LBM Direct Marketing Complaints and Correspondence:
April 2007
This page represent some of the emails we've received
about LBM Direct
Marketing, almost all of which are complaints. You
can read the full story here.
9/4/07
- We get a lot of people who work for LBM visiting
this site. Perhaps you LBMers would like to consider
the plight of "K" who has been harassed
by LBM, and then think about whether or not you
want to continue working for a firm that makes people
so unhappy?
Since Friday 6th April 2007
i have had no less than 14 calls from LBM and i
am registered with TPS .On Sunday i did not get
any so thought they had stopped however today Monday
9th April i have recieved them every 2-3 hours it
is driving me crazy i have had to turn my phone
off so much for it being Easter.I am a widowed Mum
to two disabled children and my life is very stressful
at the best of times so something like these calls
really throws a hammer in the works and makes us
all on edge i am firghtened to pick up the phone
and see the list of missed calls from this so call
reputable company even after phoing their number
to opt out i am still recieving them.I wish they
would sit back and think what stress they are causing
some people before they act in this manner how would
the managing director like it if we were to call
a member of his family every 2-3 hours to the point
they feel like ripping their hair out in frustration.
- A very rare message from "C" in
support of LBM:
I personally believe that
LBM is a very good marketing company. they just
carry out the calls for other companies who hire
them to do so, if LBM did not do it then the company
would hire people to do it themselves. LBM is a
very successful company and i fully support them
with their work, it has created over 2000 jobs for
people in the UK and is an evergrowing company.
If you do not want to receive calls from marketing
companies then there are steps you are able to take
to block them from calling you, if you are so sick
of receiving calls from LBM then block them and
stop complaining. Let LBM get on with its business
and stop anoying them with stupid campaigns.
11/4/07
- "Sky" again.. or is it LBM? And
yet again another TPS subscriber receiving unwanted
calls:
Received two silent calls on my
TPS registered, ex-directory phone line 0161 217
8400. Googled and found Dynamoo, complained
to Ofcom. Then received a call from 0161 603 0000
where a young lady insisted she was phoning from
“Sky” to tell me about the broadband I was now entitled
to. When I asked her if she was LBM, she said she
was but that they were part of Sky. I said
that I didn’t wish to be contacted for marketing
and that she wasn’t from Sky. She argued back that
I had registered a preference “on line” to have
these calls! When I insisted that I had done no
such thing, she put the phone down on me. Who
on earth EVER signs up for stuff as a result of
these pushy calls?
13/4/07
- "E" gets a new mobile phone, and
then the calls from LBM start:
I recently
signed up to a new contract with Orange. I've been
with Orange before but as I got a much better deal
signing up to a new contract (and therefore a new
phone number), I went with that option. I got my
new contract via the Carphone Warehouse, and within
a few days of receiving the new phone, I started
to get calls from 08450020012. The first time I
got such a call I answered it as I didn't really
notice the incoming number; needless to say there
was no-one there. I Googled the number and came
across your page on LBM.
Well, I have subsequently
received between 3 and 6 calls a day from this number
(for over a week now), none of which I have bothered
to answer. When the first call came through, no-one
(and I mean *no-one*!) other than my girlfriend
had my new number - which means that LBM must have
got it from either Orange or the Carphone Warehouse.
From reading around this subject on the web, it
appears that several others who receive these types
of call also purchased from the Carphone Warehouse,
so I'm going to give them a call and ask them to
explain how my number got into the hands of LBM!!
I will keep you posted on how I get on...!
17/4/07
- Another message in support of LBM (which
makes two in almost a year):
I
just wana say the reason you get silent calls from
LBM is because the dialler system they use has problems
ringin and its not LBM doing prank calls. LBM are
in partnership with many companies like sky, o2
et.. but that doesnt mean they arent part of the
branded companies. LBM are like insurance brokers.
ie; when you ring an insurance company for car insurance,
sometimes you are dealing with a third party company
who is acting on behalf of Norwich Union or Direct
Line etc.. to give you better deals.
So
before you judge a company in a petty manner please
find out the facts first and the nature of the business
before you publicise your comments on the internet
because the way you describe LBM is like you dont
know what your going off you own assumptions and
it sounds like you just have a personal vendetta.
Top brand companies like o2, vodafone and sky would
not have joined ventures with LBM if it was a 'dodgy'
company like you make out to be.
Hope this
answers all your questions about LBM.
18/4/07
- "M" gets more mystery calls [note,
this is MGT
plc,
not LBM]: :
A couple of months
back (late 2006) i had a whole lot of calls on both
my mobile and my parents landline. But were always
from unknown numbers, and always just a dead line.
Today we actually got a call from this number, 08000272500
(on the landline), asking for my father. I said
he was at work and they said they'll call back later.
After hanging up i rang '1471' and googled the number,
which brought me here to this site. Thanks for sharing
this info with everyone, i can't wait till they
talk to my dad after i've told him this!!
18/4/07
- "K" shares with us a communication
from Trafford Trading Standards:
This
authority has been made aware that due to recent
technical problems on automated dialler systems
at LBM Marketing, consumers may inadvertently receive
calls of a silent nature.
We have been advised
that consumers may have given prior consent to be
contacted by LBM through its clients which include
major telephone providers and broadcasters and that
this consent may include a failure to indicate on
entering into contracts with such organisations
that they do not wish to be contacted by telephone
for direct marketing purposes.
We are informed
that an 0845 number has been established which is
charged at local call rate, and that consumers who
use this number to register their telephone number
will not receive any further calls from LBM. We
understand this number to be a non-premium rate
number.
Whilst we would advise consumers
to take a pragmatic approach and register using
the 0845 number to prevent any further unwanted
calls from LBM, we can only suggest that consumers
contact the Telephone Preference Service on 020
7291 3320 or OFCOM on 020 7981 3040 for any further
information.
19/4/07
- A more unusual take on LBM from "F",
make of it what you will:
The company
are too big to bad mouth now. not even the DMA or
Ofcom can touch them. They like the mafia in call
centres. Trust me. You shud stop publicising your
comments. They are well connected now with large
billion dollar companies and theres no way these
large business are going to lose their marketers
plus LBM provide employment in poor areas. So that
means that the government are happy as less people
are claiming jobseekers allowance. This is the reason
why call centres are untouchable. Trust me.
Also
think of it this way.. would you rather have an
idian call centre ringing u up with a foreign accent
or some one in uk with a clear british accent to
sell you things.. see? it makes sense. Just drop
the case now. No matter how many people complain..It
aint worth it ok?? You should complain about
more worse things like road tax or council tax!
thats more of a worhty topic to discuss as the government
are just making too much money on us. Where as LBM
are trying to save you money so i dont see how that
is affecting the british public. People should be
happy!!
30/4/07
- A follow-up from "E" who contacted
us before, who gives some useful advice:
Further
to my email of 13th April, I have an update on my
situation with the Carphone Warehouse and LBM. Having
started getting calls from 08450020012 and subsequently
finding your page on LBM, I contacted the Carphone
Warehouse to complain about the fact that my number
had been passed on to them without my consent. Below
is the first response I received from a member of
the Carphone Warehouse customer service team:
============================================== Thank
you for your email. On looking into the matter
for you i can confirm that The Carphone Warehouse
does not give any kind of customer details to third
parties. LBM used to be part of The Carphone
Warehouse but are no longer affiliates of the
company, I have taken you of our mailing list which
LBM also used previously.You will not receive
any type of promotional calls in the future.I
apologise for any inconvenience caused.
I
trust this is fully resolved for you. If there's
anything else we can do to help you please reply
to this email. ==============================================
Now
to me, it's just too much of a coincidence that
I started to get calls from a company that the Carphone
Warehouse apparently *used* to be associated with!
It would imply to me that they are still very much
associated with them. But I thought I'd see if his
promise of no more calls would hold up. Sadly, the
day after receiving the above email, I got another
call from 08450020012. So, I emailed the Carphone
Warehouse again stating that I had received another
call and again asking them for an explanation as
to how my number managed to get into LBM's hands.
I also stated that if the issue was not resolved
I would be taking things further with both OFCOM
and Trading Standards.
I received a much
quicker response this time from a different member
of the customer service team:
============================================== Thank
you for your email. I will now further investigate
this calls for you. I am not able to advise
at this point, however please reply back to this
email in 2-3 days and I will be able to update
you on my investigation.
If there's anything
else we can do to help you please reply to this
email. ==============================================
I
am now happy to report that I have had no further
calls from 08450020012. So if there is anyone out
there who purchased a phone from the Carphone Warehouse
and are now getting nuisance calls from LBM (or
any other marketing company), my advice would be
to get in touch with the Carphone Warehouse and
complain to them. Demand that they remove your number
from any kind of mailing or marketing list and state
that you will take things further with OFCOM and
Trading Standards if the matter is not speedily
resolved.
I hope this is helpful to anyone
else currently suffering at the hands of LBM...!
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