Thread: Do not call

On 12/10/2012 11:05 AM, James Silverton wrote:
> Does anyone know if there is central agency where we can report
> commercial cold calls? I am registered for do not call but I still get
> them. The latest is from Disney World, which is hardly a charity or a
> political party.


I have been registered with the Do Not Call registry since it first
started. I was getting an outrageous number of calls. Every once in a
while I started getting calls from people who introduces themselves
with a very Anglo name but who have strong sub continent accents. They
claim to be calling from my ISP and say they are getting a lot of virus
alerts from my computer. I have tried hanging up, calling them liars,
yelling and screaming at them. The calls kept coming. I decided to have
fun with them. I try to make conversation with them, play dumb, carry
on for as long as I can. I was able to keep them on the line for up to
10 minutes, which I figure saves some other poor saps from being
hassled. I think they gave up on my number.


In Canada, you can contact the CRTC to register complaints. I have done
it. I don't know if there were any charges laid in that case, but the
calls did stop.

James Silverton wrote:
>
> Does anyone know if there is central agency where we can report
> commercial cold calls? I am registered for do not call but I still get
> them. The latest is from Disney World, which is hardly a charity or a
> political party.
> --
> Jim Silverton (Potomac, MD)
>
> Extraneous "not" in Reply To.

There is a "file a complaint" link right on the donotcall.gov home page.

On 2012-10-12, James Silverton <[email protected]> wrote:

> them. The latest is from Disney World, which is hardly a charity or a
> political party.

Live call or recording?

I get a lotta recordings, which I promptly hang up on. I heard the
govt was gonna outlaw all recording calls, but haven't seen it. I
don't think they do much against blind live calls, either. That govt
do-not-call thing was probably more to make the govt look good than to
actually do anything to stop the calls. I notice the govt passes a
lot of laws making things illegal, but provides no penalty for
disobeying said laws. IOW, toothless laws, which are useless.

nb


--
Definition of objectivism:
"Eff you! I got mine."
http://www.nongmoproject.org/

James Silverton <[email protected]> wrote:
> Does anyone know if there is central agency where we can report
> commercial cold calls? I am registered for do not call but I still get
> them. The latest is from Disney World, which is hardly a charity or a
> political party.

Most states have their own do not call registry and complaint access.

At least some of those laws do indeed have teeth in spite of what you may
have read.

I doubt the Disney call is legitimate. They would not resort to large scale
defiance of a popular law to sell their stuff. More likely, it would be a
too-good-to-be-true offer which must be acted on immediately, requiring of
course that you provide the caller with your credit card number. After they
suck that information out of you, you'll never hear from them again, except
for the sudden load of unauthorized charges against your account.

MartyB

"notbob" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]..
> On 2012-10-12, James Silverton <[email protected]> wrote:
>
>> them. The latest is from Disney World, which is hardly a charity or a
>> political party.
>
> Live call or recording?
>
> I get a lotta recordings, which I promptly hang up on. I heard the
> govt was gonna outlaw all recording calls, but haven't seen it. I
> don't think they do much against blind live calls, either. That govt
> do-not-call thing was probably more to make the govt look good than to
> actually do anything to stop the calls. I notice the govt passes a
> lot of laws making things illegal, but provides no penalty for
> disobeying said laws. IOW, toothless laws, which are useless.
>

with recordings, if I have time, I press 1 (usually that works) and then I
get connected to a live person, presumably because I am interested in their
crapola. I then either curse at them or politely quiz them on why they are
breaking the law, depending on my mood. I might go to the "waste as much of
their time as possible" angle, as I used to do that years ago. I suppose I
could also take info and sue them, but I am not sure that is as much fun.

I do have to wonder why the DNC list seems to have ceased being effective.
It seemed to work wonders when it was first implemented.

"notbob" wrote in message news:[email protected]..

On 2012-10-12, James Silverton <[email protected]> wrote:

> them. The latest is from Disney World, which is hardly a charity or a
> political party.

Live call or recording?

I get a lotta recordings, which I promptly hang up on. I heard the
govt was gonna outlaw all recording calls, but haven't seen it. I
don't think they do much against blind live calls, either. That govt
do-not-call thing was probably more to make the govt look good than to
actually do anything to stop the calls. I notice the govt passes a
lot of laws making things illegal, but provides no penalty for
disobeying said laws. IOW, toothless laws, which are useless.

nb

~~~~~~~~~~
I registered on donotcall.gov. That greatly reduced the number of "junk"
calls but did not eliminate them. I also screen my calls and do not answer
unless I recognize the name or number. I never pick up and dial "1" because
that just shows it is an active number.

MaryL

On 10/12/2012 11:05 AM, James Silverton wrote:

> Does anyone know if there is central agency where we can report
> commercial cold calls? I am registered for do not call but I still get
> them. The latest is from Disney World, which is hardly a charity or a
> political party.

https://www.ftccomplaintassistant.gov
https://complaints.donotcall.gov

There's also a call center where you can talk with a live call center
rep. The FTC takes this seriously so file your complaints.

1-877-FTC-HELP (1-877-382-4357)
http://www.ftc.gov/ftc/contact.shtm

James Silverton wrote:
>
> Does anyone know if there is central agency where we can report
> commercial cold calls? I am registered for do not call but I still get
> them. The latest is from Disney World, which is hardly a charity or a
> political party.
> --
> Jim Silverton (Potomac, MD)
>
> Extraneous "not" in Reply To.

Screen all calls. that's what I do.
Landline phone: answering machine is your friend
Cell phone: if they are not on my friend list, I don't answer.

G.

On Fri, 12 Oct 2012 09:51:28 -0700, "Pico Rico"
<[email protected]> wrote:
snip
>
>I do have to wonder why the DNC list seems to have ceased being effective.
>It seemed to work wonders when it was first implemented.
>
The rule is that if you have ever had any legitimate dealings with
their company (or subs), they have a legal right to call you. If they
are a political affiliation or religious group they can call you. If
you ever respond to them, they can claim that you have done business
with them. If you respond or call the number they give you to
discontinue the calls, you have affirmed that the phone number is a
live and good one.

The most maddening one is 'Rachel'. She's a computer call and she
never gives up. She's the one who calls about better rates for your
credit cards. The proper response for a computer call is Just Hang Up.
For a live person you say "No, please don't call again, take my name
off of your list."

The folks claiming to be a tech from Microsoft is a brand new scam
that has caught so many people that the Feds have put out an alert
citizens. The people claiming to be from your phone company and
wanting to sign you up for something or check something will drive you
to curses and tears.

Basically, unless you have initiated something with a company, you
just have to hang up.

Thank you. It felt good to get that off my chest. I

Janet US

Dave Smith wrote:
>
> I was able to keep them on the line for up to
> 10 minutes, which I figure saves some other poor saps from being
> hassled. I think they gave up on my number.

Have you asked to speak to their supervisor?
That might buy you a few more minutes.

"James Silverton" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:k59bjf$q0o$[email protected]..
> Does anyone know if there is central agency where we can report commercial
> cold calls? I am registered for do not call but I still get them. The
> latest is from Disney World, which is hardly a charity or a political
> party.
> --
> Jim Silverton (Potomac, MD)
>
> Extraneous "not" in Reply To.


I don't really think there's much you can do about it. The Do Not Call is
mostly a joke, since they really don't follow up. I have a wonderful gadget
that I got many years ago from Radio Shack that rejects the numbers (up to
20) and cuts them off after a 1 1/2 rings so you don't have to wait for the
answering machine. They don't make them anymore, but I love it.

If I'm sitting close to the phone, I just pick it up and hang it up. I have
all the ringers turned off except one in the bedroom, so I'm not too
bothered. Since we used to have a home office for business, the calls are
pretty much neverending even though the office phone has been disconnected.

Cheri

James Silverton <[email protected]> wrote:

> Does anyone know if there is central agency where we can
> report commercial cold calls? I am registered for do not
> call but I still get them. The latest is from Disney World,
> which is hardly a charity or a political party.



Gary,

That reminds me of a saying but I don't remember who to
credit...

"Life is short. Eat dessert first!"

--Julia Child?
--Dear Abby?
--Irma Bombech?

Best,

Andy

On 10/12/2012 3:08 PM, Andy wrote:
> James Silverton <[email protected]> wrote:
>
>> Does anyone know if there is central agency where we can
>> report commercial cold calls? I am registered for do not
>> call but I still get them. The latest is from Disney World,
>> which is hardly a charity or a political party.
>
>
>
> Gary,
>
> That reminds me of a saying but I don't remember who to
> credit...

Thanks everyone especially for telling me the complaint number,
1-877-382-4357, and the complaint mechanism on donotcall.gov.

--
Jim Silverton (Potomac, MD)

Extraneous "not" in Reply To.

And it came to pass that Dave Smith delivered the following message unto
the people, saying~

> On 12/10/2012 11:05 AM, James Silverton wrote:
>> Does anyone know if there is central agency where we can report
>> commercial cold calls? I am registered for do not call but I still get
>> them. The latest is from Disney World, which is hardly a charity or a
>> political party.
>
>
> I have been registered with the Do Not Call registry since it first
> started. I was getting an outrageous number of calls. Every once in a
> while I started getting calls from people who introduces themselves with
> a very Anglo name, but who have strong sub continent accents. They claim
> to be calling from my ISP and say they are getting a lot of virus alerts
> from my computer. I have tried hanging up, calling them liars, yelling
> and screaming at them. The calls kept coming. I decided to have fun
> with them.

I still occasionally get solicitation calls from companies overseas
claiming to be my ISP (I'm on CenturyQworst) saying they're receiving
"virus reports" from my Windows machine. When I do pick up, I just laugh
at them out loud, since both boxes connected to my ADSL box are either
Linux or BSD (why in God's name would I dare put a Winblow$ box on the
network? I do know better!) and they couldn't be getting any information
from my machines since both are firewalled. Damned fools.

> I try to make conversation with them, play dumb, carry on for as long as
> I can. I was able to keep them on the line for up to 10 minutes, which I
> figure saves some other poor saps from being hassled. I think they gave
> up on my number.

One really interesting thing to be on the lookout for is second dial
tones. Most times these guys are calling from PBXes. Occasionally, if you
manage to drive the solicitors nuts enough that they hang up on you,
you'll get a "reorder" signal (the so-called "fast busy" signal.) If you
wait long enough, it'll time out and cycle around to a usually
unrestricted dial tone originating from the company's telephone switch.
Voilà, you now have the whole world at your ear, and can make expensive
international calls, make phone sex calls, blast r0dent bridges etc., all
on the solicitor's dime.

If your line is on a 5ESS switch like mine is, second dial tones are very
obviously from outside systems, since trunk calls on a 5ESS usually don't
reset to a local dial tone after the distant party hangs up--they just
reset to a dead line, followed by the "if you'd like to make a call"
recording and off-hook tones before the line goes into permanent signal.
The things you learn reading "2600"...

On Fri, 12 Oct 2012 11:05:30 -0400, James Silverton wrote:

> Does anyone know if there is central agency where we can report
> commercial cold calls?

They certainly called the right person if you're dumb enough to have
to ask here.

ObFood: Anybody ever done a bread and butter pickled cauliflower?

-sw

On Fri, 12 Oct 2012 13:28:11 -0400, Cheryl wrote:

> On 10/12/2012 11:05 AM, James Silverton wrote:
>
>> Does anyone know if there is central agency where we can report
>> commercial cold calls? I am registered for do not call but I still get
>> them. The latest is from Disney World, which is hardly a charity or a
>> political party.
>
> https://www.ftccomplaintassistant.gov
> https://complaints.donotcall.gov
>
> There's also a call center where you can talk with a live call center
> rep. The FTC takes this seriously so file your complaints.
>
> 1-877-FTC-HELP (1-877-382-4357)
> http://www.ftc.gov/ftc/contact.shtm

Wow, that's amazing Cheryl. How did you know all that?

;-)

-sw

On 12/10/2012 1:30 PM, Gary wrote:

> Screen all calls. that's what I do.
> Landline phone: answering machine is your friend
> Cell phone: if they are not on my friend list, I don't answer.
>

For years before the Do Not Call registry I was in the habit of hanging
up if there was dead air because it usually meant a computer generated
call and an unwanted soliciting call. One time, tempted as I was, I
stayed on. It was my ISP offering me to free tickets to see Pygmallion
at the Shaw Theatre. I was skeptical but was assured there was no catch.
I took a day off work and caught a matinee performance at one of my
favourite theatre venues... for free.

On 12/10/2012 1:44 PM, Mark Thorson wrote:
> Dave Smith wrote:
>>
>> I was able to keep them on the line for up to
>> 10 minutes, which I figure saves some other poor saps from being
>> hassled. I think they gave up on my number.
>
> Have you asked to speak to their supervisor?
> That might buy you a few more minutes.
>


Hey there's a thought. I could ask him or her where they are calling
from and see if the supervisor also says Chicago.

On 12/10/2012 1:02 PM, MaryL wrote:

> I registered on donotcall.gov. That greatly reduced the number of
> "junk" calls but did not eliminate them. I also screen my calls and do
> not answer unless I recognize the name or number. I never pick up and
> dial "1" because that just shows it is an active number.
>

I have a small problem there. I have call display and some of them show
up as Long Distance, Problem is that we have a long distance plan
through Bell and I gave our son a card so he can call us on it.

Then there is the "private call" which usually isn't.