Phone ringing at Surbiton station but in a locked box

[Hyphen]

I work in IT support, and when I get the "Windows Technical Support" scam calls I'll try to waste as much of their time as possible if I've nothing better to be doing. My personal favourite was keeping them going for over half an hour with made-up information, without even having a Windows computer in front of me

I've always wanted one of those - I even have a spare disposable Virtual Machine ready for the purpose (image backed up, so whatever they do, I can just rollback).

Sadly all I ever get is marketers who have cold-called one of our business units and spoken to some member of staff who is happy to give them my name and direct dial as a way of getting them off the phone. Sadly not a single one of them will ever tell me who gave them my details. And as I look after 7 sites spanning about 500 staff, it could be any flippin' one of them

 

[HarleyDavidson]

I just tell them dimwitted buffoons that I'm using a Mac.

 

[Jonfun]

Regardless of the nature of the call, you have no right to assault someone. You wouldn't punch a charity collector in the face for stopping you street, or would you? People have been left with permanent hearing damage as a result of whistles and similar loud noises down the phone.

If blowing a whistle down a phone counts as assault, then our legal system is even further in the dump than I thought it was. If there's a risk of hearing damage from normal use of a telephone then it's the equipment which is unsafe, and it's the company running the call centre who should be mitigating against the risk, or spending money to provide safe equipment for their staff. If someone walked up to me in the street and blew a whistle in my face, I'd tell them openly that I thought they were a total <insert expletive here>, but in no way could I make it out to be an assault.

 

[najaB]

If there's a risk of hearing damage from normal use of a telephone then it's the equipment which is unsafe, and it's the company running the call centre who should be mitigating against the risk, or spending money to provide safe equipment for their staff.

A normal speaking voice is around 60db, a whistle is anything up to 100db. If you class suddenly increasing the volume by 10,000 times to be "normal" then I never want to talk to you on the phone.

If someone walked up to me in the street and blew a whistle in my face, I'd tell them openly that I thought they were a total <insert expletive here>, but in no way could I make it out to be an assault.

If that same person snuck up behind you and blew the whistle directly in your ear, you would definitely want them done for assault - after you stopped writhing around on the ground in pain and when you were able to walk properly. I've seen the damage that acoustic shock can do and it can be just as damaging as hitting someone over the head.

 

[HarleyDavidson]

Good because I don't want to speak to any sales staff whatsoever.

I don't want: Double glazing, Windows on my PC to be configured, Solar Panels, Car Insurance, PPI (just won my claim without any help from the crooked PPI scum), Mortgage help, Energy efficiency advice, pensions advice, I don't want to sell my car, house, Pet insurance or ANY ****ING THING from any company.

IF I WANT IT I'LL COME TO YOU, NOW FOXTROT OSCAR & LEAVE ME ALONE!

 

[najaB]

IF I WANT IT I'LL COME TO YOU, NOW FOXTROT OSCAR & LEAVE ME ALONE!

Agreed, cold-calling is definitely one of the most annying things around. I'm surprised that they make enough sales for it to be worth it.

If you don't want any sales calls there are several phones on the market that block most (if not all) unwanted calls.

 

[Peter Mugridge]

About a month ago a number came up on our caller display that we knew was a cold caller; we answered it by saying: "Police - how can we help you?".

Since then, the number of cold calls made to us from a variety of numbers has dropped by about 80%....

 

[table38]

About a month ago a number came up on our caller display that we knew was a cold caller; we answered it by saying: "Police - how can we help you?".

That's probably OK until a real Policeman phones up and does you for impersonation under the Police Act 1996

 

[jon0844]

You can say you were saying 'purlease can I help you?' in bad English and were misunderstood!

 

[PaxVobiscum]

Observation - the real Boys in Blue tend to pronounce it "P'lice".

 

[NorthernSpirit]

I wonder if calling a signal box could be classed as 'interfering with the safe operation of the railways'?

It would be and I do think it does carries some sort of penalty (probably interferance with the railway infurstructure). I thought the railway phone numbers were on a seperate system.