Brendan Burgess
Founder
- Messages
- 52,073
I got this email today from the Data Protection Commisioner who seems to be on the ball.
I got nothing from the ComReg who seems to be a complete waste of space.
Firstly, UPC inform us that you are an existing customer. They explained that the reason they have started calling you this year, when as you say they had not attempted to call you in recent years, is that up to the end of 2009 the only products which they could supply to your residence related to TV. More recently, however, UPC has upgraded its systems in the area and they are now able to supply other products such as Broadband and VOIP services. As a result of the new services coming on stream, they have started to contact existing customers in the area to inform them. Your UPC account was marked 'yes' to marketing and, as a result, your number was passed on to their call centre for outbound calls. This explains why they attempted to call you.
I should point out, for the avoidance of any doubt, that even where a person's number is recorded on the national opt-out register, companies with whom you have an existing customer relationship are entitled to call you for marketing purposes until you specifically tell them that you do not consent to receiving such calls. Therefore, service providers such as your phone supplier, electricity supplier, bank, etc are all allowed to phone you for marketing purposes unless you have asked them not to call you.
With regard to the fact that the number showed up on your phone as missed calls, we established that the calls were made by an automated dialler. The dialler could dial up to thirty six numbers at the same time and if those calls are answered at the other end, the automated system transfers it to an available agent. However, if all the agents are already on other calls, the call is abandoned by the system. This resulted in what appeared to be silent calls when a person picked up their phone. Obviously, the settings were set too high on the automated dialler as there were a number of complaints about this matter. As a result of our intervention, management in the call centre has been changed and new procedures have been adopted to include a more sensible time line on the dialler. They have also more stringent monitoring systems in place and they have adopted better information technology resources into the area to avoid a repeat of this problem. Needless to say, we will be watching that space closely in the short term to ensure that the new procedures are actually working.
Finally, UPC has confirmed that your account is now excluded from further marketing and, consequently, within a short period of time you should not receive any further marketing calls from them.
I got nothing from the ComReg who seems to be a complete waste of space.
Firstly, UPC inform us that you are an existing customer. They explained that the reason they have started calling you this year, when as you say they had not attempted to call you in recent years, is that up to the end of 2009 the only products which they could supply to your residence related to TV. More recently, however, UPC has upgraded its systems in the area and they are now able to supply other products such as Broadband and VOIP services. As a result of the new services coming on stream, they have started to contact existing customers in the area to inform them. Your UPC account was marked 'yes' to marketing and, as a result, your number was passed on to their call centre for outbound calls. This explains why they attempted to call you.
I should point out, for the avoidance of any doubt, that even where a person's number is recorded on the national opt-out register, companies with whom you have an existing customer relationship are entitled to call you for marketing purposes until you specifically tell them that you do not consent to receiving such calls. Therefore, service providers such as your phone supplier, electricity supplier, bank, etc are all allowed to phone you for marketing purposes unless you have asked them not to call you.
With regard to the fact that the number showed up on your phone as missed calls, we established that the calls were made by an automated dialler. The dialler could dial up to thirty six numbers at the same time and if those calls are answered at the other end, the automated system transfers it to an available agent. However, if all the agents are already on other calls, the call is abandoned by the system. This resulted in what appeared to be silent calls when a person picked up their phone. Obviously, the settings were set too high on the automated dialler as there were a number of complaints about this matter. As a result of our intervention, management in the call centre has been changed and new procedures have been adopted to include a more sensible time line on the dialler. They have also more stringent monitoring systems in place and they have adopted better information technology resources into the area to avoid a repeat of this problem. Needless to say, we will be watching that space closely in the short term to ensure that the new procedures are actually working.
Finally, UPC has confirmed that your account is now excluded from further marketing and, consequently, within a short period of time you should not receive any further marketing calls from them.