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Simon Read: Big Nev's big fine won't deter the nuisance callers

Simon Read
Friday 21 June 2013 18:57 BST
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Have you been watching fly-on-the-wall series The Call Centre on Tuesday nights on BBC3? The programme portrays the chief executive, Neville Wilshire, as a David Brent-a-like benign boss.

But the business he set up just eight years ago and which achieved a £25m turnover last year, appears to be malign for consumers.

The company makes 1.5 million unwanted calls every year and claims it sticks to strict industry rules governing who they can call. But this week it was fined £225,000 for making unwanted nuisance calls trying to flog payment protection insurance misselling claims or replacement boilers.

Calls by Mr Wilshire's staff led to more than 2,700 complaints between May 2011 and December 2012, according to the Information Commissioner's Office. But the fine is insignificant to the firm and won't do much to a deter other annoying call centres.

Instead we need new laws to stop nuisance firms – or close them.

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