Introduction

Unwanted and often persistent telemarketing calls has become a big problem in the UK as well as other parts of the world. Many of the products and services offered are of poor quality or value, or are designed to mislead the customer into purchasing a product or service that they don’t really want. On occasions unwanted sales calls could even be part of a deception in an attempt to completely scam the person out of their hard earned money. It’s also common for marketing calls to be disguised as market research calls or similar, some may incorrectly inform the person that they’ve won a large prize for a competition that they haven’t even entered. In my opinion if a company has to resort to cold calling, then one should approach with caution and I personally will never purchase anything on a cold call, especially if it involves giving my bank or credit card details.

This article is written to help people report and stop these unwanted and unsolicited telemarketing calls.

Introducing the Phone Spam Filter:

Firstly, if you are receiving unwanted telemarketing calls and they haven’t withheld their phone number (dial 1471 for the last number called), then now one can get your own back by reporting them quickly and easily. If enough people complain, this free service will actively work towards getting them blocked. If the phone number is withheld, please scroll down to “What If They Withhold Their Number?” later in this article, but thankfully the majority of marketing organisations don’t withhold their number as yet in the UK.

For more information please see:

http://www.phonespamfilter.co.uk/ (Phone Spam Filter)

By Using the website above one can also find out if complaints have been made previously about specific phone numbers or you can even list existing complaints in a specific area code.

For a more effective search and to more effectively work against phone spammers and unwanted cold callers, one can report them to more than one website – please read on below…

Reverse Phone Number Lookup:
(as well as complaints against phone spammers…)

Similarly to the website detailed in the paragraph above, one can also report spam phone callers and unwanted marketing numbers to the following website while also checking past complaints from specific numbers, but it also is excellent for a performing a totally free reverse phone number lookup where one can establish what area in the UK a particular phone number has come from along with the telephone provider as well as whether any past complaints have been made about a particular number.

One starts by clicking the “Reverse phone search” button towards the top of the main page, then one is presented with a list of area codes along with the location each code covers. When one selects a specific area code, one can then select the next part of the telephone number for more localised information. One can continue selecting each part of the telephone number in question until the full telephone number is selected when any past complaints will be displayed.

Please see:

http://www.411phonesearch.co.uk/ (Reverse Phone Lookup For Great Britain)

Other Reverse Number Lookup Services:

As well as the 2 sites detailed in the 2 paragraphs above, here are some links to other free services that also offer reverse phone call number lookup services:

http://www.ukphoneinfo.com/ (A quick an easy reverse phone lookup service, just type in the full number and see information on location and telephone provider Etc.)

http://www.reversenumber.co.uk/ (Reverse number – also report and comment on particular numbers to help stop phone spammers and unwanted cold callers.)

http://whocallsme.com/ (A very popular International reverse caller lookup service.)

What If They Withhold Their Number?

Unfortunately none of these services are helpful if the telephone marketer or unwanted caller withholds their number and unfortunately rogue organisations are more likely to withhold their number to reduce their chances of being caught, but there are still things you can do. I always at first go along with the unwanted call and ask for the name of the organisation that’s calling me which is normally always given if you appear at least slightly interested, obviously once you have the name of the rogue organisation you can show your discontent towards the caller, but now you can then use this vital information to ultimately complain about them.

Your telephone provider including BT can also often help regarding unwanted calls and can at least advise about optional services to help put a stop to them, this is also the first place to go for advice on preventing other types of unwanted calls as well as telemarketing calls. One might want to consider changing your phone number which can often be free if you explain to your telephone provider why you need the change, but this is often not a desirable option when one has to inform a lot of people about the change. Some services to stop unwanted calls might be free from your telephone provider, but unfortunately the best services are often chargeable (as an absolute last resort, please also see the last paragraph below for some reputable chargeable organisations that can help). It’s however well worth registering with The Telephone Preference Service which is always totally free and they also now take complaints against unwanted callers should the service fail, please see paragraph below for more details…

The Telephone Preference Service:
(Register to reduce or stop marketing calls to your phone number…)

The Telephone Preference Service (TPS) is the official central opt out register on which you can record your preference not to receive unsolicited sales or marketing calls in the UK and it’s totally free and easy register. This service is ALWAYS FREE, but please beware of illegal scams where people call and claim to be from the Telephone Preference Service asking for a payment, for more information on these bogus callers please click here.

Most reputable marketing organisations register with the Telephone Preference Service and they automatically won’t call telephone numbers that are registered with the free service.

To register with The Telephone Preference Service, please see:

http://www.mpsonline.org.uk/tps/

If registering with the TPS service proves not the be effective after 28 days, then please read on for further action that can be taken.

Making Official Complaints:
(To The Telephone Preference Service and The Information Commissioner’s Office…)

Before any complaints can be made officially in the UK one must first register with the Telephone Preference Service (see paragraph above for full details) and then you must wait at least 28 days for your phone number to be opted out of telemarketing calls effectively.

Unfortunately often the worst and most persistent of unwanted telemarketing callers aren’t reputable organisations and will ignore the Telephone Preference Service’s rules and regulations completely. When receiving such calls, the caller will often hang up immediately when one states that you are registered of The Telephone Preference Service and sometimes this is enough to stop them calling you again. If you are still hassled by persistent unwanted marketing calls after being registered with the TPS for over 28 days, then the good news is the Telephone Preference Service now take complaints against such organisations where they will forward your complaint as part of a regular report to Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO). It is the ICO who are the body responsible for enforcement.

If one continues receiving unwanted calls over a month after complaining to the TPS, one can complain to the Information Commissioner’s office directly, for full information about when and how to complain with other useful information, please visit:

http://www.ico.gov.uk/complaints/privacy_and_electronic_communications.aspx

Paid Services To Stop Unwanted Calls Once and For All:

In my opinion it’s simply wrong that anyone should have to resort to paying for a service to stop unwanted calls to their private telephone number, but occasionally unwanted calls may continue despite trying everything mentioned on this website, sometimes these persistent calls can originate from organisations operating outside of the UK which makes them difficult to punish. If you desperately want to stop unwanted calls and have tried every other method listed on this website, then there follows a list of reputable organisations that can help for a small fee.

As mentioned earlier in this article one can also contact your telephone provider for help and advice as they also usually provide effective chargeable services to help prevent unwanted calls by providing services like anonymous call reject and choose to refuse from BT instance, but most other telephone providers provide similar services. For BT customers, please click here for more information about stopped unwanted sales or marketing calls.

Reputable fee paid organisations (recommended by the Telephone Preference Service):

http://www.callstop.info/ (£19 a year, £29 for 2 years, £59.99 for 3 years or £99.99 for 5 years.)

http://www.callpreventionregistry.co.uk/ (Various services and they also sell an “All-IN-ONE Call Blocker” device at £49.99!)

http://www.stopunwantedcalls.net/ (Down at the time of writing – will check and remove if they don’t come back on-line within a few days)

http://www.nomoremarketing.co.uk/ (Currently £3 a month, £29.99 a year or £59.99 for life.)

WARNING: There are many other organisations that offer similar services and many are also likely to provide a reasonable service, but please beware of less reputable organisations that may overcharge for such services and/or they may not provide an effective service.

Legal Disclaimer:

Image used: We assume that the image at the top of the website can be freely used and we have linked to the website where we initially saw the image underneath the image in question, if however we are indeed misinformed and the copyright holder would like this image removed, please contact us and we will of-course remove it immediately.

Although we try to make the information as accurate as possible, PJCNET cannot be held responsible for any mistakes made. We have linked positively to various useful organisations, if however any organisation mentioned in this article would prefer us to remove their link or would like us to change this article in any way, please contact us and we either shall remove the link or update this article as appropriate. We list a few chargeable services that are recommended by The Telephone Preference Service, PJCNET cannot be held responsible for any individual’s personal experience when dealing with any 3rd party organisation whether recommended by PJCNET or not. Even though we warn people about possible existence of less reputable organisations that may also provide services to prevent unwanted calls, we are certainly NOT saying that any organisation that isn’t listed isn’t reputable, people should judge each and every organisation on their individual merits and make their own choice. If any organisation would like to advise us about a good service that they provide, I will be pleased to add it to this website. Our full legal disclaimer applies to this article, any comments and all other information on this website.

Massively multiplayer online role playing games (MMORPGs) are certainly extremely addictive to play. One of the most recent MMORPG games to be released on the PC is Final Fantasy XIV with literally 1000s of quests and a massive environment to explore. It’s arguable an excellent game, although there are various performance issues on some PCs. The problem is you first have to play the full price for the game itself, then after a free trial period of 60 days (was just 30 days), it costs £8.99 a month in subscription costs to continue playing, plus there’s even more subscription fees for every extra character you choose to have (prices in the UK, prices are similar in other local currencies). If you don’t pay the ongoing subscription fees, the full priced game you’ve forked out is rendered totally useless and the original DVD might as well be used as a Frisbee while the case is used as a door wedge. One couldn’t even sell the original game 2nd hand since the unique serial number will be registered against a unique on-line account and cannot be re-used.

There’s a big advantage for a software company to bring out on-line only games with ongoing subscription costs such as Final Fantasy XIV since it’s virtually impossible to play a pirated copy and players are likely to pay out a lot more money on the game. If a person paid for a Final Fantasy XIV subscription monthly for 12 months with just one character for instance, it would cost a total of £107.88 plus the initial purchase cost of the game.

One might quite surprised that there’s in fact masses of totally free MMORPGs out there where the download is free with no subscription costs what-so-ever either, in fact no credit card is required. Many can downloaded freely and can be played with a never ending free subscription, but most make their money by offering optional extra features in exchange for real money or virtual money that needs to be purchased using real money. Saying this however, some games can be played easily throughout without ever paying out a penny as optional items can be earned or found within the game which is in some cases more fun anyway. Many games however aren’t so easy to complete and you’ll find it becomes very expensive to play as the game progresses as you’ll need to pay for almost mandatory items that you really can’t do without. Some so called “free” games can offer very little to free users however as they can be left helpless without paying after what is really just a trial of the early stages, so it’s worth doing a bit a homework before deciding on which game(s) to play. Also please watch out for free trails that take your credit card details and automatically charge the monthly subscription after the free trial unless it’s cancelled in plenty of time before the end of the trial period. To avoid ever paying to enjoy a game, consider using free private servers that are available for many quality MMORPGS (more about this later).

Most people will automatically assume that the quality of genuinely totally free MMORPGs is terrible? Well yes, this is sometimes the case, but there are also many excellent games out there with a good story lines, 100s or 1000s of quests and excellent 3D rendered graphics where arguably you’ll enjoy playing them as much or even more than many full priced subscription games. In fact once one starts playing some of the better games available, you’ll probably give up paying any paid subscriptions if you have any as there isn’t enough time in a day to play anything close to all the free games available and new games are appearing regularly. As well as playing very addictive games, you can often meet new people from around the world or you can usually even join forces with friends.

Lord of the Rings is an excellent example of a free MMORPG with very good graphics Etc, but unfortunately your game is somewhat restricted unless you take a paid restriction as there are limited quests and many disadvantages soon become apparent during the game where you’ll be constantly tempted to pay for upgrades or for a paid subscription. This particular title used to be totally subscription based until September 2010, so it’s still a treat, please click here for full details and a video review.

I won’t review the MMORPG games freely available here as there’s an excellent website that’s entirely dedicated to this purpose with great reviews and videos:

For FREE MMORPGs, please visit:

Enjoy!

You might also be interested in taking a look at http://mmohut.com/games/mmorpg/ for even more in depth reviews.

(Alternatively for all commercial MMORPGS, please visit http://www.mmorpg.com/ for another excellent website.)