A UK businessman became so annoyed with cold callers continually disturbing him that he decided to charge them for his time. He recorded their calls and then sent an invoice charging £10 for every minute spent on the phone.
When they refused to pay Richard Herman, 53, sued them in the small claims court and won. Marketing company AAC will now pay the full £195 for 19.5 minutes of calls and the £25 court fee.
The nuisance calls were trying to convince Mr Herman that he could claim thousands of pounds in compensation for Payment Protection Insurance (PPI). Claims firms typically take a third of the compensation paid by banks.
Mr Herman has set up a website at www.saynotocoldcalls.com to help other victims of nuisance marketing calls. It contains excellent advice on the methods which will and will not work in stopping cold callers.
Garry Wright: An entrepreneur and IT expert who lives in Somerset. He is a co-founder of