Strange phone calls.

[maclean3]

For the last few months we've been getting these calls every two or three days saying it's our "last chance for low interest rates blah blah blah.". I've tried asking for our number to be removed, we've tried blocking their incoming calls (they just switch numbers) and now they've blocked our caller ID. They just called again and when I told the "Customer service rep" that I wanted our number off their list, the cut me off and hung up.

Any chance somebody out there knows who these wingnuts are or who they work for? I'd really like to have a little conversation with them at this point.
Thanks all,
Jack

[DefensiveCarry.com]

[Old Chief]

I have the same problem but the discontinue this call buttton still works on my telephone.

[maclean3]

Mine too but it's gotten ridiculous. I'm curious if they're a local company ... I sure would like to drive to their office and talk to them in person at this point.
Jack

[JD]

Are you on the do not call list?

[Hopyard]

I have had the same problem. It is endemic. The phone company doesn't give a hoot about trying to stop these goofs. It is a waste of time reporting them.

There is one outfit where I managed to trap the phone number and I sent a complaint to the attorney general's office. The calls stopped, for 6 months, then started up again.

I get some calls that start with "don't be alarmed." They are just a bunch of crooks trying to reverse social engineer private info by pretending to be from a credit card company.

The big phone companies deserve whatever business they lose to people who decide to use cell only.

There is no good answer. The crooks and goofs don't follow the rules.

Now for many, one way to deal with this is refuse to answer any call that doesn't show the name and phone number or the originator. This doesn't work for us because we get international calls, but it should work for many.

Another service which helps some, and is free, is GrandCentral: The New Way to Use Your Phones It is owned by Google. You get a number that you can give out instead of you real number and they have on-line controls that let you easily block the folks you don't want to hear from ever again.
And better yet, incoming calls from the people you designate can roll to your cell phone or office when you are not home.

[maclean3]

JD: Yes, we're on the list.
Hopyard: "Don't be alarmed ..." THAT'S THEM!
At this point it's just that they've gotten on my last nerve. When I tell them to remove out number from the list they hang up on me. If I ever meet one of them face to face I intend to show them the error of their ways.
Jack

[buzzgum]

Airhorn or whistle into the mouthpiece works wonders.

[rolyat63]

I like to take two approaches for these kind of scum. If I have time and am so inclined I will try to eat up as much of their time as possible. I'll feign interest and claim to be chair/bed ridden. After the long speel I'll ask to go get some data for them by first apolgizing for the time since I'm lame...lay the phone for as long as I think I can then come back apologizing then need something else. Usually the 2nd or third time they will hang up. All the while I am pleasant.

Secondly, I try to social engineer them and get some identifying data and call the AG on them.

[Geezer Glide]

A few years ago, I got a phone call and the person said that I had been pre-approved for a new credit card. I said, "Cool! Send it on."
The guy said, "Great! Now I need to get some information from you..." and started asking name, address, etc.
I said, "I thought I was pre-approved."
He said, "You are."
I said, "Then you must already have all that info in order to pre-approve me."
The guy said that I WAS pre-approved but he needed to verify my information. I asked him to define "pre-approved" to me. He told me to hold on and he would let me talk to his supervisor. The supervisor came on and it started all over again.
Finally, the supervisor got mad, called me an butthole and hung up on me. That is the last "pre-approved" call I ever got.
I sure do miss those calls. LOL

[jfl]

I like to take two approaches for these kind of scum. If I have time and am so inclined I will try to eat up as much of their time as possible. I'll feign interest and claim to be chair/bed ridden. After the long speel I'll ask to go get some data for them by first apolgizing for the time since I'm lame...lay the phone for as long as I think I can then come back apologizing then need something else. Usually the 2nd or third time they will hang up. All the while I am pleasant.

Secondly, I try to social engineer them and get some identifying data and call the AG on them.

I do the same thing. However I spice it up by asking them to hold every few minutes, pretending to talk to somebody, and come back with "Where were you, can you refresh my memory". I am very nice with them and enjoy feeling their pressure build up.

For fax, I have a long banner of black paper that I tie in a loop and send it back in the middle of the night. When they come back in the morning all their fax paper is on the floor, the toner is empty, and if I am lucky, the printing head is burnt.

If I don't want to spend the time, I tell them: "Stop calling me", I repeat it twice. Then I say "You had 3 warnings, now if you call me back, I can press charges" Of course I cannot, but they don't know it.

[JonInNY]

For fax, I have a long banner of black paper that I tie in a loop and send it back in the middle of the night. When they come back in the morning all their fax paper is on the floor, the toner is empty, and if I am lucky, the printing head is burnt.

That's of course assuming that they have a "real" fax machine. My fax number actually delivers faxes to me as e-mail, so I can look, keep or toss what I don't want without ever using any paper or toner.

[alfack]

I use cell only and have had a few repeat callers from auto-dialers that never give up or leave messages. Fortunately, their number showed up on my phone. I added those numbers to my contacts list named spam, spam1 etc.. Then I made the ring silent for them, so I am not interrupted. The only way I know they tried to call is by looking at my received call list.

Also, I thought there was some recourse you could take, if you are on the do not call list?

[Holdcard]

Last month we actually quit answering the home phone. We use the Do Not Disturb feature. It allows emergency calls, there is also a ring through code you can use. Only give the ring through code to people you actually want to talk to.

What I really don't understand, is that the phone company says they have no way to trace the calls. Somehow that doesn't sound right to me. Even if they are behind a PBX they still get billed for long distance etc. They are the phone company and should be held responsible for misuse. If I started calling people randomly I'm sure they'd be able to track me down easily enough.

Holdcard

[JAT40]

+ 1 on the air horn and it's a blast.

[broknindarkagain]

I get frequent phone calls saying "Your car warranty is about to expire."

This is slightly irritating since it happens to be on my cell phone, and usually while I'm driving down the road.

I get them almost every day....and when I try to call the number back it says that its not a valid number.....***???!!!

Its kinda odd too. My car is an 01 model with 70xxx miles on it. The warranty expired 34k miles / 4 years ago. I also got these calls when I had a 1990 Nissan Pickup with 200k+ miles on it (this was only 2 years ago).

I've come to the point where I will eat up as much of their time as possible and lead them to believe that they are making a sale....towards the end I will say something like "I have a few questions about this before we finish". I'll then say something like "How is it that my warranty is about to expire when its an old car thats been out of warranty for years, and why the hell are you telemarketing to a cell phone. You know thats a violation of Federal law and the FCC will chew you up for that?" Usually I'll just get hung up on.....A few times they have said "Well sir, we can remove you from our calling list."

I've put my cell phone on the Do Not Call Registry, but that didn't help in the least bit. I have the online complaint form bookmarked, and I do use it frequently.

I think I might go buy an airhorn now. I like that idea.