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No Cold Calling Zones were established in some areas to give people the confidence to deal with unsolicited visitors at the door in an attempt to deter rogue callers. As there is no way to distinguish between callers who are intent on committing a crime, and genuine, but persistent salespeople, the zones apply to all visitors. To enquire whether your area is one, visit this website http://www.ts.wyjs.org.uk/wyjs-trading-doorstep-crime.asp#cccz
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Uninvited callers (cold callers) do not commit any criminal offence by calling at your door. Consequently the police have no legal power to make them leave.
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Zones are voluntary agreements between companies and Trading Standards and any breaches should be reported to Trading Standards on 08454 040506.
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If there are any criminal offences then these should be reported to the police on 999.
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More information can be obtained by visiting this website http://www.ts.wyjs.org.uk/wyjs-trading-doorstep-crime.asp
 Whether or not your property is in a zone, the following groups are exempt from this voluntary agreement – charities, religious groups and political parties
 None of the above prevents you from asking someone to leave your property and, if they fail to do so, you are entitled to use reasonable force to achieve that; however, this should be a last resort.
 Keep all doors locked at all times
 When answering the door, if possible look out of a window to see who is there before opening the door. If you are unhappy, show the Nominated
Neighbour card to the caller (attached)
 If you decide to answer the door, make sure you put on the door chain or bar.
 Establish which company is being represented and the name of the caller. It will be helpful if you can make a note of any descriptions and vehicles together with the date and time. Check any identification offered
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Politely explain that the caller is in a No Cold Calling Zone (if that is the case) and that you will be reporting the breach to Trading Standards
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If you are not in a zone then politely explain you are not interested
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Close and lock the door

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The best way to deal with these if their presence is against your wishes is to tell them that you are not interested. If they still persist, close the door to firmly indicate that the conversation is at an end.
 If a charity fund raiser comes to your door, they should be wearing something with the charity’s LOGO on (This may be a fleece or a simple tabard) and clearly displaying a badge which they should show to you before they start to present their case. The badge will have the name of the charity they are representing, together with a contact number and the fundraiser’s name and an ID number which is specific to that individual. The Fundraiser should not be pushy and if you say that you are not interested then they should respect your wishes.
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Should they persist after you have said you are not interested, ask them to show you their badge again and take their name and number. Tell them that if they continue you will contact the charity direct to complain.
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If you already support the charity they represent, make it clear that you already support that charity to the amount you are prepared to give, which should result in a, “Thank you for your support” from the fundraiser and their departure.
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If you do have a bad experience, do report it to the charity, as a pushy fundraiser needs to be retrained or removed as their actions are counterproductive to the organization they represent.
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As a last resort, refer to the last bullet point under the heading “General
Information” above
 Although this will not affect companies which already have your address, signing up to the Mail Preference Service (MPS) will prevent new companies writing to you. Sign up at http://www.mpsonline.org.uk/mpsr/
 Put junk mail in the rubbish bin, compost it or use it as firelighters. Any attempt to reply just indicates yours is a live address/email.
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Add junk (spam) emails to your email blocking system.
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Arrange with your provider to be ex-directory
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For a small charge, most companies can offer a “Caller ID” service which will display the number which is calling. If you do not recognise the number, ignore it or allow it to go to your answering machine or voicemail service
 Although this will not affect companies which already have your telephone number, signing up to the Telephone Preference Service (TPS) will prevent new companies obtaining your number

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There are telephone blocker systems now available which, as the name suggests, actively filter calls using Caller ID. Simply add the telephone numbers which you are prepared to accept to the blocker. Any numbers not on that list are dealt with by the filter system and the telephone doesn’t even ring. Search for “call blockers” in your favourite search engine
 Set up the standard voicemail function on your handset
 If you receive a call from a number you do not recognise, allow the call to go to voicemail. Obviously check any messages that may be left
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Check the telephone number of the caller on websites such as http://whocallsme.com/ which gives details of other people’s experiences with that number
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If your phone is capable, set up a contact called “Blacklist” or similar. Arrange the ringtone for that contact to be silent (you may need to download a
“silent” tone) and vibration set as off. Add all nuisance callers to this contact group. If necessary create another group “Blacklist 2” if the original one becomes full
The majority of callers to your door will be genuine salespeople, however, it pays to be suspicious and the general advice is never to deal with doorstep callers. Use a reputable company from the telephone directory and obtain 3 quotes. Don’t be rushed into making a rash decision which you may later regret.
Take Care
Mark Wall
NHW