Annoying phone call re: Liability Insurance

[Martin]

We had some call up today who started their introduction like "I'm from blahblah, a government funded organisation looking into Liability Insurance details of companies like yours".

He spoke so quickly I didn't catch the name of the organisation.

He wanted to know the details of our Liability insurance, I said OK can you call the person who deals with that, I'll give you their number (my father as well as doing the buying, sorts the insurance via a brokers he has dealt with for years and years).

Anyway, the guy demanded I walk to the certificate on the wall and read the details, and if it wasn't on the wall we were breaking the law, true, but I'm in the middle of running my business not walking to the kitchen to read the certificate when someone who has all these details to hand and can help him with all the details.

He then called me awkward and said they'll have to send someone to collect the information, for which we'll be charged.

I then asked for his name, which he wouldn't give, so I do not know who it was or what organisation it is was, I ended up putting the phone down!

I called the HSE, they said if there was a problem with a business not having insurance they'd be the ones who'd prosecute, yet do not know who could have called me?

As anyone, ever, heard of such a phone call being made to businesses?


Martin

[chris ashdown]

Sound like a scam to me either to sell you something relating or to gain entry

Few people have the right to enter without a warant at present mainly HM Customs and Revenue

Have you tried 1471 to get their number

[fleetwood]

Cold callers are the bane of every business.

Some simple advice:

Nobody official, is going to call you on the telephone, about anything that is really important.

Banks, insurance, utilities etc will write to you.
And if by chance they DO call you, then simply ask them to put it in writing, as you cannot deal with important matters over the phone.

Anyone who talks so fast that you fail to catch the name (and incidentally mutters the one word they want you to hear - "OFFICIAL" "GOVERNMENT" "LIABILITY" "INSURANCE" "BT" etc) is most likely a salesperson or scamster.
Simply stop them in their tracks and say "excuse me, did you say you were from the Government/BT/MInsurance Co?"

Your own insurance company won't phone you asking when your policy is due.
A Government sponsored dept won't phone you telling you you are breaking the law.
BT won't phone you asking how much you spend on telephone calls.

Incidentally, none of these bodies will also send to your premises, a spiv in a suit carrying a clipboard, with a junior wanna-be spiv in a suit in tow - just in case one of those turns up too!

[RuralWeb]

Calls like this I just say Im not interested and for them to put it in writing - they soon loose interest.

[Martin]

Thanks chaps

[jont]

a spiv in a suit carrying a clipboard, with a junior wanna-be spiv in a suit in tow

LOL - what a fantastic image that conjures

Undoubtedly a cold-call trying to reduce your costs. My answer to anyone that stops me or call me about home based sales (glazing, kitchens, extensions etc) is that "I rent" ... that cuts them down dead as they have nowhere else to go with upgrades, additions, re-financing, latest models, EEC compliance, free estimates etc. Nowhere to take it.

[leehack]

Cold callers are the bane of every business.

I disagree, the businesses themselves are the cause of this. If no success was received from cold calling, then it certainly wouldn't be done. Therefore we as the businesses (on the whole) are the cause.

Its the same argument as SPAM, shocking stories in the newspaper and road congestion. We cause it all and then we complain about it.

Now like most of you i guess, i detest it immensely and try not add to them doing it, but there are some pratts out there that do, which is why they continue to do it. We must weed out these pratts, as the pratts who call us won't have any success and will disappear ultimately.

[fleetwood]

Come on mate, do me a favour...

By that logic Lee, we should do away with all the little old ladies who get preyed upon by fraudsters, as without the little old ladies, the fraudsters would have no-one to prey on!


Actually, whilst we are on the topic of scams, I received a letter in the post from Central Domain Registry, pointing out that the domain www.megacity-comics.co.uk had not been registered.

A visit to their site revealed that they would do me the great favour of registering it for me (and no doubt mega-city-comics, mega-citycomics, mega_city_comics etc etc), at a cost of £99 for 2 years!!!

Apart from the fact that 1&1 could do the same job for £1.99pa, I did a quick search using their own tool, and found that central-domain-registry.co.uk wasn't actually registered either!

The goons are so thick that they are telling me to do something they haven't even done themselves!

[george]

*shakes aerosol airhorn beside phone*


*leaves thread without advising anything*

[fleetwood]

My answer to anyone that stops me or call me about home based sales (glazing, kitchens, extensions etc) is that "I rent"

Good one Jont.

The one I use is "I have no money" (this is whilst standing in my own business premises, surrounded by stock and the till ).

Whatever they say, I say "is it free, because I have no money?"

Their stock reply is " you don't have to pay now....we offer a ...."

To which I "but I don't have any money!"

(adaptable for phone line reps - the most common type - to "I don't have a phone" - I especially like that one when talking to them on the phone )

btw, I love the way you corrected my 'toe' typo whilst quoting - that takes real class - I definately owe you a goat point

[jont]

owe you a goat point

Thanks - although President Goat (George) will probably frown upon the transfer of Goat Points (unless it is in a sealed envelope at a motorway service station)

[leehack]

Come on mate, do me a favour...

By that logic Lee, we should do away with all the little old ladies who get preyed upon by fraudsters, as without the little old ladies, the fraudsters would have no-one to prey on!

Thats plain crazy, you are comparing a despicable and disgusting act with an annoying and inconvenient one. Anyone can create an argument if you want to compare 2 totally unsimilar things. Using that logic we should get rid of cars in case they run cats over or should we get rid of cats, so cars don't have to run them over occasionally?

Companies don't employ people to cold call to lose money, they do it cos somewhere in a far away place, some people they call actually take them up on it. This is why they persist because it works, if it didn't they would cease and do something else - that is my point (addressing your cold callers statement, nothing else).

[fleetwood]

Its about as plain crazy as suggesting you get rid of the pratts who respond to the cold calls.

How exactly would you go about that?

Maybe we could call them all and warn them about the danger of cold calling.

[leehack]

Martin you are reading things very literally, let me clarify:

Cold callers annoy most of the population. They only ring because it works, if the people who take them up on their offer stopped doing so, then cold callers would end within a few weeks. I am therefore saying that although you, I and many others of us detest it, that we as a "population" are to blame. Business don't waste time and money on things that will never make them anything, at some level however large or small, cold calling works.

I then addressed you saying that the above logic could also apply to a conman who purposely goes out to rip an old lady off. This is a ridiculous theory as there are no similarities at all. Cold callers have an "occupation" to call people and try to entice them to buy or take services from their company. Conmen who are out to try and rip off old ladies are an entirely different kettle of fish.

My first post clearly said i disagreed with your statement, that is my opinion on the point, you have your opinion. You have gone off on a tangent about old ladies and conmen, which was a poor comparison and instead of just accepting another persons point of view (if sensible and logical), you have decided to try and pick up on something else to justify a response - there is no need to keep digging - just accept a different point of view.

[george]

*pulls up a chair*