ex-directory, can the phone company call?

Alias

Registered User
Messages
115
This is more a curiosity than anything else, but I wanted to check it out. We have our landline with BT, and at our previous address got lots of phone calls from competing phone companies, trying to get us to switch. I constantly told them no, and please remove us from you list. It didn’t work very well.

When we moved we ended up keeping the phone number of the previous resident (long story) who had been ex-directory with a different phone company. After a lot of hassle with that phone company, we changed to BT, and kept the number ex-directory.

Last week, over a year after we switched, we got a call from the old phone company. Since we’re an ex-customer they wanted us to know about their new price plans, blah blah blah. This is the same company that I got calls from at the old house, and had to practically threaten before they took us off the list, so I'm not happy that they're calling again.

According to BT’s website, we are automatically listed on the ‘do not call’ list. So does this other company have the right to call us because we're an ex-customer, even though we're on the do not call list? I presume since this company until recently provided all phone lines, they probably have everyone’s phone number… can they call whoever they want, because they are ‘ex customers’?
 
No, if you're on the national directory database as an opt-out customer, they should not call you.

I had calls from the same (former monopoly?) telecoms provider, who didn't take "don't call again" too seriously - until I threatened to switch (they called again and I switched!!).

I then received a personal visit from a rep of my ex-provider. I reported them to the Data Protection Commision for abuse of personal data - and the company were reprimanded last Sept/Oct.

Check out this [broken link removed] from ComReg about how to deal with cold calling.
 
Back
Top