Hi amorphous

A while ago I had the same thing on my landline and it was happening every few days. Today I got a call from someone couldn't make out who as it sounded like it was an indian call centre. I said I had no debts and wasn't interested. I now feel like its common knowldege that I have bad debt.

I suspect that this is cold calling practice and is not directly targeted at you with prior knowledge of your debt situation. I and some colleagues have recieved similar types of phone calls. I know for landlines you cna register for the telephone preference service however i'm not sure if this is avaiable for mobile phones. I would recommend that you contact your mobile provider to see if they can block a specific number on your mobile. However, this may only work if the caller doesnt withold their number.

I HATE phones and I simply do not want to deal with all the calls I'm getting. There are simply too many. If they write, they'll get a polite letter with all the information they need.

So today I found a little box that you can plug in to your phone line to block unwanted calls. Don't recognise the number? Press "Block" and the job's done. That number won't be allowed to make your phone ring in future.

I know we can't post links here but Google "the nuisance call blocker" and find the white, red and black site on the first page of the search results.

If you want an even better solution, simply ask BT to change your number. I believe it's free if you tell them you're receiving nuisance calls and takes effect in a couple of days. A bit drastic maybe but a solution nonetheless.

Cheers,

DebtFreeWannabee

Hi DebtFreeWannabee.

How much does that little box cost?

Hi TDA

49.99. Postage is free.

Not that cheap but my sanity is worth it and more!

Cheers,

DebtFreeWannabee

My little "blocking" box arrived today, it's now plugged in (1 minute job) and Mrs DebtFreeWannabee has bee trained up on its use (ie press "Block" whenever you see an 08xx number).

I tried it out with a mobile phone and, after I had blocked it, the phone didn't even ring when I dialled our number. It was simplicity itself to unblock it again.

So far, I'm impressed.

I'll find out from her how it's gone with the 08xx numbers for those that are as phone-phobic as me, because she's been snowed in all day with the weans and the constant ringing could easily have pushed her over the edge.

Cheers,

DebtFreeWannabee

So far so good! Please let us know about the non-geographic 08** numbers DFW.

I suspect that your discovery might turn out to be popular with some other readers of this forum.

I wanted to add an update now that we have had a chance to use the box for a week or so.

It's brilliant!

Each time we receive a call from a number we don't recognise (usually 0800 or 0844) we simply hit the "block" button. It takes a few days to catch them all but it couldn't be easier to do. A child could work it.

Today I can see that we had around 8 blocked calls where our phone did not even ring and 1 where it did because it was a new number. One press of the "block" button and it was taken care of too.

How do I know how many were blocked? Because our caller display still shows the numbers even though the phone doesn't ring. It's worth saying that you DO need caller display on your line for this to work. BT charges something like £1.99 per month for it so it's no big deal. Many other phone providers offer it as a free service on your line.

I know this solution probably won't suit everyone but for us it's brilliant.

Anyway, I hope this helps some other "phone phobics" out there!

Cheers,

DebtFreeWannabee

Boy, am I glad I got this device.

I'd say we're receiving between 10 and 15 calls per day which would rattle anyone's nerves - yep, that's almost 100 calls per week.

Only a couple of these calls are getting through because they use different "from" numbers. So our phone remains nice and silent while the box takes care of them.

Interestingly not one of our creditors has written - it's all calls. That said I've written to some of them myself to put them in the picture and that has made a difference. Some, however, keep trying.

Ah well, at least I know this will change as the process moves forward.

Cheers,

DebtFreeWannabee

Spam posting deleted by administrator (ha!).

...and there I was going to copy and paste that link as well.

Damn, just where will I get software like that?

Mark