We are ex directory and not listed so recieve no unwanted calls - just ask to go on the blue list. The other way is to write a letter to EDF but as always send recorded (as you know it will end up in the bin if you don't). Bon chance !
I have to admit that I answer depending on my mood.
Sometimes I just grunt a bit and then hang up.
Sometimes I say HHHHHHEEEEELLLLLLLLLLLOOOOOOOOOOO.HHHHEEELLLLLLLLOOOOOOOO etc
Sometimes I just speak in English until they hang up.
Sometines I say nothing too.
Sometimes I can be really quite polite and say no thank you.
We've been on FT orange list for a while now and in the start it really did help in reducing the number of calls but just recently they have increased again to about 5 a day.
Am in st Lucia at the movement…too much rum punch!!!
I was thinking more trapeze? am off to town now...the snow has started and need to shop before it really starts blizzarding (is that even a word?)
Are you prejudiced against Australians - well that's what I assumed she must be :-D
Annette...you appear to be upside down!
if you are with FT or orange..their red and orange lists can help stop cold calling.. but it doesn't cover other telco's
So fed up with these nuisance calls so when they ask me mrs…and their voice goes up at the end, I say NO, she,s abandoned the house and left owing a lot of money! Or I just say out, put the receiver down and walk away. It works!!
like, like, like!
It drives us mad as well Jo. Cold calling is real pain in France and it's not only EDF. We've been ex-directory forever but companies use automatic diallers which only switch to an agent when one answers the phone. Hence the slight time lag and a click before some poor battery chicken style agent sees your name flash up on their screen and they start their standard pitch.
You hit the nail on the head there Brian.....there is no allowance for anything other than Mr owning the property.....I had no idea that France was so sexist until it was too late and we had moved! but seeing as we are not French either...and my OH is also a Dr.....we are not only pestered by these bl**dy calls....they then have the nerve to disconnect once they establish we dont fit their requirements....I really am going to buy a great big whistle and start blowing!
The PV people are pushing contractors who do the surveys (which they are not) but are contracted to do so by EDF. If any of them want bank details or the like then that is outside their remit. They are only supposed to take details for these contractors to send out sales people who pretend to know what they are talking about. We did it once, but my wife took the EDF letter from her and then called the contact number for EDF sales and confirmed the person was who she claimed. Sure, naturally crooks slide in between, nobody is forcing anybody to invite them into their homes, so just give them nothing.
Jean, IP does not help if you need your phone for buzz and some of your clients are facing themselves the same problem so they will simply not answer a suppressed #. If you refuse private # calls, your # than is also invisible.
Brain, only as supplement: there were many reports recently on French TV about various charlatans who are enjoying to generate bank data of EDF clients, which they can then use cheerfully for any kind of nonsense. I called EDF in Nimes, saying that I will only accept changes in their policies on a written basis. The next day EDF Nimes called back to confirm EDF does not do telephone surveys and certainly would not ask for bank details via phone-lines.
Been waiting for this all day. Had a cold call, went into the chat. Got so far and asked what his accent is. He played hard to get, so I challenged him that if he wanted to talk to me he could answer one little question like that then I would continue. He said Algeria. I said that my brother-in-law Jamel is Algerian too and then he eased off. Then I got round to politely telling him that we did not want what EDF were offering but hope he had better luck with other people. He then thanked me very warmly before wishing me a good evening.
Why? Well, the traffic on this thread shows how angry people are and what we think is going on. After reading the research document yesterday I felt it worth trying out any kind of antagonism on the part of that caller. If anything he was sympathetic and I realised that it is me who is usually unsympathetic. I cannot accept the racism notion but believe the brief the call centres have and the way their people are trained carries many prejudices including that of the people being driven because they are trying to earn an income. It strikes me from this post that they have a terrible job with poor return for a stressful input that bl**dy EDF should be doing themselves. I like them less by the hour at the moment.
They're also 'ageist' as they say that, whatever it is they're dealing with/flogging, applies to people under 65. I say I'm over 65 and they hang up.
Tossers!
I expect to get a good few years yet.
Jo, I think you're being too ready to take offence here. I've read back what you've written, the first case putting the phone down when you say you aren't the owner is just rude, no more, no less, the second case sounds like a mixture of the cold caller being afraid that they're going to get tangled up with someone they can't understand (that's not racist, that's just human) and also you wanted to talk to the cold caller about a problem you've got which iwould have nothing to do with teh call centre. I'm not surprised he panicked!
My husband who has an unmistakably strong English accent has never had the phone put down on him but then he's fluent in French.
I am always polite (well nearly). The reason being that I did this job once, for a very short period of time and the targets set were so high. However I usually explain in French that I do not speak French that well, and would not understand the conversation (I say this with a very bad accent and unfortunately not very good French). I apologise and wish them "bon continuation avec an autre person". Usually this is OK except for one occasion when a man said to me "I am nigerian and I speak French, why cannot you" (in English) to which I replied in English "Well if you are that well educated what are you doing working for EDF" (I also told him to feck off). Sorry - however I have had no calls since.
Try saying, "Un instant, s'il vous plaît, j'ai quelqu'un à la porte." Or similar, then leave the phone off the hook for as long as you can.