BS: Unwanted Calls Despite No Call List

Subject: RE: BS: Unwanted Calls Despite No Call List
From: Skivee
Date: 11 Jul 08 - 05:53 PM

Interesting. I signed on to check responses and a few moments later the local ABC affiliate station began an investigative report about this very thing.
My general feelings were confirmed. It's a phishing scam. The Caller ID numbers are frequently spoofed. The "extended warranties", if they even exist, are hugely overpriced and cover little, but you won't know that until you pay and get the paperwork.
If you get calls like this contact the FTC and file a complaint.

Subject: RE: BS: Unwanted Calls Despite No Call List
From: Irish sergeant
Date: 11 Jul 08 - 05:04 PM

I'm with Maggie. Fuck the rude bastards. We have caller ID so we can screen them but befoer we were on the do not call list I would do things like tell them "You have reached embassy of Soviet socialist people's republic.." etc now I just tell them don't clall back unless you'd like to speak to the feds. Neil

Subject: RE: BS: Unwanted Calls Despite No Call List
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 11 Jul 08 - 10:20 AM

Bill D, you remind me of another set of calls I was receiving for a while. They were supposedly from a law firm in New York (I pieced that together via one of those google searches--put in the number and you find a place where other people report their experiences with the number). The woman insisted that there was someone she knew was related to me and "we can tell by your social security number." I wasn't going to give her my number for comparison purposes, and I knew perfectly well they couldn't tell a thing about this person who isn't related by SS#s, but I figured out who all she was going to try to call for this bogus connection, and she had my ex-husband on the list. I told her she was wasting her time with all of us.

When the next call came it was more abrupt, the person was clearly someone from a collection agency and still insisting that I was related to this person, same one as named before. And I got a couple more calls about that person, so clearly they recycle their information through the callers hoping to get lucky, never discarding any wrong information.

Prior to the federal "do not call" list legislation, individuals could actually charge callers once they'd been warned off after calling the first time. Some of the bills were pretty hefty, and those companies were compelled to pay. But the feds took that away when they passed the national legislation. You know darned well someone was lobbying for that little bit of the bill, to cut their costs down. The fine is probably a lot less than the individual bills they were facing.

SRS

Subject: RE: BS: Unwanted Calls Despite No Call List
From: GUEST,Jonny Sunshine
Date: 11 Jul 08 - 09:45 AM

There was a scam recently where a recorded message on the answerphone purported to be from BT who urgently needed to contact the account holder. It sounded pretty plausible until you considered how odd it was that BT didn't know the account holder's name. I think the idea was that you call back and someone tells you that your phone's about to be disconnected unless you give them your credit card details now.

I must say that since signing up to the telephone preference service I've been much less troubled by sales calls, one or two in the last 3 years. Of course if your number is registered with TPS you need only inform them that they're breaking the law by calling you and ask for their contact details so you can inform the relevant authorities. That's usually the last you'll hear from them.

Of course I miss the amusement value of winding up sales callers by feigning interest and then asking stupid questions, or leaving them hanging on the line. I managed once to turn the tables on one caller by asking how many people worked in their company, would they be having a Christmas party this year, and had they really, really thought what a difference live music could make to such an occasion.

Subject: RE: BS: Unwanted Calls Despite No Call List
From: Bill D
Date: 11 Jul 08 - 09:39 AM

These "car warranty" calls are the latest scam. If you get them on your cell phone...or if you have caller ID at home, you can LOOK UP the phone number by simply entering that number into Google. The last 4 I've looked at have taken me to complaint sites where various folks tell THEIR experiences. These folks are 'phishing' trying to get you to give them data so they can use it for other purposes...fake IDs, car licenses..etc. These folks always hang up or give you some BS if you challenge them....and often, the # they call from is soon disconnected.

I also suspect that built in is a way to make money for cell phone companies, because I have a 'pay-as-you-go' cell phone, and each of those calls costs me 25¢ whether I answer or not! (That is, if phone rings and I hit 'no' instead of answering, the message says "this call cost 25¢"... I am going to contact AT&T about THAT situation.

Anyway,

Subject: RE: BS: Unwanted Calls Despite No Call List
From: Rapparee
Date: 11 Jul 08 - 09:08 AM

That's it, Lead.

Indiana has a law (which has survived the State Supreme Court) that all solicitation calls, including political ones, must originate with a live caller and in-state. Other states should adopt such a thing....

Subject: RE: BS: Unwanted Calls Despite No Call List
From: Leadfingers
Date: 11 Jul 08 - 08:53 AM

I have an answerphone , and all my friends know \i use it for call screening ! IF its an automatic call , it runs through on the answerphone , which THEY pay far - If its a 'live' caller , they ring off !!
My Friends know that IF I am at home I will pick up , or call them back !

Subject: RE: BS: Unwanted Calls Despite No Call List
From: GUEST,Shimrod
Date: 11 Jul 08 - 05:55 AM

There was a knock on the door the other night. It was some young bloke, of about 12, who told me that he had called round to reduce my gas bills. I interrupted his spiel to ask which company he represented and to tell him that I already had a gas supplier and as far as I was concerned one set of 'licensed bandits' was much the same as any other. He then asked which supplier I was with - I told him to mind his own business.

He then told me that the company that he represented was much cheaper than any other and offered to sign me up, there and then, on the doorstep. I told him that if I felt the need to change gas suppliers I would research the matter on the Internet and would make the change in my own good time. Eventually he left.

I suppose what really annoyed me about this exchange was the slippery, slimy sales pitch which implied that his visit was somehow officially sanctioned and that it was imperative that I sign up immediately. All he succeeded in doing was increasing my contempt for 'modern', privatised utilities companies.

Subject: RE: BS: Unwanted Calls Despite No Call List
From: Newport Boy
Date: 11 Jul 08 - 05:19 AM

My wife is somewhat softer on these calls.

The best exchange we had was when she answered a call which asked for me as "Mr Holland". I never use a title, so she thought it was a sales attempt and tried to get the caller to deal with her. The caller insisted they were not selling anything, and must speak to me.

Anne handed the phone to me, and the caller soon began to discuss replacement windows. I said "I'm sorry, but my wife deals with all those things, and you've already refused to talk to her, so you don't have a cat's chance in hell of making a sale".

End of call!

Phil

Subject: RE: BS: Unwanted Calls Despite No Call List
From: Darowyn
Date: 11 Jul 08 - 03:05 AM

Our number is registered with the telephone preference service- the equivalent of a "don't call" list.
I only have to interrupt the call centre operator by mentioning this fact and they apologise and ring off at once.
Since all calls are recorded, that means that they have just cost their company a fifty pound fine.
It has put a complete stop to the calls.
The phrase "We're moving away in a few months" gets rid of door to door Double Glazers and Energy switchers too.
Cheers
Dave

Subject: RE: BS: Unwanted Calls Despite No Call List
From: Sandra in Sydney
Date: 11 Jul 08 - 02:54 AM

4th attempt to post this reply - good thing Firefox can retrieve screens (& I saved my post before submitting this time!)

=============

I often monitor calls, sometimes I get caught by unsolicited calls (& yes, we also have Do Not Call legislation here).

If it's a person who chirps away in a bright voice, giving their name & company I hang up before they finish saying the company name, if it's silent, indicating a person is monitoring lots of lines that are calling automatically, I just hang up.

Ands if it's one of those #$%^&* recorded voices, usually American, telling me I've won something, I hang up even before I hear the alleged prize. No offence to our American members & guests, but why send these recorded calls to Australian numbers, we can't call your 800 lines!

I'm anticipating a call soon from a reputable research company employed by a Financial company I consulted before my retirement 17 months ago. The rep knows I chose another company's products but his company's robots don't (obviously he forgot to close my file) & sent me a letter sent to all clients who have not yet retired ... If I don't want to be part of the survey I can email them but I refuse to give them my email address.

I hope my hang-up auto-response is a bit slower than normal as I intend to say (politely?) I have retired & am not interested in your survey, with perhaps a small comment on the finance company's record keeping.

sandra

Subject: RE: BS: Unwanted Calls Despite No Call List
From: Rapparee
Date: 10 Jul 08 - 10:59 PM

We sometimes get such calls. My wife is really very rude to such people. I'm nicer but worse (yes, we're on Do Not Call).

We got a call to have a photo taken of our (non-existent) children. After the nth time I pretended to sob and the caller asked what was wrong? I answered that while we desperately wanted children I had been wounded by a castrater mine in Vietnam and....

Another time I was going to wear a suit to work for change, got a call from the boss asking me if I'd clean out the gutters (ya do it all in libraries!) and so I was madly changing clothes when the phone rang -- it was someone selling something. I told them that anyone who would sell whatever he was selling over the phone would put a popsicle stick in his turds and freeze them for a turdsicle snack later on. (Mind you, my day had started badly got downhill from there.)

Ethical companies don't call you at home if you're on a don't call list, and I do NOT give money to phone solicitors -- ever.

If you have an answering machine let it answer and listen to the message -- if it's someone you want to talk to you'll know and if it's someone selling something the automated dialing machines will recognize an answering machine and hang up.

Subject: RE: BS: Unwanted Calls Despite No Call List
From: SINSULL
Date: 10 Jul 08 - 08:53 PM

I am getting Begathon calls from the Democrats. THey always start with "the bush whitehouse has led our country down..." at which point I interrupt and asy "He could not have done it without the support of the Democrats." Dead silence. And I hanbg up.
I'm with Maggie - Fuck'em.

Subject: RE: BS: Unwanted Calls Despite No Call List
From: Bee-dubya-ell
Date: 10 Jul 08 - 08:53 PM

I never answer my land-line phone. All our friends and relatives know that we prefer they call on our cell phone, so they do. The occasional person who does call the land-line gets a voice mail message that directs him to call the cell phone. It also specifically tells telemarketers to NOT call that number.

Subject: RE: BS: Unwanted Calls Despite No Call List
From: Bee
Date: 10 Jul 08 - 08:00 PM

I've heard other people say hanging up does not disconnect some of these sales calls. This has never happened to me - I didn't actually think it was possible.

I'm generally kind, if dismissive, to the humans who call, but I hang right up on computers.

Subject: RE: BS: Unwanted Calls Despite No Call List
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 10 Jul 08 - 07:34 PM

I have tried at least one of the other buttons in those calls, it didn't work. They have the phony routine of putting you on "hold" and "switching" the call. Hogwash. They do that because in legitimate calls you make you get that runaround. It's all window dressing.

SRS

Subject: RE: BS: Unwanted Calls Despite No Call List
From: artbrooks
Date: 10 Jul 08 - 07:12 PM

I have heard, although I cannot verify through experience, that if you "press 1 for more information", you get transferred to a pay-by-the-second number in the Cayman Islands.

Subject: RE: BS: Unwanted Calls Despite No Call List
From: Joe Offer
Date: 10 Jul 08 - 06:31 PM

Although I'm on the "don't call" list, I seem to be getting recorded calls lately. You'd think that if I'm on the "don't call" list, it's not bloody likely that I'd ever buy anything from them.
I wish I knew how to stop those calls - they always seem to come at dinner or when I'm......er, indisposed.
-Joe-

Subject: RE: BS: Unwanted Calls Despite No Call List
From: Big Mick
Date: 10 Jul 08 - 06:21 PM

Maggie .... there is no need to hold back. Pent up feelings of hostility lead to ulcers. Just let it out, tell us what you think of these folks.

LOL.

Mick

Subject: RE: BS: Unwanted Calls Despite No Call List
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 10 Jul 08 - 06:19 PM

I regularly get calls now telling me that my credit card rates are going to go up so they will work to lower them. The thing is, they're fishing and don't know a thing about my credit at all, unless I'm stupid enough to tell them. They are very rude and it's a race to see if I can say "take me off your list" before they slam the phone down as rudely as THEY can. But they keep calling back. The number is, of course, blocked, so there is no way to report them.

I get stuff in the mail telling me I need to buy specail mortgage insurance, and I get letters telling me my vehicle warranty can be extended (that information seems to be public domaine, they have some of that).

Fuck 'em all. I don't answer any questions and don't ever give my business to people who call me asking for my information.

SRS

Subject: RE: BS: Unwanted Calls Despite No Call List
From: Lord Batman's Kitchener
Date: 10 Jul 08 - 06:18 PM

I've answered the phone with "Good Morning, HM Revenue & Customs, can I help you?" They hang up..

Subject: RE: BS: Unwanted Calls Despite No Call List
From: Becca72
Date: 10 Jul 08 - 06:12 PM

I no longer have a land line phone so these calls have stopped for me. The only "sales calls" I get on my cell phone are from my cell phone carrier, and those are rare.

I loved getting such calls (car warranty, free cruises, etc) when I worked for an attorney's office. Most of the time I barely got through "you're calling a lawyer's office" when they hung up on me! :-)

Subject: RE: BS: Unwanted Calls Despite No Call List
From: John MacKenzie
Date: 10 Jul 08 - 04:43 PM

Well I have the same problems here in the UK. When I called the phone company they told me that they can do nothing about calls originating from outside the country!

G

Subject: RE: BS: Unwanted Calls Despite No Call List
From: Jeri
Date: 10 Jul 08 - 04:36 PM

Same exact thing happened to me.
I got the recording, which I hung up on. This did NOT disconnect the call. Then the human came on and I realized I was still connected. So I hear something like, "I just need some inf..." and I pick up the phone and say, "I'M NOT INTERESTED."

I'm on the no-call list too.

Subject: RE: BS: Unwabted Calls Despite No Call List
From: Skivee
Date: 10 Jul 08 - 04:20 PM

Errr, UnwaNted.

Subject: BS: Unwabted Calls Despite No Call List
From: Skivee
Date: 10 Jul 08 - 04:19 PM

My timeline on the following is slightly convoluted, so please bear with me.
I just got off the phone with a young man named Jason, who identified himself as a "qualifier" for insurers in my area that would extend my warrenty on my vehicle. I got connected to Jason after a recorded announcement told me that my warrenty was about to expire. The recording gave me the option of opting out of future calls, but I don't think they get a fishing free expedition call if I'm on the no call list.
I also find the whole thing suspicious, because the warrenty on my vehicle expired before I bought 3 years ago from CarMax. and I have no after market warrenty agreement with anybody.
When I asked Jason which of my vehicles the call was about, he couldn't tell me, but he requested my VIN so that he could "qualify me". It smells fishy.
After feigning plesantness for a bit, I laid into Jason and told him to not call back. He started telling mr that it might take a few days to get me off their list. I told him that this was their problem, not mine, and that any more calls would result in a report and suit for violating FCC Do Not Call laws.
My point is that this is a tactic that I've seen a couple of times before.by other companies. I don't think that they get a free call before they have to pay attention to DNC.
Are any other Catters getting this kind of marketing end run?