'My father wanted to block rip-off calls but the call-blocking company is ripping him off'

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Dear Which?,

My 82-year-old father was contacted by a company called Infinity Call Blocker a couple of years ago.

It’s charging him £149.99 - every year. In exchange he gets a new landline phone every year, but I'm not sure if this is really necessary.

When I complained about this to Infinity Call Blocker it ignored me. How can I stop the payments?

Paul Blackshaw, Chichester

Put to Rights

Simon Dicey, Which? Money Helpline adviser, says:

Call-blocking devices are meant to protect vulnerable people from sharp practices, but in this case the opposite seems to have occurred.

Customers aren’t entitled to a refund for costs incurred if a mistake is made with the payment, as they are with the Direct Debit Guarantee.

You should be able to cancel a CPA by contacting the company taking the payments – although, Infinity Call Blocker appears not to want to hear (and didn’t respond to our request for comment). 

To protect other vulnerable people, you could also report Infinity Call Blocker to Trading Standards. 

Better ways to stop nuisance calls

Need to know

Make sure you're not signing up to a continuous payment authority, if you thought you were only making one payment.

You can cancel a continuous payment authority by contacting your bank or card provider.

Many major landline providers offer free tools to stop nuisance calls.

Get in touch.

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source https://www.which.co.uk/news/article/my-father-wanted-to-block-rip-off-calls-but-the-call-blocking-company-is-ripping-him-off-atlp24u6WEc0