I Lose $1875 Because of Call Blocker

[TromboneAl]

Tesla didn't get through my call blocker (they probably made an automated call), and our delivery was delayed. As a result, it probably won't happen until 2020, and we won't get the $1875 tax credit.

Damn telemarketers.

 

[RobbieB]

I'll keep using my answer machine.

 

[braumeister]

It's a much harder problem than most of us give credit for.

I was just reading a piece this morning about this; the new legislation still has plenty of inherent problems.

Just as a simple example, consider the robocall made by your pharmacy to tell you that your prescription is ready to be picked up. How do they differentiate that from a robocall made by a telemarketer? It's not easy. Bottom line: we won't be saying goodbye to spam phone calls for quite a while yet.

 

[tmm99]

Damn... Sorry to hear that.

 

[Sunset]

Tesla didn't get through my call blocker (they probably made an automated call), and our delivery was delayed. As a result, it probably won't happen until 2020, and we won't get the $1875 tax credit.

Damn telemarketers.

That's why why I won't consider using a white-list type phone blocker, where they only let through calls on my contact list. As there are too many possible, but important calls I might get like, hospital, doctor, pharmacy, police, tornado alert, etc..

 

[Fishingmn]

Tesla didn't get through my call blocker (they probably made an automated call), and our delivery was delayed. As a result, it probably won't happen until 2020, and we won't get the $1875 tax credit.

Damn telemarketers.

That stinks.

On the bright side - I bought my M3 in August and absolutely love it. Have yet to really find a Tesla owner that doesn't feel the same way. Check and see if you have a local Tesla Facebook Group to join. Very active group here in MN which is the only thing I go on FB for these days.

Assume you have a referral link from someone but if not send me a PM and we both get free supercharger miles.

 

[TromboneAl]

I had already resigned myself to not getting the $1875, and I don't care about the delay. It's just frustrating to know that the car was ready.

I'd told them that I preferred email. I guess they figure that nobody who buys a Tesla uses a landline or something.

 

[sengsational]

When I give out my number, I tell them "there will be a mean guy recording...just hit zero, hang-up and call back". It works when "real people" call, but obviously not with robocallers. If I'm expecting a call from someone, I pull up the inbound calls on the my Ooma. It's easy to spot legit inbounds, and I can call them back and/or whitelist.

 

[Midpack]

Good to know. We don’t have a call blocker. We try to keep our contacts up to date and only answer numbers we recognize. Anyone who doesn’t get through has to leave a message or we won’t call back period - if then. That’s worked well for us so far, haven’t missed any important calls, and we haven’t had a scam caller get through in many, many years.

 

[GrayHare]

Who foresaw that smart call blocking would be the killer app of Artificial Intelligence? Then the robocallers get smarter, then the blockers do, lather-rinse-repeat.

 

[TromboneAl]

UPDATE: They found us another car, and we'll go pick it up in the next few days.'

I switched off the blocker temporarily, and the spam calls have already begun.

Tesla must not have tried very hard to contact us.

 

[catii]

Good on ya', mate!

 

[redshift]

Great! I have to wait a bit longer for my Cybertruck... [emoji39]

 

[Jerry1]

Great news. Will be great to hear how it works out for you.

 

[ERD50]

What call blocker are you using?

I would hope that any company using automated systems would be aware of NOMOROBO - I'm pretty sure they can go through a process to be whitelisted.

-ERD50

 

[Rianne]

We kept our Michigan cell #'s and had a local landline-live in Illinois now. Nixed the landline and no more robocalls. They all came in on our local area code landline. I'm not sure why. Once in awhile we'll get a MI call and we ignore it, but that's rare. We know the numbers of the people we care about. No need for call blockers.

 

[TromboneAl]

What call blocker are you using?

I would hope that any company using automated systems would be aware of NOMOROBO - I'm pretty sure they can go through a process to be whitelisted.

-ERD50

It's the Sentry II. It's not clear what went wrong.

Sometimes we get friends who say, "I couldn't get through your blocker."

I'm not sure why they get confused--the message is pretty clear.

In any case, we pick up the car tomorrow.

 

[easysurfer]

I had a Sentry II before deciding to go with Ooma Premier and cough up the monthly $10.

I found the Sentry II about 95% reliable. There were times when for an unknown reason, the Sentry II would lock up and not release the call, so others couldn't get through.

Overall, I was happy with the Sentry II, but now content with Ooma Premier. Nice to not have to manage my contact names on a spreadsheet.

 

[ERD50]

It's the Sentry II. It's not clear what went wrong.

Sometimes we get friends who say, "I couldn't get through your blocker."

I'm not sure why they get confused--the message is pretty clear.

In any case, we pick up the car tomorrow.

Is the Sentry II the type where you are asked to "press 1 to get through"? or something like that? I would imagine many auto-response calls (Dr/Dentist appointments, etc) won't get through.

But they should go to voice-mail right? Or do you think it locked up as easysurfer just mentioned?

-ERD50

 

[TromboneAl]

Is the Sentry II the type where you are asked to "press 1 to get through"? or something like that? I would imagine many auto-response calls (Dr/Dentist appointments, etc) won't get through.

But they should go to voice-mail right? Or do you think it locked up as easysurfer just mentioned?

-ERD50

Yes. It's something like "If you're NOT a telemarketer, press 0 now."

Correct, if they don't press 0, they're done. It hangs up. No message. Which is what you want. You don't want messages like "Please call about your credit card ..."

But yes, automated dentist calls don't get through. Or calls about your Tesla.

BTW, we have the Tesla now (got it on Dec 30), and it's amazing.

 

[sengsational]

But yes, automated dentist calls don't get through. Or calls about your Tesla.

You can manually add numbers for robocalls from your dentist. I've done it for the library so I can get notified when I have a book on hold that's ready to pick-up.


Figuring out the phone number of the dentists robocaller can be done if you have something like Ooma...all inbound (and outbound) phone numbers are listed on your Ooma web page. If I realize I "should have" been notified by somebody, I'll find the number on the web page and key it into the Sentry.


Congratulations on the Tesla. Have you tried valet mode? The future is here!

 

[Ready]

Yes. It's something like "If you're NOT a telemarketer, press 0 now."

Correct, if they don't press 0, they're done. It hangs up. No message. Which is what you want. You don't want messages like "Please call about your credit card ..."

But yes, automated dentist calls don't get through. Or calls about your Tesla.

BTW, we have the Tesla now (got it on Dec 30), and it's amazing.

Tesla was overwhelmed with buyers last night cramming their Fremont delivery center in the hopes of getting one of the last cars to roll off the line prior to midnight. Many people who had placed orders as far back as October ended up going home without a car.

So I’m glad it worked out for you. There’s a lot of frustrated buyers out there who didn’t make the cutoff.

 

[GravitySucks]

Congrats and Enjoy.

 

[TromboneAl]

Is the Sentry II the type where you are asked to "press 1 to get through"? or something like that? I would imagine many auto-response calls (Dr/Dentist appointments, etc) won't get through.

But they should go to voice-mail right? Or do you think it locked up as easysurfer just mentioned?

-ERD50

The attraction of a blocker is that when a robocaller calls, it's as if it never called. If you get 10 robocall messages a day and you have to go through the voicemail and delete them, the system has failed (as far as I'm concerned).

This thread is about the downside.

 

[ERD50]

The attraction of a blocker is that when a robocaller calls, it's as if it never called. If you get 10 robocall messages a day and you have to go through the voicemail and delete them, the system has failed (as far as I'm concerned).

This thread is about the downside.

Understood - but that's what creates the downside!

It's up to the individual (as always!) if they consider the inconvenience of occasionally clearing out voicemails better or worse than occasionally missing an important call.

I guess where I'm confused is, if you decided that the occasional missed call is preferable, why did you start this thread? It seems kinda weird to me. You made a decision, but then complain about the decision you made, and yet defend the decision? I don't get it.

If you want to complain about robocalls in general, and the lack of good options, I'm right there with you.

-ERD50