the richest man in atherstone

Having established my small web design business, I have submitted my details to many online directories for SEO and marketing purposes. Unfortunately, this also has the side-effect of being bombarded by cold callers anxious to sell me their wares.

As much as I hate being on the receiving end of cold calls, I don't have anything against the people or companies making the calls. The tele-sales people are only doing their job after all. I've read many reports and articles that testify that cold-calling is a great sales and marketing method and I have no evidence to support otherwise. I guess cold-calling must be successful, otherwise the companies wouldn't do it - I'm actually considering learning how to do it myself or hiring someone to do it for me.

Anyway, I thought that it may be interesting to some folk to read who I (as a young small business) have been getting cold-calls from. I've written my own personal experiences of the companies that have called me, but depending on the individual that calls, your experience may be different. So without further ado:

08453677200: InfoServe/Yahoo
This is company called Infoserve that act on behalf of Yahoo for the UK to sell online advertising space. Contrary to other reports I've read, they are a legitimate company and they will only contact you after you fill in this form to be included in Yahoo's Local Search (so perhaps not really a cold call).Unfortunately, to ensure your business is listed in Yahoo Local, you have to submit your details and take a call from them.

Most of the folk I've spoken to at InfoServe were fairly friendly and not too pushy. I've found that you have to pretend you're interested in buying the advertising space to ensure they put you in the correct category and geographical location but that's just my experience.

01903765181 - Federation of Small Businesses
Not sure exactly how these guys got my details but I'm guessing they found me in an online directory. They are legitimate and help owners with all aspects of running their business for an annual membership fee. I am seriously considering joining up as I think they have a lot to offer, however we keep missing each other's calls.

They called me first and left a message on my voicemail, I called them back but there was no answer. Someone else from the FSB called me a few days later and left message, I called them back but they were on another call. This happened a few times until I gave up. I still get calls from them about once a week but, by sheer coincidence, they only call when I'm away from the phone!

0870500660 - CreditSafe
This is a Welsh company that sells a searchable and downloadable databases of businesses. They are very persistent, although not altogether rude, but it can be quite difficult to get them off the phone. Their product looked quite interesting. They gave me a demo over the phone and I thought the potential of having a list of local businesses would be useful for direct mailing and cold calling purposes. Their main selling point was the credit ratings they give to the businesses along with director names, and CCJ's - although this wasn't a very good selling point to me as I always get payment up front.

After telling the guy I was slightly interested but wouldn't be buying today, he got quite pushy and kept offering me more and more discounts. I think it went from £400 for a list of my local businesses to £70 to free access for two months with a host of added extras. He made analogies that didn't make sense such as telling me I spend more on milk and pens than marketing my business. When I replied that I'll spend £1 on milk for a week but £40 on a newspaper advertisement he got a little upset!

01315618480 - BT Tradespace
I get quite a few calls from BT since I set up what they call a TradeSpace on their website. I'm not quite sure exactly what they're selling (or, to be honest, what the point in TradeSpace is) because I've not been around when they've phoned. I think it's something to do with networking but, on first impressions, it isn't very compelling. Perhaps I'll be persuaded after talking to them.

01189603979 - Yell.Com
Not really a cold call as Yell contacted me after I submitted my details for free listing in their directory. Only had one call from them, in which I said I was only interested in the free listing for now. They were very friendly and professional and I've not heard from them since.

01252516111 - Thomson Directory
Same as Yell (above). Very professional and courteous and not pushy when i said I was only interested in the free listing.

There's been a few more, but I can't remember them right now. I'd love to hear your experiences of cold-calls from the companies listed above to see how they vary from mine. Feel free to drop a comment with your experiences of cold calls from other companies,too.

Why is it so difficult opening a Savings Account for children? One of my goals for 2007 is to set up a savings plan for my kids and because they had some money given to them at Xmas, I thought it would be an ideal opportunity to change their accounts to something a bit more interest-generous. I identified the Save4it account offered by Halifax Building Society as a good option. Not only does it have a good interest rate but the kids get a free money box.

In short I wish I'd never have bothered.

I thought I'd do it over the phone, as I don't have time to visit the branch - bank's opening hours seem to be restricted so that only the unemployed can visit them and the unemployed shouldn't have any money After assurances that I wouldn't have to visit their premises, I went through a long-winded process to open the accounts. Anyway, at the end of the phone call, I was told that I would receive some documentation to sign, then I had to show my I.D and the kid's birth certificates at the branch contrary to what I'd been told originally. Grudgingly I agreed - I wasn't in the mood for an argument.

The next Saturday, I went into town armed with loads of I.D. My passport has expired and my driving licence still has my old address on it so I wanted to be sure I had enough ammunition to prove I was who I said I was. I arrived outside the Halifax at 12:05. Guess what time the bank closed? You got it - midday. So it was a completely wasted journey.

The Saturday after, I got up extra early and visited the Halifax again only to be told, I couldn't see an advisor without an appointment, even though when I entered the building, three advisors were stood around laughing and joking. After much persuasive diplomacy, they finally agreed to finish the opening of my account. I stood as an advisor typed my details into the computer, then she asked for some I.D. I removed my wad of I.D documents from my bag and showed them to her. She told me none of them were acceptable. By this time I'd had enough. I collected my stuff and walked out.

The ironic thing is that I opened an IceSave savings account for myself around two months ago with no bother whatsoever. I filled in an online form and the account was opened. Just like that.

I'd never used the Halifax before now but rest-assured no matter how good their products are, after experiencing their customer service I don't think I'll ever be using them. Meanwhile, I'm on the look out for a replacement Children's Savings account as I send off for a new passport and driving licence...

I found out yesterday the the Post Office can provide your home telephone service and after the experience I had yesterday, I'm glad I don't use them.

I popped round to see my mum on my way home from work and she informed me her telephone wasn't working. I had a look and sure enough, there was no dial tone. Obviously my mum couldn't call the Post Office to log a fault, so she asked if I could do it. "No problem," I said and when I got back home I gave them a ring.

After being on hold for 15 minutes, I got through to an advisor and I explained the situation to him. Something along the lines of the following conversation ensued:

PO Rep: "Unfortunately you can't raise a fault on your mum's behalf."

Me: "Why not?"

PO Rep: "It's against the Data Protection Act."

Me: "I work in IT and so I'm pretty familiar with the Data Protection Act. Which part of it stops me logging a fault on my mum's line?"

PO Rep: "It's to do with personal details, so we're not allowed to do it."

Me: "I'm not asking for personal details, I just want to inform you of the fault and raise a call to sort it out."

PO Rep: "Well..er..it's in the terms and conditions."

Me: "What's in the terms and conditions?"

PO Rep: "That only the subscriber can log a fault call."

Me: "But she can't log a fault call - her phone line doesn't work."

PO Rep: "Can she use a mobile?"

Me: "She hasn't got a mobile?"

PO Rep: "Is there a phone box nearby that she can use?"

Me: "Your telling me I've got to tell my mother to go out late in the evening and find a phone box to call you?"

PO Rep: "I'm afraid that's our policy. Your mum will have to call us."

Me: "But she can't, can she? Have you any idea how ridiculous this is?"

PO Rep: "I understand but my hands are tied."

etc. etc.

I've got to hand it to the guy I was speaking to. He was calm and polite throughout the call and sympathised with the situation I was in.

In the end, my mum had to get a friend to pretend to be her to get a fault raised. She's now looking for another telephone provider after encountering the stupidity of the Post Office head-on. My mum's always been a big supporter of the Post Office in the past (much to my disapproval as their offers are almost always uncompetitive), but I think that she's finally seen the light and the Post Office have lost a very good customer.

At the beginning of December 2005, I opened a new Savings Account to replace my Lloyds TSB Online Saver. I was on track to completing my objective of accumulating a £4'500 Emergency Fund and wanted somewhere to keep it until the time came to use it.

I searched for a Savings Account that offered the best interest rate available and found the ICICI HiSAVE account to be the best boasting an impressive 5.15% AER.

I had heard that a number of people had experienced delays opening this account. An equal number of people had informed me that these problems had since been resolved, so I went ahead and opened the ICICI HiSAVE account.

I had no problems with the set up although, unusually, there was a requirement to post a cheque of £1 to ICICI to get the account going. There was no option to do a bank transfer or use a Debit Card. It took just a couple of weeks to send off the cheque and recieve my username and password.

A few days later, as a test to check that I understood the process, I moved £5 to the HiSAVE account. The money was transferred okay, so I moved an additional £495 over to it. A day or so later, I transferred another £2'000 making a balance of £2'501.

On Christmas Eve, I moved the final £2000 of my Emergency Fund to the account. Then I enjoyed the Cristmas period. On the 29th Dec, I checked the ICICI HiSAVE account online and saw that the total was £6'501! At first I was happy. They'd given me £2'000. Upon checking the statement, my delight quickly changed to horror. ICICI had duplicated my previous transaction taking two lots of £2'000 from my Current Account.

This was a big problem because my Current Account didn't have enough money in it to cover a £4000 debit and I was due to paying bills from it starting on the 1st of January!

I quickly logged out of the ICICI HiSAVE website and logged in to my Lloyds TSB Current Account. Unusually, the money hadn't been debited. I had £4000 in my HiSAVE account that seemed to have come from nowhere!

I thought that there must be some sort of lag and ICICI had put the money into my account early before recieving it, so I called them up. They informed me that this was impossible. I told them I couldn't afford to have £4000 debitted from my linked account but they were very unhelpful and told me that they would contact me in 2 days despite me explaining I needed something done right away. On top of this, it was difficult to understand the representative as the telephone support was provided by an Indian Call Centre. I told them that if the money was taken from my linked account, I would be charged an unauthorised overdraft fee, which I would be forced to forward on to ICICI. Still they were no help!

After 30mins of getting nowhere, I had to take it upon myself to take the following corrective action:

• Called up Lloyds TSB. They told me there was nothing they could do with the Direct Debit (even though it hadn't been debitted yet). I increased my overdraft so that the debitted money would, at least, be authorised although interest penalties would be charged.
• In Lloyds TSB online banking, I noticed I had a Direct Debit which looked as though it was going to ICICI, but the amount was set to 'n/a'. I cancelled this Direct Debit online.
• Logged on to ICICI HiSAVE online banking and requested £2000 be moved back to my linked account.

Later that day I noticed a transaction in my ICICI HiSAVE account for a debit of £2000. I'm not sure if this is the money I requested to be transferred back to my linked account or something ICICI have done in response to my enquiry.

By New Year's Day, still no money had been credited or debited from my Lloyds TSB Current Account. I had £2000 more than I should have in my ICICI HiSAVE account and ICICI have still not contacted me as they promised.

On the 2nd January, I recieved £2000 into my Current Account from my ICICI HiSAVE account, so at this point I had £4000 in my ICICI account that wasn't mine! I emailed my account manager to explain the situation and recieved this very unhelpful reply:

"We would like to inform you that the sum of GBP 4000 has been credited in our account as clear funds on 30-12-05, which implies that your link account has been debited on 30-12-05."

Anyhow, after a week or so, the £4'000 was removed from my account and still no money had been debited from my Lloyds TSB Current Account.

After experiencing stupid cock-ups, very poor customer service and un-understandable call centre operatives, I have decided to close my ICICI HiSAVE and keep with my Lloyds TSB Online Saver for the time being. Although the interest rate is poorer, at least they're helpful when I have a query. I've withdrawn the remainder of the cash and don't expect I'll be doing business with ICICI ever again.