Just off the phone from an unusual cold call, from a company called Stopcomm Ltd.
This unwanted marketing call came from a writemyessayservice.co.uk company that claims to stop unwanted marketing calls… an irony in itself. I’m still not sure quite what to make of this one.
The company called with number withheld, and identified themselves as StopComm Ltd. They apparently are offering a system to reduce nuisance calls, and are nothing to do with TPS (Telephone Preference Service). They were trying to sell me a “box system” costing £74.99 that stops unwanted sales calls. The box, called the “Stop Box”, this appears to be a home landline blocking system that uses CLID Caller Display.
What’s interesting, is that the cold caller had my name, home phone number and postcode. When I asked where they’d got my details, I was told the following:
“obviously, when people have phoned you, you said something like ‘not interested… no thanks’ or words to that effect, and they have reported that to ourselves”
Still unclear, I asked again, to be told:
“I’ll terminate the call as you’re not happy”
The representative confirmed the following:
- Company name: Stopcomm Ltd
- Phone number: 0845 463 8584
- Website: www.stopcomm.com
Interestingly, the box system that they are trying to sell me, called the Stop-box, is priced £64.99 on their website, not the £74.99 I was quoted, and the “order now” box returns a “coming soon” message. The phone number given to me by the cold caller doesn’t seem to match the number on their website. Their site also contains a number of spelling mistakes and typos.
The same product appears to be on a similar sounding site, stop-box.co.uk, listing what looks like the same essay product for £49.99
Still not quite sure what to make of this call and how they got my details, and can;t find a lot online about this firm. Anyone else had contact?
My Mother-in-Law who is 82 has just been taken in by this Company. She has given her Bank Details to the caller who has charged her £74.99 to receive what looks like photocopied literature on how to stop unwanted calls. They have sent her a call blocking device to put on her phone line. This device does not even get any power to it when added to the phoneline! Now going to see if can make any contact with them to get her money back but don’t hold out any hope.!
I have just discovered my mother at the age of 86 has been had by these people. Have you had any success getting in touch
Patty
Ha, yes the cold call irony was not lost on me either. They wanted to set up a monthly d/d for £1.90 as well as the stop box, then asked for my bank card details. I said no thanks, but I’d be interested in checking out their website, which I did. It was riddled with spelling and grammatical errors, very unprofessional. So, I used their “contact” box to let them know!
Yep me too at 70 and should know better! £79.99 it cost me. The box took 10 days to arrive, did not work and all attempts to contact StopBox, Seabourne Road, Bournemouth have failed. I am in the process of reporting the ‘company’ to Kent rading Standards.
I hope these comments plug the entrance to the Stop Box gold mine!
My Mum is an 85 year old woman who registered with the CPS (Stopcomm)in July, and since receiving the box has noticed a considerable drop in her nuisance calls, which is exactly what they said!! It’s the best thing for my Mum as she used to receive up to 5 a day sometimes, now however she doesn’t even receive one a day.
StopComm in my eyes is a brilliant company and says exactly what they set out to do.
It looks like i have been conned as well.Have seen enough tv programmes saying not to part with money first but was conned by the salesman on the phone.like others i can get no reply to any phonecalls or emails i have sent,what a doughnut i have been.Was relying on the return of money for my holiday next week being disabled and relying on benefits money is tight at the best of times,have learned a lesson that i could not afford to have done.warn as many as you can.
Just been contacted by “Albert” calling from CPS, Stopcomm in Bournemouth, gave me his number as 0845 4749636. Offered to cut nuisance calls for £1.90/month over a 3 year period. Put the number into my computer while he was on the line and it came up as a scam site. He was unfazed and gave me the website address and suggested I call him back if I was interested.
I am 64 so it appears they are targeting OAPs. Will not be calling back although would love to get rid of nuisance calls!!!
Hi all, have been conned as well the call blocker box worked ok for 2 weeks then stopped all calls coming through, family and friends reporting a line failure , when i disconnected the box all work well, but cannot get any replies from this company by phone or email to put the problem right have been trying all day, phone engaged or not answering.
I spoke with the CPS two weeks ago and they were very convincing. I was initially nervous to give my bank details over the phone and was assured everything would be ok. £79.99 is a bit steep but the service is terrific. I have had no nuisance phonecalls ever since and I am now one happy 80 year old lady.
i purchased one of there boxes for£79.99 for a year but paid for it on my credit card.After 28 days i phoned them and asked where was my box the reply i got was that it had been sent but if i did not want it then i should return it within 7 days and i would get a refund,as it is now the 20/10/2013 and there is no money returned to my credit card i have put the matter in there hands.
I too have had a phone call from this company but smelt a rat so decided to look at their website and it seems just as well that I have done so.
I was called today from 001202319024,(00120 is a USA number)from an Indian sounding lady. She told me I have been identified as getting many nuisance calls and they have been authorised by the uk gov to give me a box to put on my phone to stop these calls forever.
She claimed they work with TPS and they are called CPS. She asked me for card details to take about £80 for the box.
I told her no way would I give out my card details to a cold caller, she said they are based in bournmouth and web site http://www.stopcomm.com.
Site exists under a different name. I feel a lot of people will fall for this scam. I asked how the box will update its numbers to block, and was told I can push a button after a call
to block it in the future, but she claims I would never get a nusance call again so any new calls should not have got past the box in the first place. I was not informed that I need caller line identity on my phone, most phone providers charge for this.
Dont get caught by these lying scammers!
You can buy such boxes much cheaper on the net but the problem is they do not update the numbers to block. It’s like having antivirus program that you can’t update.
my 80 year old sister was sold a small box claiming to be a call blocker for £50, exactly the same thing is available on the internet for £3, I have returned it to the address it claims to have come from, but don’t hold out much hope, I think it will be a trip to trading standards
looks as though ive been done to! though I wont let this rest. cant get through on phone or e mail. both trading standards and credit card company next on my list. keep after them, don’t let them get away with this scam.
I was conned too, paid £79 for this cheap looking box as I was getting between 5 and 10 cold calls a day,no good when I work shifts. The box arrived but doesn’t seem to do anything still received cold calls on a daily basis but I do seem to get through to the company in Bournmouth by phone to complain. They tell me to press buttons in some order so the box will work but it still doesn’t work. Disconected it and put it in the drawer and opted out on electoral list of marketing calls and suprise suprise NO MORE COLD CALLERS….should have done that in the first place a complete waist of money don’t buy one….
My 89 year old mum was also conned to buy this box from a cold caller. It does not work, and since she gave her card number over the phone, considerable sums of money have been disappearing from her bank account over several months, I have only just realised this and have now cancelled her card, but BEWARE, check your statements carefully.
I too bought the device and it didn’t work with my equipment. I was told that it had been returned too late for complete refund but they would send 50%. I know the company was broken into over the Christmas break but would have expected reply by now. I followed advice of Consumer Advice and Trading Standards but get no reply at all to either letters (sent by recorded delivery) or e-mail so agree with many of the other comments. Doubt whether it is worth paying out for small claims.nn1nn1nn1