LEN Retired wrote: You said almost all the magic words, "please remove my name and --number-- from your call list" Don't forget to say the number too! Also if you ask for their call policy, they have to provide it. (Per the Federal Law)
Good luck with that. Most of them know they are violating Federal law and don't really give the north end of a southbound furry little rodent because they know the DNC doesn't really have any teeth and also know how to stay under the Feds radar, even if you do file a complaint. Many of those outfits are using spoofed caller ID numbers and many of those are calling from offshore where the Feds can't touch them, even if they wanted to.
AZ just recently filed suit against 26 telemarketers operating illegally in AZ. The pity is, for every telemarketer operating illegally here that gets shut down, several more pop in its place.
Rachel from 'cardholder services', along with the coming flood of political robocalls, and the volume of charitable organizations calling to request that I solicit 10 neighbors for donations, all lead us to cancel our home phone.
I tire of the requests for a phone # that I can be reached at, BUT when pressed like the other day at a clinic, I just give them my old phone #. The folks that I want calling me have my cell phone #.
I don't miss hearing that stupid phone ringing, and I'm enjoying the savings. WIN,WIN.
Simply put, I don't answer the phone if I don't recognize the number and am not expecting a call. I control the phone not the other way around. Most people that will be calling me are in my contacts so their name shows when they call.
If asked for a phone number, I always give a fake number unless it is some type of affidavit or other transaction I initiate that doesn't allow me to. If asked for a cell #, I just tell them I don't have one that I can give out. It did perplex a poor sales person at a store one day because their system at the time was apparently set up to require a phone number before moving forward in the transaction. I eventually gave her 555-1212 and she put it in without batting an eye.
We haven't had a home phone in years and have never missed it. I don't get a lot of unwanted calls on the cell, but I was getting some unsolicited texts for a while before I got an app that allows me to enter the number the texts are coming from to block. It also allows me to block telephone numbers and even whole area codes. It has worked well. I had one number that started calling. I didn't recognize the number so didn't answer and they would not leave a message. After a couple of calls, I added it to the block list and didn't get another call on the phone. I looked at the log later and over 5 day period, 20 calls were blocked with the call times ranging from 3:56 pm to 2:56 am.
First, a lot of telemarketer firms are architected quite cleverly. They would be a firm essentially in name only, with the books being done offshore, and all assets, such as employees and computers actually be "leased" from holding companies. This allows the corporation that is doing the telemarketing to file bankruptcy, and in a few hours, be back doing their nefarious deeds in hours under a new name, but with the same databases.
Unfortunately, the FCC is toothless. Even if they could enforce things, a lot of calls are done via VoIP from offshore.
If one has a cell phone with Android, by far the most effective defense is an app called Mr. Number. If a telemarketer calls, their number gets checked against a database and kicked off before your phone even rings.
iPhones will have a little bit of primitive blocking functionality in iOS 6 (which IMHO is woefully inadequate). However, one can jailbreak and use an app like iBlacklist for manually blocking numbers.
As for landlines, you are basically hosed. Some places allow you to block 10 calls, and not any 800 numbers at best. This is why my landline has phones with a ringer on it, nor voicemail. It is an outgoing-only number that is pretty much telemarketer bait.
quoyfab wrote: Rachel from 'cardholder services', along with the coming flood of political robocalls, and the volume of charitable organizations calling to request that I solicit 10 neighbors for donations, all lead us to cancel our home phone.
I tire of the requests for a phone # that I can be reached at, BUT when pressed like the other day at a clinic, I just give them my old phone #. The folks that I want calling me have my cell phone #.
I don't miss hearing that stupid phone ringing, and I'm enjoying the savings. WIN,WIN.
I'm close to yanking the land line for pretty much the same reasons.
p220sigman wrote: Simply put, I don't answer the phone if I don't recognize the number and am not expecting a call. I control the phone not the other way around. Most people that will be calling me are in my contacts so their name shows when they call.
If asked for a phone number, I always give a fake number unless it is some type of affidavit or other transaction I initiate that doesn't allow me to. If asked for a cell #, I just tell them I don't have one that I can give out. It did perplex a poor sales person at a store one day because their system at the time was apparently set up to require a phone number before moving forward in the transaction. I eventually gave her 555-1212 and she put it in without batting an eye.
We haven't had a home phone in years and have never missed it. I don't get a lot of unwanted calls on the cell, but I was getting some unsolicited texts for a while before I got an app that allows me to enter the number the texts are coming from to block. It also allows me to block telephone numbers and even whole area codes. It has worked well. I had one number that started calling. I didn't recognize the number so didn't answer and they would not leave a message. After a couple of calls, I added it to the block list and didn't get another call on the phone. I looked at the log later and over 5 day period, 20 calls were blocked with the call times ranging from 3:56 pm to 2:56 am.
The problem with screening calls is you get interrupted anyway. Even if you let calls go to an answering machine, you still have to go back and check them.
I'm always doing the fake number thing. Unless someone has a legitimate need for my phone number (which they rarely do), they get my home phone number with the prefix changed to 555 (much like you do). That way, if they are using my phone number to reference an account, warranty, store card, etc., I will be able to remember which number I used. Using 555 insures some poor inocent person doesn't get bothered because all 555 calls go to directory assistance.
I never give out my cell phone number except to very close friends. If I call anyone other than a close friend, I block my number from showing up by hitting *67 before punching in the number. Most of the time, the phone stays turned off in my purse unless I actually need it (which is rarely). I've been lucky in that I've never received phone spam, text or voice, except once from an outfit in a nearby town. I told them once to stop calling. The second time I told them I was going to pay them a "personal visit" if I got another call from them. That stopped the calls.
I'm about ready to yank my landline because of the random dialing telemarketers ignoring the DNC. When the political calls start pouring in, I'm yanking the phone line.
Tell them you are in the middle of bankruptcy filing and your lawyer would like to talk to them......
Seriously, block them! If you have 20 blocks on your phone already and can't do any more, take the oldest one off. They've probably abandoned that # and you won't be bothered. That's what I've done -- I seldom get a call any more.
I'm about ready to yank my landline because of the random dialing telemarketers ignoring the DNC. When the political calls start pouring in, I'm yanking the phone line.
There are exceptions to the DNC list: a credit card company who's card you own, is allowed to call; and I think the political calls are also allowed? I mean, of course our elected officials wouldn't make a law that would block their access to votes....LOL!!
Political and charitable organizations are not affected by the DNC list. If you have a Visa or MC card, does not matter with whom, you are considered to have a business relationship with any Visa or MC card company. I have caller ID, if I don't recognize the number I normally do not answer, on those occasions I do, generally it is to have fun with whomever.
David Just rolling along enjoying life w/F53 Southwind towing a 87 Samurai or 01 Grand Vitara looking to golf or fish Simply Despicable Any errors are a result of CRS.
To the people that give a false phone number out: I sure hope the "false" number has no chance of really being some one else's phone number. If you give an old phone number out, it may have been re-issued to some one else. So now, they get your phone calls. Just food for thought.....
Jim
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