Decision Marketing hails victory in rogue call battle

rogue call 2The Telephone Preference Service (TPS) has dropped the need for consumers to name the company behind nuisance or rogue marketing calls when they register complaints.
The Ofcom decision – understood to have been triggered in part by a column written by DecisionMarketing publishing editor Charlie McKelvey on the DMA website earlier this year – means that complainants now only need to detail the time of call and the phone number that called.
It is recognition that many rogue marketers do not disclose who they are calling from, and this had prevented consumers making complaints. Now the company name has been dropped from the procedure, it will make the process far easier.
Head of the TPS John Mitchison said: “It is now be possible to complain about rogue and nuisance callers more easily as the requirement for the company’s name has been dropped. This will make it easier for consumers to complain about rogue marketers.
“The TPS is free to sign up to and enables consumers to opt-out of receiving unwanted sales and marketing calls on their mobile and landline phones. It is a legal requirement for companies to screen calls against the TPS register and they are not allowed to call those people listed, unless they have given their prior consent. We will help the Information Commissioner’s Office build prosecutions against all companies that fail to follow this simple legal requirement,” he said.
Charlie McKelvey said: “We welcome this change with open arms. It is only when you go to complain about a nuisance call that you realise how difficult it is.
“Legitimate UK telemarketing firms are being dragged into the gutter by businesses which exploit the fact that most consumers can’t be arsed to complain, so anything that makes it easier to catch them can only be a good thing.”

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