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It's a scam. Ignore them. If they threaten you tell them you will report them to the Police. If they send you any nasty letters, feel free to let us know and we will name and shame!

Never ever, ever, ever agree to anything from a cold call. Never be bullied into thinking you have agreed anything.

If they keep phoning you, ask them to send you a transcript or recording of the sales call where you "agreed to the sale", as you require this so you can send to Trading Standards. That should stop it.

Let us know how you get on.

As tributes go, this has to be one of the most apt for Leonard Nimoy.

Taken from the International Space Station yesterday.

Courtesy of: marketoonist.com

Another classic from Tom Fishbourne

Sorry mate, just a born cynic that's doesn't believe in coincidence. 

You were championing a company called Space and Time, and your forum email address is refreshed.direct@....

From your company blog:

Not a problem touting a sister company, was just giving you a chance to be up front and honest...

As for the OP, yep Mail Chimp is an ideal cost effective and simple solution.

Unfortunately directories have tended to be a good hunting ground  for these scumbags

A long long time ago, we used to show off new members who just joined on our home page, then realised we were inadvertently subjecting them to marketing spam and scams. So we quickly removed all reference to new business listings.

Unfortunately a lot of directories even now still showcase or display a list of new members, which is eagerly hoovered up by the unscrupulous

lol, did we expect any thing less

Still don't get how Lauren knew, unless I missed a bit. Or is that the next 12 months story line...

I'll be honest, traditionally I've never been a fan of responsive web design. It has been around now for a long time, but it's only relatively recently that I've been won over to it.

For those that don't know, responsive web design is the ability for a web site to automatically scale or display on pretty much any kind of screen size or resolution.

From a high level point of view, it seems obvious and you would wonder why everyone doesn't do it.

But behind the scenes, there have been and are a few limitations with a responsive design, ie where you can put things, and how they will be presented, but most of these can be largely overcome.

Years ago, before mobile websites were critical and mobile eCommerce was a nice to have, responsive designs could be hard work. Browser limitations meant lots of css files telling each and every browser how to behave and present your work of art, meaning lots of extra code and scripts, slowing things down.

That's why we always had dedicated mobile web sites, and dedicated desktop versions. If you access the desktop site on a mobile device, you simply get redirected and vice versa.

Its a good system, still works well, but the downside is you have in affect 2 websites, meaning 2 sets of changes, edits, updates etc.

But modern browsers are now more user friendly and we have taken a decision that anyone still using Internet Explorer 6 or earlier seriously needs to upgrade  

So our developer has won me over, our new project is a fully responsive design and I'm finally a full convert.

I noticed today that the BBC website is in the process of moving over to a responsive design. It's in beta so you can swop between old and new versions.

Here is the new version, viewed from a desktop but minimised so it renders as it would on a mobile, versus the current site on the right, which you have to scroll at the bottom to view any content.

Do you use a responsive design on your website or do you use a dedicated mobile website?

Is anyone still trying make customers and visitors view a desktop website on a smart phone? 

If so, time to think about your digital marketing strategy as more and more of the world move to smaller screens and spend more time accessing content via their smart phones.

Hi John

We don't like self promo, but if you are talking about a sister company, then at least declare it.

Otherwise welcome to the forum 

The beeb is reporting that the government is going to clamp down on cold call companies and those annoying scam artists who send relentless PPI calls and texts, or ambulance chasers who regularly keep telling me I can claim £5k for an accident I never had!

The Telephone Preference Service (TPS) has always felt like a toothless agency, as it has been traditionally very hard and long winded to make a complaint.

From April this year, it will be much easier to make a complaint and larger fines of up to £500,000 can be imposed which makes it a bit more of a deterrent!

"The Department of Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS) said it was "committed" to dealing with the problem of nuisance calls, and that it was looking to introduce mandatory caller line identification so that all marketing callers would have to display their telephone numbers.

It also confirmed that it will look at introducing measures to hold board level executives responsible for nuisance calls and texts."

BBC News - Clampdown on cold call companies

The Government department name made me smile, The Department of Culture, Media and Sport. It does sound a bit Monty Python'ish...

So good news, pre election propaganda, or too little too late?

After a very turbulent year that saw a barrage of bad publicity and a whole host of new rules and legislation, it's no surprise to hear Wonga is downsizing.

To be honest I'm amazed they survived at all and text books must have been written on how to survive public, political and legal controversy!

But according to the BBC news they are cutting 325 jobs, over a third of it's staff.

I always thought they would rebrand and dump the wonga name, coming out the other side as a tightly regulated but respectable loans company. But they have spent an awful lot of money on advertising and brand building, and we all know those puppets!

Do you think this will mark the turnaround for Wonga, or is it maybe the start of a terminal decline?