I've just had a telephone call from a young man who explained that I may be eligible for a free home alert pendant device (I bet I'm not). Are you over 50, he asked? I had to think quickly so told him I had no need for one.
I've never so much as fallen over and am quite capable of looking after myself. It's like the leaflets that come through the post telling me to arrange and pay for my funeral now!
Can't I please stay feeling young for just a little longer!
Jean
Oh dear be careful.... Hope he didn't try to scam you! When I get a phone call and don't recognize that number, I always say Hello who is calling please!
I never confirm my name! If they say who they are... I tell them, sorry not interested and put my phone down straight away!
Best way! 👌
Don't get scammed!!!!!!
Yes, my first thought was is this a scam. I do the same as you and say I'm not interested and put the phone down.
Always best to put the phone down sharpish! Quite recently I was in an unusual mood for a bit of banter with what I suspected was a scam caller which ended with the caller telling me I was " a stupid effing lady!!" Charming. At least that left me in no doubt 😬
How rude, well you've learnt your lesson there - don't give them any of your time!
I'm exactly the same , never confirm my name and ask whose calling first!
I was once hassled in the street by someone selling funeral plans, I told them, my kids will get a house between them, I think the least they can do is arrange a funeral for me. She told me I was very selfish!
What a cheek that woman had!
Indeed. What really annoys me is that I get constant letters from cremation companies but my husband, the same age, gets nothing.
It's bewildering isn't it!
I have an older friend who, even when he realises the phone call is a scam, insists on engaging the caller in conversation to waste their time. I've told him it's best simply to put the phone down without speaking, but no - he insists on his little game. He's been scammed twice so far, once by a computer anti-virus seller and once by someone claiming to be acting for an accident assessor for a motor accident "he had" ten years previously. I've no doubt that it will happen again.
Steve
I find the best way to recognise scammers is to answer the phone and be greeted with 'How are you today'!
Yes, I'm clenching my teeth now. I think don't act like you're my friend I don't know you!
Its infuriating isnt it Jean. How to make us feel almost obsolete and passed it. This blanket assessment of people when a certain number (age) is attached to us is beyond it, it drives me crazy.
A woman rang me a few months ago. At first I thought she was calling from my GP surgery she spoke as though she knew me. Her next words were “ I dont want you to worry” well that got me worried straight away.
“I am calling to help you arrange your funeral” she said and promptly tried to sell me a funeral pre payment plan. I was absolutely furious and told her in no uncertain terms what she could do with her funeral plans. I wasn't very polite I am sorry to say. I was furious that they can get your phone number and deign to interrupt your day with their own unsolicited sales pitch. Not happy.
Knowing you as a vital, perfectly functioning friend who can run rings around many people half your age I am aggrieved on your behalf. But then you have reached “a certain chronological age” so, that it would seem, is all it takes. Any way when are we next having our girls day out shopping, lunching, fun day out, its been a few weeks since our last one. Be down your neck of the woods again shortly, get your thinking cap on for our next jaunt.
What a cheek, goodness that was a worse experience than my call today!
At one time I did think about paying and arranging my funeral, but the trend is moving away from funerals now and I think that's a good idea. Well it has to be, because my youngest daughter has told me I'm not having one. To be honest I'm glad I'm not, I think they're just added misery for everyone.
Jean
Absolutely agree Jean !
Both of us have opted for direct funeral,no ceremony and straight to the Wake lol
Snap. I want my family to sit round a table having a lovely meal and remembering me. Not in a crem.
Funerals and knowing one is looming ahead is pure misery for everyone isn't it. Yes, a nice meal for family to remember us is far nicer. I'd like them to have a good laugh too.
I did look into a funeral plan and discovered they deducted a hefty wodge of money, well over a £1000+ just for arranging the plan, so I decided that :- a) I wasn't going to die, or
b) in case I did 🙄 I'd save x amount a month towards the cost. 😂😂
Hmm they don't tell you about that when you first hear from them, do they! What a con, so glad I didn't do it.
I don't feel any need to be polite. They are interrupting your day ( and in the afternoon our naps) . Those who I suspect of being scammers I tell them I think they are scammers. I once had a woman get very cross with me and tell me I was a mad old biddy.
That’s just what I do! And I tell them to get lost!!
This is a scam currently doing the rounds - ignore it everyone.
Registering with the Telephone Preference Service is well worth while and also report the call to ICO
Thanks for letting us know that Cat.
I am registered with the Telephone Preference Service. I did it ages ago and don't usually get this type of call.
So did I, years ago and it hasn't made any difference. Can't stop those made abroad anyway. I have a phone I can block numbers on, but same companies can use different ones
Alas. We suffer very badly too despite being registered. It made me seriously rude on the phone with unknown callers. Once or twice have had to back track smartish.
Agreed!
Might be worth checking that you still are registered Jeanjeannie. I registered with them & somehow slid off their system a few years later. My number is also ex-directory....but make sure that preference is stated on you council tax account as otherwise companies can access it. I take great delight in telling these phone callers that they are breaking the law after asking for all their details....& that I will be reporting them. Gets rid of most. Otherwise you can pay for the number to show on ure phone before answering & block them....though the scammers will show a uk number but usually are based abroad.
I too am plagued with funeral plan scammers through letterbox or companies selling equity release.....all are rip of merchants.
The trouble is that when you purchase goods online you have to give details & usually a contact number for delivery notification. I cant prove it but I swear they sell numbers on....lol.
Will do.
We have been with TPS for twenty or more years, and we still often get unwanted calls. I always used to report scam calls to TPS, but it’s time consuming, so I rarely bother now.
Everybody should register with the Telephone Preference service as it's easy and costs nothing. I have found that, on the occasion a UK firm rings me, telling them they are committing a crime (which is perfectly true) results in abject apologies.The problem of overseas call centres that use fake UK telephone numbers is not so easy to deal with. I have Caller ID so if I see the call is not from a number I recognise I don't answer but ring back instead. Almost always get the "number not recognised" message. This has he advantage of discouraging further calls.
Could be ligit or could be a scam. I never give ANY personal information unless who I know who I'm talking to. If not interested best thing is to just hang up or say something like "not interested and don't call back and then hang up as rude as that may seem. If it sounds like something you might want, ask for the name of the company and then check them out and if legit YOU call them.
Jim
I'd never buy or respond in any way to a cold call. I don't hesitate in putting the phone down, after all I haven't asked them to call me. I should have asked him if I pushed the call button when out walking along the coastal footpath would they come and find me. 🤔😃😆
😂😂😂
I like my mobile as it tells me potential fraud or potential scam so I can ignore and block very easily. Most home improvements hang up if you say you are renting or this is a business line. Double glazing get excited go to count windows and forget to come back!!
Your count the windows made me laugh. I just say sorry I'm not interested and the phone goes straight down. That's good that your mobile phone tells you if it's a potential scam.
I’ve done that too, Bagrat. Or, if they’ve asked for the homeowner, have said I’ll just go and get them and then wandered off and left them hanging on😂
I have lived in my house for 5 years and the only people I give my home phone number to is the hospital 🏥. That way, when it rings I know its serious. Everyone else has my mobile number so I can view the number and decline the call. Somehow, a call centre has gotten hold of my home number and once a week for the past eighteen months, I've had a call asking for Mrs Miller. There is no Mrs Miller here and as far as I am aware there hasn't been one for years before me.I have tried everything to stop the calls from being nice, to swearing at them. I now say "I'll go and get her" and leave the phone handle alongside the TV 📺 but they still com back. They always ring when I'm snoozing or upstairs but I daren't ignore it.
So annoying isn't it!
Oh Jean feel your pain !
Sorry Jean, I was only trying to be helpful. 😂😂🤣🤣😂😂
Huh! I hate to tell you this but it was certainly the voice of a young male!
Sounds more like me every day 😉
Hiya Jean .............
Of course you can stay young ......... for always.
I used to fall over more often when I was young then I do now I am more mature (77) ! The only medical issue I had when I was young - that caused me to fall over - or drop to the floor - was an excess consumption of alcohol at a round of parties adjoining Bondi Beach or on a French ship when it was in port (used to trade between Sydney and Noumea). Oh yes ma'am - those were the days of trying to remember the previous evenings sunset and the current mornings sunrise 😂😂😂😂
Goodness - its a wonder I've only got AF and various bits of annoying arthritis.
John
Probably worth it. My alcohol consumption 67 -70 was particularly excessive, only one glass of wine very very rarely now. Once said to someone "went to a great party last night" she said " yes, I went too". Hey ho.
I pretend to be deaf. It costs them a fortune staying on the line while I make them repeat everything. When I tell them my ear trumpet needs servicing they realise I'm having them on 😂X
Naughty girl, but what fun!
My daughter has also said I’m not having a funeral. Her fathers was arranged by me and was lovely, for a funeral, but next one is her choice. As for the unwanted calls, 9 times out of ten I don’t answer as the town is usually shown under number and on the odd occasion I indulge them I always ask for them to email their company details sarcastically and arrange a call back once I’ve had the opportunity to read it, i tell them I presume they have my email as they had my number, I ask where they got my number from, ask for their confidentiality policy as someone has breached theirs by giving my number and they usually hang up by this stage. I recently had some time off work snd spent a lot of time watching afternoon television. It’s all funeral adds etc snd all aimed for over 50!! I never thought of 50 as being old. Enjoy the wisdom of age but it is after all just a number. ❤️
The age of 50 is definitely not old and that's really bad to be stopped in the street and someone try to sell you a funeral plan! I think I'd have been tempted to ask them if they knew something I didn't. Such a cheek!
I once worked for our local council and never did we ring people with offers like that, people We’re referred via social services or relatives on behalf of a close relation .
The only ones eligible for free lifelines were those on benefits.
I visited clients in their homes to find their needs etc and it was a most rewarding job, such clever
and talented lives they lived.
Unfortunately I am now one of them without the attributes.
I think funeral directors are being hit by the sudden trend for people not to have traditional funerals. They will be keen to advise us otherwise than the instant cremations that are becoming more popular now.
Am not sure they are being hit.....they've been greatly in demand sadly due to covid. The non trad funerals cost more no matter what they say.....I know from experience sadly.... lol xx
I imagine it would be bothersome. They typically get your info from online forms or paper forms or applications you may have filled out in the past.Browser security and online “hygiene” such as having cookies turned off except when required, deleting without opening unknown emails etc.
I never answer my phone unless I recognize the number. Scammers typically do not leave numbers or voice mail.
One of my favourite scams is the ol’ “this is your bank calling, it appears there is some illegal activity on your credit card...someone in Texas has made a large purchase of gift cards, please give us your account information so we can stop this” right? 😜
Give.them.nothing.
My older sister was scammed this way, they guessed her phone provider and were right. She rang me crying as she realised what she'd done, but my niece in Paris was already on the phone to the bank to cancel my sister's card. My sister had lost her husband a few weeks earlier and she'd received several odd calls. I could cheerfully have throttled those scammers.
Oh ya, they are ruthless. No financial institution or credit card company will ever ask for your personal info over the phone. I also remember that when my dad passed, no scammers called, no flyers in the mailbox. When mom passed, we were flooded with calls and mail (pre internet days) so there does seem to be a bias.
Another face of mine is the famous “Micros*ft tech support call, telling you your computer is infected, and you should give them immediate access to your computer to fix it remotely” gee...what could possibly go wrong with that...right? 😏
I too have had a call offering me the same but believe it to be a scam.
Yes, I believe it may well be as someone else here has said that it is.
These scammers make me so angry, as they are targeting the vulnerable who will not see through them as many of us here can. I still got a lot of scam calls even with the TPS, so I got a call blocker phone. Absolutely great things! The only problem is that sometimes a genuine caller needs to announce themselves if they’re not in the contacts list.
I would just like to say that actually a good funeral taken in a religious setting or in the Crem can give folk closure and what feels like a proper farewell celebration of their loved ones life. Most of these direct firms go as you say, direct to the crem with nothing, that isn't natural, the problem is that not everyone realises this when they are signed up from someone leafleting in the street. In all cultures across the world farewell and celebration is part of a good ending. As you say though if you have been through it with your family and you are all agreed that is different.
That’s true, Treschere and of course there are folk who prefer to stick with that tradition but it’s good to have choice these days. My Mum has made it very clear to my brother and I that she’s having a direct funeral and wants us to have a big party to celebrate her life instead. I’m sure that can be arranged 😊
Yes, each to their own way of how they'd like their funeral to be. My youngest daughter would certainly not cope with me having one. Like me she's ultra sensitive to sad or moving occasions. We both want to cry when we hear a marching band going through the streets.
Recently her ex mother in law (born and brought up in Scotland) died and the funeral her family arranged for her was amazing. The cars and procession behind came up the main street of our town and paused and then a lone piper walked slowly down from the other way to join them. Well just watching a video of it made us both weep. It was a wonderful tribute to a lovely lady.
That sounds very moving jeanjeannie, I’m not surprised you were both in tears.
I went to the Ideal Home Exhibition a few years ago and was approached by a young lady giving the hard sell on funeral plans; I was so offended that she targeted me when I was out for a day with my daughter that I was very rude and asked her 'Do I really look like I want to arrange my funeral today?!' and stormed off.
Good for you being straight to the point. It's a wonder they didn't have a display of coffins for you to choose from.
😂😂😂
Good for you ! The cheek of it!!!
Watch out too for the ones that phone you and say ‘ I believe you were involved in a car accident recently’ !! I just can’t believe the audacity of these people!! Something needs to be done about these scammers or should I call them scum!!!
Sounds like a very apt name for them!
Hi Jean. Always be careful as these scammers are pretty good at what they do. The worse one's are the internet scammers sending an email with a 'link' to click on. Just delete them and never click the link they send - it's likely to put a virus in your computer. From there they can get bank details (if you do online banking) and much information about a person. Face Book is the worse one for this - sometimes you get a friends request from someone you don't know. If you accept it then they can send messages that look they are coming from you. What a crazy world we live in !
Best,
Paul
Yes, crazy world sums it up exactly! Everyone is desperate for more money - no matter how much they have it's never enough and if you can fool the over 50's why not! Grrrr!
I once purchased a second hand stair lift for mum and dad. They had no electronic means of paying so I had to do it in my name. BIG mistake! You would expect a stairlift to last a while, when regularly serviced, but I get all the adverts for new ones, for elderly insurance, funerals, assisted living, cruises for old folk, shoes and slippers that look hideous. You name it, I get it.
However I love phone calls from people telling me I have a computer virus etc. I string them along for ages if I'm in the mood. I figure while I'm tying them up they are not getting to someone vulnerable. My husband can keep them going for ages and wears them out with all his tech questions to confuse them, but never quite enough to make them realise. He considers a win if he gets put through to the supervisor and can string that one out for a while. He ends it by saying he's so confused he had better get his boss. Then he puts the phone down on his desk and gets back to work. Eventually they realise that they have been had.
Don't be afraid of these people. If you didn't ask for something and you get a call about it then it's a scam.
They’re usually from some company who has sold on your details - or websites that have them (ones you add are you between 45-55 & so on). Never give ANY detail to them over the phone or door, always call yourself to companies you want to or your bank by the numbers you already have. Tell them to send you a letter as they already have your details they contacted you (then investigated the authenticity yourself)Also some of these pay your funeral saving plans - you’re probably better saving the money in your own account because if they liquidate or fold other ways - your money has gone.I just say no thanks and put the phone down or persistent ones let them run up the phone bill on their time by saying can I put you on hold a minute (just leave it by the radio)
Finally register with the telephone preference service (similar to mail ps) and it should stop nuisance calls or if it’s mobile just block every sales number - that did it for me I don’t get them now
Thoroughly agree with you -I think they should be pursued - they are age bashing! 50 indeed!! And could easily be a scam!!
Interesting. I'm in the U.S. and I called a number provided (I thought) by my bank (large national bank) to speak to someone about an automobile loan. I got the same prompts. Am I older than 50....Or am I younger than 50. I hit older than 50 and got the same. I'm not sure if it was a recording, but thought it was a live person and started talking to her, but she was either VERY rude and kept talking at me (or maybe it was a recording. 😃 ). Anyway, I hung up. I called again and chose the "under 50) prompt and got the same (but a male speaking). Made me so mad. I hung up again. I don't know if my bank's phone number has been ambushed, or their website. I might call them and let them know what occurred. It's craziness out there. That's for sure.
That sounds strange!
We have call screening and haven't had a sales/scam call I in the 6/7 years we've had it. In the days before that, I used to say I had something on the hob to stir and then leave them hanging for 10 mins and if they were stupid enough to still be waiting, I'd apologise and say I'd be another minute and leave them again. If the same company were annoying enough to make a repeat call, I'd give them a blast of my personal alarm, which was as loud as a foghorn and never hear from them again 😊.
Love that! I just might buy myself a whistle!! 🤣
😁 👍.
I hate those calls I have the screening too and can also see who's calling. I once answered sharply and it was the hospital! Had to change my tone quickly.
How are you these days Ducky, haven't seen you on the forum for a while?
Thank you for asking. I've been lurking with the odd reply to peeps but I'm planning an update post today or tomorrow. Its not been a great 4 months and things have taken a bit of a dramatic turn so folks may need to get comfy with a beverage and snacks when I post. 😁.
Ok, will get myself a bag of popcorn and a drink. x
🤣. A full pot and a buffet may be a better idea 😁.
I'm sitting comfortably - waiting for your post.
So sorry for the delay. Busy day. Have just posted War and Peace.
Hi jeanjeannie50Of course we want to stay young and independent for as long as possible. When I get any call from an unknown number esp the ones beginning with 00 or just any suspicious remarks I immediately say, ‘This call is being passed to police station now.’ I never get a chance to hang up on them. They are gone in a flash.
Ooh I love that response. I remember years ago there was a spoof that was recorded. A man answered the phone to a cold caller and pretended he was a detective inspector investigating the death of the person the cold caller had asked for. He was cross questioning how the caller knew the lady and of course when he said he didn't, the detective accused him of telling lies and asked him to come in for an interview. It was really funny.
Makes you feel fantastic doesn’t it.!!!😳 3 years ago whilst on holiday in Spain my girlfriend ordered a meal and the waiter said to me ……. And what would DAD like to order.??😡I said………… errrrrr nothing, muchas gracias.
Oooh, what a thing to say to you! Perhaps the Spanish waiter got confused with his translation to English. Silly man!
I have ‘caller guard’ on my phone and remarry get any information unsolicited calls as they have to say who they are for me to accept them, usually end the calls. We were driven to find this because we were getting So many around meal times.
That sounds good. How do you get that in your phone?
I'm on the waiting list for an Ablation now
I'm in Wales. Am I doomed?
Ablation or not. I'm so confused.. 
I'm new here and struggling
