Sicko phone calls

[ian field]

For some time now I've been getting silent calls from some sicko who
withholds their caller ID, I can tell its not an automated dialler because I
sometimes hear them replacing the handset as I pick up.

Previously I had anonymous caller reject on my phone but Virgin Media took
it upon themselves to cancel it without telling me, now they want
£2.50/month to re-instate it and they refuse to offer any assistance in
identifying the sicko.

Is there a consumer protection organisation I can take this matter up with?

TIA.

[Consumer]

Post by ian field
For some time now I've been getting silent calls from some sicko who
withholds their caller ID, I can tell its not an automated dialler because
I sometimes hear them replacing the handset as I pick up.
Previously I had anonymous caller reject on my phone but Virgin Media took
it upon themselves to cancel it without telling me, now they want
£2.50/month to re-instate it and they refuse to offer any assistance in
identifying the sicko.
Is there a consumer protection organisation I can take this matter up with?

No, Ofcom will not investigate individual complaints even if you are able to
tell them the caller's phone number, which you can't.

[Pete Smith]

Post by ian field
For some time now I've been getting silent calls from some sicko who
withholds their caller ID, I can tell its not an automated dialler because
I sometimes hear them replacing the handset as I pick up.
Previously I had anonymous caller reject on my phone but Virgin Media took
it upon themselves to cancel it without telling me, now they want
£2.50/month to re-instate it and they refuse to offer any assistance in
identifying the sicko.
Is there a consumer protection organisation I can take this matter up with?
TIA.

See the many answers to the same messages in the other groups you posted to.
UK.LEGAL is one. Stop saying no one will help you! They will, but you will
not follow the correct procedures.

[ian field]

Post by Pete Smith

Post by ian field
For some time now I've been getting silent calls from some sicko who
withholds their caller ID, I can tell its not an automated dialler
because I sometimes hear them replacing the handset as I pick up.
Previously I had anonymous caller reject on my phone but Virgin Media
took it upon themselves to cancel it without telling me, now they want
£2.50/month to re-instate it and they refuse to offer any assistance in
identifying the sicko.
Is there a consumer protection organisation I can take this matter up with?
TIA.

See the many answers to the same messages in the other groups you posted
to. UK.LEGAL is one. Stop saying no one will help you! They will, but
you will not follow the correct procedures.

I've read those answer on UL (the only other group I've posted it to).

Your answer is on the wrong premise - as I asked which consumer protection
org' I can contact about this, you have no idea who I have already contacted
or which procedures I have or have not followed, so if you have nothing
constructive to contribute its time for you to run along.

[Brian Gaff]

If they are only silent, ignore them, indeed, if they hang on till you say
something, then it may be what they want, so say nothing. I seem to recall,
some time back, on lines withcaller line info enabled, there was a phone
which would only ring if a number was supplied.

Brian
--
Brian Gaff - ***@blueyonder.co.uk
Note:- In order to reduce spam, any email without 'Brian Gaff'
in the display name may be lost.
Blind user, so no pictures please!

Post by ian field

Post by Pete Smith

Post by ian field
For some time now I've been getting silent calls from some sicko who
withholds their caller ID, I can tell its not an automated dialler
because I sometimes hear them replacing the handset as I pick up.
Previously I had anonymous caller reject on my phone but Virgin Media
took it upon themselves to cancel it without telling me, now they want
£2.50/month to re-instate it and they refuse to offer any assistance in
identifying the sicko.
Is there a consumer protection organisation I can take this matter up with?
TIA.

See the many answers to the same messages in the other groups you posted
to. UK.LEGAL is one. Stop saying no one will help you! They will, but
you will not follow the correct procedures.

I've read those answer on UL (the only other group I've posted it to).
Your answer is on the wrong premise - as I asked which consumer protection
org' I can contact about this, you have no idea who I have already
contacted or which procedures I have or have not followed, so if you have
nothing constructive to contribute its time for you to run along.

[ian field]

Post by Brian Gaff
If they are only silent, ignore them, indeed, if they hang on till you
say something, then it may be what they want, so say nothing. I seem to
recall, some time back, on lines withcaller line info enabled, there was
a phone which would only ring if a number was supplied.
Brian

Is there such a device I can buy that goes between the answerphone and phone
socket that detects caller ID on incoming calls and can be set to disconnect
the line if caller ID is withheld?

[Mark Goodge]

On Tue, 05 Feb 2008 15:59:14 GMT, ian field put finger to keyboard and

Post by ian field

Post by Brian Gaff
If they are only silent, ignore them, indeed, if they hang on till you
say something, then it may be what they want, so say nothing. I seem to
recall, some time back, on lines withcaller line info enabled, there was
a phone which would only ring if a number was supplied.
Brian

Is there such a device I can buy that goes between the answerphone and phone
socket that detects caller ID on incoming calls and can be set to disconnect
the line if caller ID is withheld?

I don't know about a standalone device, but that sort of thing is
trivial for a software-based system - if you use a PC rather than an
answerphone, then you can set it up to do pretty much whatever you
want with incoming calls.

However, unless you've got a spare computer that you can use for this,
and the ability to configure it, you're probably better off paying for
the telco's anonymous call reject service.

Mark

[ian field]

Post by Mark Goodge
On Tue, 05 Feb 2008 15:59:14 GMT, ian field put finger to keyboard and

Post by ian field

Post by Brian Gaff
If they are only silent, ignore them, indeed, if they hang on till you
say something, then it may be what they want, so say nothing. I seem to
recall, some time back, on lines withcaller line info enabled, there was
a phone which would only ring if a number was supplied.
Brian

Is there such a device I can buy that goes between the answerphone and phone
socket that detects caller ID on incoming calls and can be set to disconnect
the line if caller ID is withheld?

I don't know about a standalone device, but that sort of thing is
trivial for a software-based system - if you use a PC rather than an
answerphone, then you can set it up to do pretty much whatever you
want with incoming calls.

According to the difference between my last electricity bill and the one
before it - where the bill before last was leaving the PC on 24/7 and the
last quarter I only switch it on when using it, leaving the PC on 24/7
apparently costs upto £200/quarter !

Obviously the 'service' charge would be cheaper - but if anyone knows of a
gadget I can plug into the phone socket that drops the line whenever an
incoming call has withheld CLID, that would probably soon pay for itself
compared to either above option.

[terry]

Post by ian field
According to the difference between my last electricity bill and the one
before it - where the bill before last was leaving the PC on 24/7 and the
last quarter I only switch it on when using it, leaving the PC on 24/7
apparently costs upto £200/quarter !

That sounds out of line?

200 quid per 3 months = 800 per year.
Even at say 9 pence per unit/kilowatl hour that is 8889 units per
year, 24 kilowatts per day or roughly one kilowatt per hour.

That sounds like a pretty monstrous computer. Especially if the
monitor is not on all the time. Since most PC have a power supply that
is capable of say around 240 watts maximum it seems like something
doesn't add up?

Just comparing to Canadian costs which am used to! Where our dollar is
about half the value of the pound and domestic electricity (it's bit
dearer in this less heavily populated part of Canada) costs an average
of about ten cents (say five pence) per kilowatt hour! We run two
computers continuously and estimate it costs us around five cents (say
2.5 pence per hour)? Since we also use electric heat the energy isn't
wasted and merely serves to reduce our heating electricity
consumption.

Just a thought; comments?

[ian field]

Post by ian field
According to the difference between my last electricity bill and the one
before it - where the bill before last was leaving the PC on 24/7 and the
last quarter I only switch it on when using it, leaving the PC on 24/7
apparently costs upto £200/quarter !

That sounds out of line?

200 quid per 3 months = 800 per year.
Even at say 9 pence per unit/kilowatl hour that is 8889 units per
year, 24 kilowatts per day or roughly one kilowatt per hour.

There were other things I switched off when not using or stopped using
altogether, but I considered them to be relatively insignificant.

My bill is paid on a weekly payment plan and the last bill was nearly £200
in credit whereas the one before was about £40 in arrears, the payment plan
was adjusted upwards slightly because of the large peak in energy prices -
which recovered slightly during the billing period in question so its not
all the PC but 150W left on 24/7 isn't good!

[MC]

Post by ian field
For some time now I've been getting silent calls from some sicko who
withholds their caller ID, I can tell its not an automated dialler because
I sometimes hear them replacing the handset as I pick up.
Previously I had anonymous caller reject on my phone but Virgin Media took
it upon themselves to cancel it without telling me, now they want
£2.50/month to re-instate it and they refuse to offer any assistance in
identifying the sicko.
Is there a consumer protection organisation I can take this matter up with?
TIA.

Get a phone that displays Caller ID. If the callers number is withheld you
do not have to pick it up (you can also filter your other calls this way
too). After a while the caller will get fed up and give up.

MC