This year, the government has decided to take measures to sanction and limit cold calling. Unfortunately, the new measures that came into force in January and March seem to have difficulty being applied by call centers. On social networks, complaints continue to flow. A study published by UFC Que Choisir claimed that the French received an average of 4 calls per week.
Canvassers are at risk
The new rules are however clear: canvassers must not solicit people listed in the Bloctel directory under penalty of a fine of 75,000 euros for a natural person and 375,000 euros for a legal person.
Same penalty for those who would call prospects on prohibited schedules: telephone advisers only have the right to contact customers between 10 a.m. and 1 p.m., or 2 p.m. and 8 p.m. during the week. No more unsolicited phone calls on Saturdays, Sundays and public holidays.
Below in the Tweet, you can also find some rules of obligation during the telephone conversation. If your telephone adviser does not check these rules, it is because there is abusive canvassing. If necessary, you can always contact the DGCCRF to warn it of these practices.
Infographic on the rules to follow when canvassing ?
More info on commercial canvassing > #real estate #real estateadvisor pic.twitter.com/Wu57zPSsOu— United Real Estate Agents (@Unismandataires) May 4, 2023
Calling numbers are known
The new directives require direct sellers to distinguish themselves by their telephone number (or area code). Of course, they are not allowed to use a hidden number to call you. Then, they no longer have the right to use numbers that start with 06 or 07 – which are reserved for interpersonal communications.
For all call centers, a certain number of telephone indicators have now been set for them which must be used in their practice. If you no longer want to answer unsolicited calls, we advise you to filter all the numbers that start with the codes below. Depending on whether you are in mainland France, Guadeloupe, Guyana or Reunion, the codes are not the same.
Telephone canvassing prefixes:
- France M. : 0162, 0163, 0270, 0271, 0377, 0378, 0424, 0425, 0568, 0569, 0948, 0949
- Guadeloupe, Saint-Martin and Saint-Barthélemy: 09475
- Guyana: 09476
- Martinique : 09477
- Reunion and Mayotte: 09478 and 09479
Officially, these numbers are not allowed to canvass you more than 4 times a month. However, it is sometimes difficult to know precisely which company is on the phone. One thing is certain, you must not give up in the face of the telephone advisers, you must know how to be firm and above all not hang up on the phone. They are under pressure at work, they will not hesitate to annoy you if your behavior displeases them.
Even more radical method to avoid being disturbed: register in the Bloctel directory. Telephone advisers are obliged to check before their call that the number is not there. You can apply directly online ici, it is a service offered by the government. Otherwise, if you don’t want to impose this maximum constraint, you can also just use effective filter applications like the Orange Telephone service. The community adds the spam numbers and then they will be blocked by your phone.
