Who to 'complain' to?

[Ticktock]

Also, try calling Age Concern - they've come up against this in the past so will no doubt have advice on what to do.

[psychocandy]

My old man gets the same. Hes 80. Dunno how people can live with themselves knowing they've sold crap to an old person like this.

My old mans pretty good though. He says his son will tell him off he does anything over the phone. When I visit, he even shows me the post for the week and makes me go through it all.

Although he did have someone phoning him trying to sell him life insurance he nearly went for. FFS. Why does an 80 yr old who lives alone need life insurance? Hes got no dependants obviously. It wasnt cheap either mind (as you'd expect for someone whos 80).

Bit weird, sifting through junk mail as he asks whether he needs to look at this (for instance, letters from sky asking if he wants broadband - he doesnt even know what the internet is!) or not....

[NickFitz]

Also, try calling Age Concern - they've come up against this in the past so will no doubt have advice on what to do.

+1, though it's called Age UK now since it merged with Help the Aged. But they do a lot more than lunch at the day centre, and will undoubtedly know what can be done.

Note that (assuming they have the same structure as they had as AC) local branches are independent entities and the national org exists mainly to co-ordinate national campaigns and provide general support to local branches, so you may get the most helpful service from your mother's local branch rather than the national org or your local lot.

[vetran]

If she is on TPS then find the ones who have sold to her and report them they have broken the law and at £5k fine I expect its quite satisfying.

[mudskipper]

If she is on TPS then find the ones who have sold to her and report them they have broken the law and at £5k fine I expect its quite satisfying.

The callers are Indian, so suspect the TPS has limited jurisdiction.
I'll get the blocking thing and make sure she knows to press the button when they call - hopefully that will do the trick. Will also trawl her flat for vitamins and see if we can get a refund.

[vetran]

The callers are Indian, so suspect the TPS has limited jurisdiction.
I'll get the blocking thing and make sure she knows to press the button when they call - hopefully that will do the trick. Will also trawl her flat for vitamins and see if we can get a refund.

FAQ13

TPS

If they are abroad then get her card company to block purchases from abroad?

If the money is paid in UK its a £5k fine.

also the rape alarm down the phone works a treat.even better if you start muttering just before deploying.

[vetran]

In fact if she is paying by card a short discussion with the card supplier / issuer may provide some suggestions, I have always found the card security team helpful.

It is in their interest to protect vulnerable customers from exploitation. If they get enough complaints they may suspend / remove a merchants account.

[tarbera]

Complain to your mum

Last time I was at my mother's flat, she had a large box full of various vitamins (all unopened). She's 80, and gets easily confused.

It seems these people are calling her several times a week and doing a hard sell that has had her in tears.

The last woman was "Why won't you give me your credit card details? Don't you trust me?"

I've told her to tell them to sod off and hang up, but she's too polite. I'm intending to find out who the company are (apparently there are several different ones that ring her) and ask them politely to desist, but, if they don't, what other recourse is there?

I suspect the box I saw is the tip of the iceberg...

Complain to your mum....ohhh hang on

[tarbera]

ok get one of these bad boys

BT6500 phone – BT Inclusion

Block the calls as a starter for 10

[mudskipper]

They rarely let you ask for specific numbers to be blocked, but I think "stop blocked-ID calls" is a common thing you can have for £0-5 per month.

If they do ring from a number you can see - and she has called ID - you could also buy her something like this, provided you can explain to her how it works. CPR All-in-One Call Blocker: Amazon.co.uk: Electronics

edit: also register with TPS

Have ordered one of these, but looks like it needs caller Id which I think Virgin charge for (cheeky barstewards). Worth it though - she had another call today and got in a state about it.

Cheers doogie.