A campaign by The Sunday Post to put an end to nuisance calls has seen a dramatic decrease in the volume of complaints about some of the worst offenders.
Nearly 20,000 readers have joined our battle to eradicate nuisance sales calls as we took our fight to Westminster.
The battle scored its first major victory when Cumbernauld-based DM Design was ordered to pay £90,000 for blighting the public with thousands of unwanted marketing calls over an 18-month period.
Now we can reveal the industry regulator has reported seven major firms have made significant improvements after it took them to task over their practices.
The most improved firm was The Claim Guys Ltd which saw a 77% drop in complaints about nuisance calls, followed by Talk Talk which was down 75%.
But Labour MP John Woodcock, who recently raised the issue in Parliament, has claimed more must be done.
He said: “These automated calls are a bloody menace and people are despairing that nothing seems to happen when they try to opt out of receiving them.
“The Sunday Post should be applauded for its nuisance call campaign which has at last resulted in the first company receiving a substantial fine.
“But this is just the tip of the iceberg. The Government needs to do more to enforce the law against the automated call bandits.”
David Hickson of The Fair Telecoms Campaign said: “As naming and shaming these companies is working, we need to continue to do it.
“Other organisations trying to tackle nuisance calls, like Ofcom, should take note of the ICO’s work.
“People are starting to sit up and take note of the issue and that can almost certainly be put down to the work being done by The Sunday Post.”
Mike Crockart, MP for Edinburgh West, who has tirelessly campaigned to end the blight of nuisance calls, said: “Progress is infuriatingly slow but these figures show that the pressure of the campaign is beginning to have an effect. “The Information Commissioner’s Office is doing a huge amount of work to follow up on complaints made by members of the public.
“As MPs we need to work with regulators to ensure that they have the resources and powers they need to tackle the abuse of people’s personal data by unscrupulous companies.
“I’m in the process of setting up an All Party Parliamentary Group on Nuisance Calls and I very much hope that Mr Woodcock will sign up to being a member.
“I want to get MPs from around the UK and across the political divide to find a way to bring the plague of nuisance calls under control.
“The campaign is still gathering support so it’s quite clear that people want us to act. Doing nothing is simply not an option.”
An Information Commissioner’s Office spokesman said: “While there has been an increase in the number of complaints we are looking at, it is encouraging to see the number of ones about specific companies we have highlighted has fallen.
“However, we are not complacent about the problem and will keep doing all we can.
“The media coverage has undoubtedly driven up public awareness on the issue and seen more complaints being directed to us.”
How far customer complaints have fallen
The Claims Guys Ltd………………………..down 77%
Talk Talk……………………………………….down 75%
British Gas……………………………………down 59%
We Fight Any Claim Ltd……………………..down 52%
Weatherseal Home Improvements Ltd….down 42%
Scottish Power……………………………….down 30%
Anglian Windows…………………………….down 17%Petition by iPetitions
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