Beware phone calls from Direct Response

Sitting at home nursing a cold today I received a phone call from a company called Direct Response.  The man on the end of the line told me that:

• Direct Response was in the local area for a couple of days 
• Direct Response was running a local crime and safety campaign called "Home Safe Home"
• Direct Response was "registered" with the local police.   
• Direct Response was offering a wireless alarm system which directly contacted police, fire and paramedics
• Our household was one of four to have been randomly chosen for receipt of a free trial system

Lots of alarm bells rang in my head as I listened to this sales patter:

Issue 1 - We have TPS so they should not be phoning us trying to sell their alarm system or any associated services
Issue 2 - A call to Surrey Police on the non-emergency 101 phone number confirmed that they do not endorse this company
Issue 3 - I can find no record of a Home Safe Home campaign anywhere, not even on the company's own website
Issue 4 - A little bit of research found this Watchdog investigation from 2010 on the same company.  At that time they offered systems but then charged a monitoring fee of £58 a month (the link to emergency services) as part of a contract that could leave a home-owner with a bill of £3.400.

If you do receive such calls please do try and gather as much information as possible so we can get evidence of any misleading claims that are made.  Report the call to the police using the 101 non-emergency number.  If you are TPS registered also report the call to the TPS.

I do wonder if this company are making calls in our area because Surrey Police this week launched a campaign urging residents to take steps to make their homes safe.  Full details of Surrey Police recommendations to keep your home safe are here.