Phone solicitations going robotic

[Lsbcal]

In the last two days we've received spam calls to our do-not-call phone:

1) The computer service center guy (east Indian accent) calls and I read him the riot act about calling. He hangs up on me. This was the 2nd time for these guys. The first time they claimed our phone was not on the do-not-call list, checked and it was.

2) Got an automated phone call that used my name and claimed to be about my hazard insurance (don't have any except for homeowners insurance).

Those autocallers are getting more intrusive. I guess I'll just hang up whenever we get an automated call. But then there are those automated calls from the dentist, pharmacy, optometrist, etc. that sometimes are for confirming appointments. Ugh.

Thoughts?

 

[ziggy29]

My wife is getting a lot of them on her cell phone, and the number always shows up as "unavailable." They say nothing until a voice-automated bot transfers them to someone with a heavy accent. At least one of them mentioned something about my "Viagra prescription" and how I could save money on it, which is funny, because last time I checked I definitely didn't need the stuff...

 

[REWahoo]

Thoughts?

I don't answer calls from outside my area code or from numbers I don't recognize, which eliminates most robocalls.

I figure if it is something important they will leave a message and I can call them back.

 

[easysurfer]

I've trained my mind to screen calls by quickly glancing at caller id. If it's a number I don't recognize, I just do something else. Also, at home (yes, a landline ) I have that plugged into an answering machine as call are easier to screen that way than with voice mail.

Back when w*riking, used to have Privacy Manager service (at home) and that was great at filtering out calls. It would get so quiet with no calls that times I'd wonder is my phone was still working

 

[FIREd]

I hate those robotic calls. If your call is so unimportant that you can let a robot do it for you, then we got nothing to talk about. Still, they are intrusive.

I get a lot of calls from a generic "credit card services" on my do-not-call phone (call us back immediately to lower your rate!).

 

[Texas Proud]

Yea... on of the problems is the calls coming from overseas.... for some reason I got on a list and get them and if I answer (not often... usually to yell at them to take me off their list if I see the number again and again)... they just hang up and I get another call... I don't think they are subject to the law as they are NOT in the country and really don't care what the law is...

I have gotten a few that leave a message... like 'this is your last chance to lower your credit card interest rate, if you do not respond by such and such a date you will not be eligable'... great, then why do you call me again after that date and say the same thing again with a new date

 

[calmloki]

Yea... on of the problems is the calls coming from overseas.... for some reason I got on a list and get them and if I answer (not often... usually to yell at them to take me off their list if I see the number again and again)... they just hang up and I get another call... I don't think they are subject to the law as they are NOT in the country and really don't care what the law is...

I have gotten a few that leave a message... like 'this is your last chance to lower your credit card interest rate, if you do not respond by such and such a date you will not be eligable'... great, then why do you call me again after that date and say the same thing again with a new date

Get those "this is an important message - last chance... credit card rate" every couple days. From different numbers so I can't put them on the Ooma call block. Makes me buggy, especially when they call my cell phone, 'cause dammit, that costs me minutes and money. insult to injury.

 

[fwest]

Im still working...........(less than six months to go!) at a POLICE DEPARTMENT and we get them all the time.........

 

[MasterBlaster]

In case you didn't know, you can file a "Do-Not-Call" complaint. If you can show that they harassed you, you may be eligible for a $500 judgement.

https://complaints.donotcall.gov/complaint/complaintcheck.aspx

 

[fwest]

its actually fun for my secretary to get em going and then tell em where they are calling.

 

[BigNick]

These kinds of calls are typically overseas-based scammers who don't care about no-call lists because what they are doing is illegal anyway. For example, you might get a call from an Indian guy asking if you have a Windows computer. You say yes and he gets you to open the event log and see if there are lots of scary red messages in there (there will be, on any copy of Windows). He will tell you that this is a huge problem, but he can fix it if you pay him $50 (etc).

 

[Texas Proud]

In case you didn't know, you can file a "Do-Not-Call" complaint. If you can show that they harassed you, you may be eligible for a $500 judgement.

https://complaints.donotcall.gov/complaint/complaintcheck.aspx

I don't think the people who are overseas are to concerned about this 'judgement'... how are you going to collect?

 

[unclemick]

I don't answer calls from outside my area code or from numbers I don't recognize, which eliminates most robocalls.

I figure if it is something important they will leave a message and I can call them back.

Yep. If you can't leave a message you don't need to waste my time.

heh heh heh - Then there were the ancient times - let me see that in writing. Or something.

 

[Lsbcal]

I don't answer calls from outside my area code or from numbers I don't recognize, which eliminates most robocalls.

I figure if it is something important they will leave a message and I can call them back.

I guess you need caller ID for this. We have ATT for the landline and they want $10/month for caller ID. We could afford this but it seems like extortion to have to pay for such a simple feature. Any cheaper way of doing this?

 

[REWahoo]

I guess you need caller ID for this. We have ATT for the landline and they want $10/month for caller ID. We could afford this but it seems like extortion to have to pay for such a simple feature. Any cheaper way of doing this?

Do away with your land line and go cell only. If the caller is someone you know (in your address book) their name will display. If not, let it go to your voice mail. We did it years ago and never looked back.

 

[Lsbcal]

Do away with your land line and go cell only. If the caller is someone you know (in your address book) their name will display. If not, let it go to your voice mail. We did it years ago and never looked back.

We still have the landline for two reasons:
1) emergency in case of major earthquake
2) good for DSL internet access

 

[REWahoo]

#2 makes a lot of sense. #1, not so much...

 

[Lsbcal]

#2 makes a lot of sense. #1, not so much...

...until you need it

 

[REWahoo]

Would a land line really be more reliable in an earthquake than a cell phone?

I'm not in earthquake country and haven't given it much thought, but it would seem miles and miles of wires strung between poles would be far more vulnerable to damage than individual (hopefully reinforced) towers with backup generators. Or am I missing something?

 

[meierlde]

Would a land line really be more reliable in an earthquake than a cell phone?

I'm not in earthquake country and haven't given it much thought, but it would seem miles and miles of wires strung between poles would be far more vulnerable to damage than individual (hopefully reinforced) towers with backup generators. Or am I missing something?

It depends on if the phone wires are underground or above ground. Also phone lines tend to be in larger cables. The issue of phones in emergencies was highlighted this last weekend when cell phone service collapsed, but land lines stayed up. When the power goes out cell phone towers have a limited backup supply, whereas central offices tend to have larger backup power supplies. So for an earthquake, it depends if you are just affected by the power failure or direct damage (more folks in the Northridge Earthquake were hit by the power failure when LADWP went down than by the actual earthquake. )

 

[ziggy29]

#2 makes a lot of sense. #1, not so much...

And even then, keeping a land line that costs $30 a month just because you have the phone company's DSL service doesn't make sense if they offer "naked" DSL for no more than $5-10 a month more than it would be with a phone plan.

 

[Lsbcal]

Also I'd add that your cell phones are powered and need to be recharged. This could be a problem if you don't have a backup alternative.

We have cordless landline phones but that's why I keep an old phone around that doesn't require charging (gets power from the telephone loop).

 

[REWahoo]

Also I'd add that your cell phones are powered and need to be recharged. This could be a problem if you don't have a backup alternative.

Good point - that's one of the reasons we have a portable generator although it is easier to charge the phone from the car.

We have cordless landline phones but that's why I keep an old phone around that doesn't require charging (gets power from the telephone loop).

Even though I'm one of those geezers who is supposed to cling to copper wires to the bitter end, I'm not a fan of land line phones. We live in a rural area and our land line reliability was the pits. I was happy to say goodbye to the bill and the frustration of picking up the phone, not hearing a dial tone, and dealing with "Ernestine" at the phone company.

 

[ziggy29]

...and dealing with "Ernestine" at the phone company.

We don't care. We don't have to. We're the Phone Company.

Of course, in this day and age where dropping the land line and going only with cell phones (or other voice over IP service) is an option, maybe they need to start caring...

 

[BigNick]

25 years ago it might have made sense to have a landline as a backup for emergencies, but these days there is so much computer hardware and software between you and a dial tone that I doubt if it's more likely to survive than the mobile network. Heck, there's pretty good mobile coverage in Afghanistan.