A warning to uk locksmiths

[toomush2drink]

I had a call yesterday from some charity going on about advertising with them, ok this happens a lot but watch out things are not as they seem. The guy on the end of the phone basically said i was entitled to a discount off of my advert which i had no knowledge of. I asked him when i took out this advert and he replied in july. I maintained i had never heard of them and i had not taken out an advert, he still insisted i had and that i had entered into a verbal contract with them. I remember saying i wasnt interested and definately didnt take out an advert with them ! He seemed more intent on glossing over this fact and going on about the discount i was entitled to and kept saying as a registered charity they didnt work underhand.
I asked him what the advert said and why hadnt i received anything about it if i had taken it out ? Basically he read out my yellow pages ad which was interesting as that only came out in september and he said i placed this order in july, my yellow pages ad wasnt created till august and yet the wording was exactly the same. I queried it again as i was becoming more suspicious and asked what proof they had that i had entered into a contract with them, the reply was they had a tape recording. When i asked that they send a copy of the tape to my solicitor(lawyer) so i could sort it out they hung up. The thing is their number came up on my phone but when i tried to call it back it just cut off before any sort of connection took place. The number was in the 0161 area so be warned.
5 mins prior to this call i had another call from supposedly the chambers of commerce asking for the proprietors name so they could send me the latest regulations or something, i told them to send them to my address (they already had this) and i would make sure he would get them but never told them my name, its only now i see they are connected.
I really do believe this a dodgy scam to extract money from companies as ive since heard this has happened to a friend of mine who does car valeting a few times.

Be warned they are very convincing and i only sussed it out because of the wording of the ad. You know how it is with lots of calls from different companies selling this that and the other, you cannot always remember exactly who is who etc.

[captainsawdust]

WE HAVE HAD TWO LIKE THAT THIS WEEK 99.9% OF THE TIME THEY WITHHOLD THE NUMBER


sorry about the capitals I didn't see that the keypad was locked to that "bloody kids" !!

I'll see if I can find the rest of the number if it hasn't been wiped of the caller ID

regards

Ian

[quicklocks]

[acl]

Toomush,weve had this exact call ,a polite sod off normally helps.
Ive had calls along the same line and when im in agood mood i try to explain that we already do a lot of avertising and half way through THEY PUT THE PHONE DOWN ON ME!
Try saying youre busy and if they give their home phone no to you youll call them when theyre at home!
Some mornings i get more of these calls than i do calls regarding work
Andy

[captainsawdust]

Also 99.9% of withheld numbers are for the same thing if you tell your exsisting customers that you dont answer withheld numbers and if it goes to voicemail leave a message and i will call you back that works

the sellers dont bother leaving messages

[toomush2drink]

The thing that gets me is that the number wasnt withheld but it must be outgoing calls only.
My friend has had it taken a step further where they have sent letters and invoices and now they are threatening to pass it over to the bailiffs ( hope i dont get that job). As you say acl so times you are getting more calls from these types of people than customers. I wouldnt mind too much but im paying for these calls to be diverted to my mobile.
Its a good idea ian but i cant risk losing customers by not answering withheld numbers, what if they are ringing from their workplace ? many offices have withheld numbers.

[captainsawdust]

put a message on your voicemail, if your calling with a withheld number and require our services please leave your name and number and we'll call you straight back

It works

[acl]

Hi Ian ive got agree with toomush here,it could be that one big customer youve been waiting for,they may be a little impatient,contract gone! Anyway im allways far too curious as to who it is.I do hate these people but i suppose theyre only doing a job like you and i!,
Andy

[MrB]

Good heavens! When you get unsolicited calls that don't interest you, you don't have to spend time talking to the caller. When I get unsolicited calls these days, the caller doesn't often get past the first sentence. It's: "Hello, can I speak to Mr or Mrs...click...brrrr". (When they don't know whether it's Mr or Mrs they want, they are obviously fishing. Goodbye caller!)

I know when you are running a business you have to at least listen to the caller long enough to find out if they might be a customer, but if they are not, and you know you don't do business with them, you have to say straightaway, "sorry, I have no business with you, good bye" and hang up. Don't even let them get their foot in the door. It feels rude at first, but why should you give them your time? They are not paying for it.

[acl]

I totally agree im just saying you have to get as far as "is mr or mrs acl there ?" to know wether you need to speak to them or not.Ignoring the call in the first place in my opinion isnt a good idea.
Andy

[cred]

ditto i get these calls all the time as soon as they start the sales pitch i just turn my phone off as i get charged for diverted calls to my mobile.

[oldlock]

I used to get these calls too (when I was in the UK).

I advertised on a couple of there 'things' when I was first starting out - a total waste of money.

They kept calling, so I tried being firm & polite on the phone and got the same routine - but you agreed to advertise on such and such a date. (which was not true).

In the end I found the best technique was to be extremely rude to them when they called - tell them to stop wasting my time and hang up. End of problem.

Incidentally - the charities are not making the phone call - your bill comes from some advertising agency or suchlike and the charity probably gets 2% of the profits at the end of the day.

Paul

[toomush2drink]

Ok had another today trying to sell me something so i tried to sell them a new chubb but they pointed out they didnt want one at which point i said so why do you think i want your services as i dont ring you to sell you a chubb,..... they cutoff

[EvoRed]

Nice one Toomush. I never let anyone get more than two statements in:

"Is that such and such?"
"Yes."
"Hello, I'm from such and.."
"Not interested, bye." I interrupt, and down goes the phone.

Never do they get beyond this point. If I want insurance for this, to advertise with that, a new kitchen, double glazing, a loan, I will go out there and bloody look for it!

I might give that a go next time though:

"Is that such and such?"
"Yes."
"Hello, I'm from such and such"
"Hello, I'm a locksmith and I've got some great offers on a new Chubb 3G114. Are you interested?"
"No"
"What, you mean if you wanted a new lock you'd go out and buy one?"
"Yes."
"Well, if I wanted <insert one of a hundred different lines of sales> I'd go out and bloody get it wouldn't I?"

Just how often do you feel like shouting "f*** off!" down the phone at them, especially on about your fifth call of the day. Also, many call a group of numbers now and whoever answers first gets the call so when you answer the phone after someone has already been unfortunate enough to answer the other end has cleared.

[Quin]

I've also had a charity phone me up asking for payment for advertising in a book I'd never heard of. They said as the book was now published I was duty bound to pay. I told them to prove I ever had agreed to this and put the phone down.

They tried 4 or 5 times after that to get money out of me and it wasn't until I mentioned I saw something similiar to what they were doing on Watchdog (A UK tv show higlighting cons etc) that the calls finally stopped.