Hi paulsumner
The main organisation in the United Kingdom regulating the Direct
Marketing industry is the Direct Marketing Association (DMA). Note
that this is not affiliated to the US organisation of the same name,
although they have similar functions and remits.
http://www.dma.org.uk/
Although there is no legislative requirement, all reputable direct
marketing companies in the UK are expected to comply with the DMA's
code of conduct and in practice, they all do. The DMA is concerned
about satisfying the wishes of consumers who do not want to receive
junk mail or unsolicited telephone calls, as evidenced by their
statement at
http://www.dma.org.uk/Shared/Consumer.asp
"The DMA's Preference Services enable you to register your wish to opt
out of receiving unsolicited messages by e-mail, mail, telephone or
fax."
From the above link (Consumer.asp) you can select individual pages to
opt out of various different direct marketing services.
To opt out of unsolicited telephone calls you need to register your
details with the Telephone Preference Service (TPS):
http://www.tpsonline.org.uk/tpsr/html/default.asp
From their website:
"Under Government legislation introduced on 1 May 1999 It is unlawful
to make unsolicited direct marketing calls to individuals who have
indicated that they do not want to receive such calls.
"You can either do this by contacting companies directly and asking
them not to phone you or you can register with a central service (The
Telephone Preference Service) to stop all such calls."
The registration process is free and quick, and can be done online via
http://www.tpsonline.org.uk/tpsr/html/Register.asp
To opt out of unsolicited faxes the relevant body is the Facsimile
Preference Service:
http://www.fpsonline.org.uk/fpsr/html/default.asp (main website)
http://www.fpsonline.org.uk/fpsr/html/Register.asp (registration page)
To opt out of unsolicited direct mail ("junk mail") you use the
Mailing Preference Service:
http://www.mpsonline.org.uk/mpsr/html/default.asp
http://www.mpsonline.org.uk/mpsr/html/Register.asp (to register)
To opt out of unsolicited commercial email (commonly known as spam)
you can follow the guidelines at
http://www.dmaconsumers.org/emps.html
Note that this is less effective than the other opt-out services, for
the simple reason that most spammers are not concerned about complying
with relevant voluntary or even mandatory codes of conduct or laws;
what's more, most spam is international in origin and scope.
Although I haven't personally used any of the above services I know
that they work from two sources. Firstly I have personally worked for
direct marketing companies in the past, and we regularly updated our
customer databases from the DMAs opt-out lists. Secondly, I have
spoken to people who have used the service and they say that unwanted
cold calls and direct mail were reduced to close on nothing after
registration.
I hope this helps and you manage to reduce the unwanted calls on your
phone line!
Regards
iaint-ga |
