial Mutual Life , to modify my Life Policy . It was then that it clicked that my details had been passed on to this marketing company who was harassing me and another marketer as well . I went over all my Comminsure paper work , policy , quotes etc and no where had I ticked a box , signed a document to " Opt in " to any prommotions deals etc from them or their affiliates to contact me . In Australia you must , by law , have advised a company by “Opting In” that you wanted to receive other offers , promos etc . I phoned Comminsure and the calls have stopped . The Omega .In Australia we are lucky to have "Opt in and Opt out " clauses . It’s a shame some companies disregard them .

I think you have to define what is a nuisance call as opposed to scam or cold calls. We find that Telstra are the worst offenders. Whilst we are with them for now their call to my wife two weeks was typical. 20 minutes on the phone badgering her about switching our mobiles to them as well and offering us a so called tailored plan. When we stuck to our guns about only talking further if they would supply something in writing the caller finally gave up and sent an email after saying he would call back. He never has which is a good thing as the so called tailored plan was only an option we had tried before and found it had so many extra charges it was actually dearer! I think the sales tactics used by Telstra are extremely pushy and must inevitably intimidate vulnerable customers.

I was caught like this too . These people are often brokers for Telstra and have full accreditation from Telstra to sell products and services in their name . What I did was get a password from Telstra , any Telstra shop or if you phone Telstra sales can set one up for you . When these agents of Telstra phone you they will have your account details etc , ask them for the pass word . If they cannot give it tp you immediately hang up . My bill jumped from $201 per month to $753 after dealing with the Telstra agents . Oh I was promised a new Asus Tablet cheaper , mobile rates ,1TB of broadband data and a free trial of Telstra TV. etc . You know the old saying if it sounds too good it probably is . I phoned Telstra sales advised them what had transpired and they immediately cut the bill back to $201 . Beware of these agents of Telstra . Set up a password .

Thanks Vax. I am immune in the end from changing plans but my big concern is the many people out there who fall for their pressure.

there are absolutely ways to block calls on android 5. here’s an article detialing them, if you can’t figure it out natively there are apps you can download to block them

I wonder if charities make any money as they surely must pay the call centres to do their bidding. Overseas call centres have obviously found a way around the do not call register.

I am SO fed up with nuisance calls, it drives me crazy

As a last resort I sometimes blow an umpires shrill whistle down the phone at them or use an air horn . The air horn comes mounted on a pressure pack sized can . Very effective . The fun part is the racist language you get back over the phone if from an Indian call centre .

If you provide your phone number on a web site or when you enter a competition, to register for example, then you have given that company and any linked companies with whom they share data permission to disregard the DNC register, they always put this sharing clause in their privacy policies. So if the site owner or competition holder shares this info with their advertisers and so on you basically wipe your DNC request. This is why many people put themselves on the list and then a little time after start getting flooded with calls again.

If you want to try to stop this and have a mobile phone you can buy a prepaid SIM card for a cheap service that has a 365 or 180 day credit expiry period examples would be ALDIMobile $15 +$5 (SIM cost) 365 day expiry, Amaysim $10 + $unknown for SIM 365 day expiry, Vodaphone $10 + $unknown for the SIM 365 day expiry. Register it and use that phone number anytime a site asks for one. It may cost you about $20 but the peace and quiet may be worth it. If your mobile phone is locked to a service then ALDIMobile uses Telstra, Amaysim uses Optus, and Vodaphone uses Vodaphone :slight_smile:

Just swap the SIM card out once you have your new number and place it someplace safe just in case you need it for some contact over an order or similar, so it can be used for a few calls when you want, and to put a recharge on it before the expiry date (to keep the number active). Put a reminder in your Calendar for a few days before the expiry date so you can ensure you refresh your SIM credit. A bonus is that if you do pay and activate the next recharge before the expiry date most rollover the unused credit.

I hope that helps some of you to reduce or eliminate these calls.

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Thank you . Very helpful

What happens when you engage say a caller from the sub continent and have a bit of fun with him/her,can they use that extra time you are on the phone to get more technical info??

Although I filled in the on-line forms to stop nuisance calls, every day for at least the past three months, with very little let-up, I receive two, often three calls where the caller just hangs up. Usually one in the morning and one about 6.30 p.m. These may be the same callers as Gordon’s? As well, I have been receiving daily calls, often two a day, from Asians pretending to be calling from the taxation department, telling me I will be taken to court and wanting financial details. I keep saying ‘Scam’ and hanging up, but they are persistent. I was also receiving regular calls from people wanting to know if I had solar panels, but they seem to have ceased.