not had anything like that spongey

wonder what its all about

I dunno what this is all about but if I get a cold call I just say 'you aren't allowed to call me I'm on the telephone preference list' and they usually apologise and go away

apparently the TPS only stops people being allowed to use your number for selling, when we have mentioned TPS against things like this, they just say they're not selling anything

no idea barney!!...just seems weird as they have the persons name and their address..why not contact them direct ?!.........i looked the number up and it appears to be a debt collection place called westcot.....but i can't understand why they're calling neighbours...and then give 2 different names of the ppl supposedly living at number 56!!

squiggs......i usually do that too...but the first one caught me by surprise....today's one i asked her why they were phoning me when they had the details of the person they want to contact...she just hung up.........next time they'll be getting the benefit of me in full volume!!

i'm just really curious to know why they contact other people!

yeah i've had that too......they usually start with..'we're not selling anything'.and they get round it by calls coming in from places like india.....supposedly tps only works on uk numbers??

so, are they getting the right name of the people in number 56 or just guessing different names, or don't you know?

ooooh intriguing

i didnt know that but have just googled and it seems that it is only uk calls

Bound to be a scam of some sort ......................I am TPS registered but I don't even bother to say that now - I just say No thank you -I'm really not interested and hang up before they've even got three or four words out of their mouth. I used to feel guilty about doing that but quite frankly I now just find it incredibly annoying!

i don't know who lives there barney......our road is divided into cul de sacs and they're not on our stretch!.....but they've given 2 different names.....not like john smith and mary smith...completely different surnames!!....

i'm almost tempted to go round number 56 and say i keep getting calls about them...but i dunno if it's a good idea or not!

you're more polite than me soozy!!!........some of them must have been left with their ears ringing once i've finished.....

its a toughie, it just makes you wonder if others are getting calls about your address, if, like soozy says, it is a scam

i've been having a nosey online about westcot barney....seems they are a bit of a cowboy outfit....and can be quite threatening in their pursuit of debt....i've no idea if number 56 owe money or anything...seems all very strange to be ringing neighbours when they have info on the person they need to contact.........but then i dunno if the names they've mentioned live there anyway!!.......i feel all columbo like now!!!

Spongey is your number available in the phonebook?   I'm just wondering how they got your number in the first place???

If you are, I'd be going ex-directory ASAP 

*goes all sherlock*      good work columbo

Seems your not the only one getting these Sponge..

http://forums.moneysavingexper...thread.php?t=2238875

http://forums.moneysavingexper...wthread.php?t=397653

It is against the OFT laws but they don't seem to care....

yeah it is in the book..........good thinking pengy!!!......stonksy i'll have a nose at those links ta! xx

Spongey, I think you'll find that it's debt collectors using dodgy tactics to try and assertain if the person they are chasing is still at No56.

If they continue to call, tell them you will report them to Trading Standards and The Office Of Fair Trading for harassment and dubious work practices.

oooooo well case solved!...went round to number 56......and he said he's been getting hordes of letters /calls for the previous owners who were repossesed..(i know that's true cos they trashed the house before they left and have buggered off to canada)  unpaid credit cards/phone bills etc.....so i said i thought i'd tell them as god knows who else westcot is phoning around the neighbourhood..

he said he'd phone them straight away and tell them (yet again) he is not the person they're looking for and to voice his displeasure that they've been calling neighbours

I've just done that Soozy. I've just had one of those 'survey' calls. She said that word a few words in and immediately the phone went down    I'm also TPS registered too. And yes, the accent was Indian 

Nice one Spongey 

That was very brave of you.  I would have been afraid I would have been greeted with a bunch of fives (I am a coward )

You could've run away Squiggs 

well i thought about it and just gave him the number...then when he said about all the other calls/letters he'd been getting i said i'd googled the number and it was a debt collection agency called westcot......had he not said he'd been getting plagued about the previous owners i'd of just given him the number and told him they had rung me asking about the occupiers of number 56...and not mentioned the company!!!

Possibly to get information on that person's movements, so they have a better chance of getting them in. It's probably cheeper to make a few phone calls than to have someone sitting watching the house.

you might be right fluffs.........but the people they're after left about 18 months ago......the blokey living there now has told them they've moved etc etc.....they still keep writing to him...and now phoning me!!......i know it isn't him cos the house was empty for about 2 months and they trashed it when they left.........they obviously don't believe him!!

I'd never help a debt collection agency on principle.  Let them do their own dirty work, they charge enough for it.

i had a letter from one, not westcott, but another agency,  asking if i had previously lived at another address, which i hadn't, so i told them  no, and they carried on demanding payment of a credit card debt on a credit card i had never had.

i got legal advice  and told the agency that not only were they ignoring the oft guidelines for debt collectors, as are westcott, and that if they persisted i would be reporting them to the oft, its down to them to prove that they have the right person, not for you to disprove it, so i asked them for  an original copy of  the alleged agreement to prove it was me, they haven't responded as yet and that was about 2 months ago.

and they are not able tp pursue the alledged debt all the time it is in dispute.

 time to stop being polite to these people spongey!