strange phone calls

hi there
i keep getting strange phone calls from a company in london thats says it is doing market research.
they then ask if i've got anybody at home who have recently graduated from university or college.when i say no they apologise for bothering me then hang up.

i was wondering if anybody else has had calls like these.

thanks
andy

[Paul K]

At least they hung up If they ring again ask for the research company name and a contact number/ address to complain to about being bombarded with unsolicited calls
Are you on the TPS list?
http://www.tpsonline.org.uk/tps/

[nffc]

Probably genuine, your name's probably got on some survey list or something.

Just say you want to be removed from the survey list or something- ask about the Market Research Society as well- that's their kinda official body.

Market Research is not sales so it's not governed by the TPS, so that won't do any good. Most of it is either a list of numbers that are dialled, normally supplied by some company or organisation- and sometimes the call operatives don't know where the numbers have come from.

Your best bet is to try and acquire (from the researcher) the phone number for their head office- if it is genuine they should have no problem with that and then you can escalate if you want to.

But surely saying you're ineligible then they should remove you from the survey list?

[I've worked in call centres!]

[nffc]

Originally Posted by Paul

At least they hung up If they ring again ask for the research company name and a contact number/ address to complain to about being bombarded with unsolicited calls
Are you on the TPS list?
http://www.tpsonline.org.uk/tps/

Paul- the TPS doesn't cover Market Research.

thanks for the reply paul
yes i am on the tps list.i think if they call again i will do as you suggest and try for a contact number,when i asked for the research company name before they acted a bit cagy and hung up.
iv'e tried 1471 but all i get is the caller witheld there number.

andy

[Paul K]

Originally Posted by nffc

Paul- the TPS doesn't cover Market Research.

It looks like it does to a point, just depends on the type of research and who it's being done for:
From http://www.mrs.org.uk/standards/tps.htm

Anyone undertaking this kind of activity has to purchase the TPS list and screen out all TPS numbers against their target list. Market research is not this kind of activity and therefore there is no requirement to screen research samples against the TPS. However, if part of your project also includes the collection of personal details to pass on to your client (with permission from the respondent of course) for marketing or sales purposes then you would need to screen against the TPS.

[nffc]

Originally Posted by Paul

It looks like it does to a point, just depends on the type of research and who it's being done for:
From http://www.mrs.org.uk/standards/tps.htm

Genuine market research rarely asks for traceable, personal information unless the client has already supplied it (for example if they contract out a survey from their mailing list)- call centre ops rarely see it, and even then genuine research the results are treated anonymously as well!